Pumpkin Chunked 4,224 feet

The Leader & State Register ^ | Nov. 8, 2004 | Glenn Rolfe

[Thud]

I can't figure out how the catapult slung a pumpkin over a thousand feet.

[SussexCountyDE]

Go here for all the details.

http://www.punkinchunkin.com/

[blackdog]

It's a Monty Python thing......The flight physics of African and European Swallows. Then there's Harold the flying sheep. Well, he's really not flying yet, but we're watching him closely for when he does. The commercial possibilities are numerous.

[ArrogantBustard]

Google up "trebuchet", and you'll start to understand. The acceleration is actually fairly gentle, but sustained. Trebuchets were the heavy artillery of medieval Europe.

[blackdog]

I think the whole thing got started from former navy guys. They fired all kinds of stuff off the deck with those steam operated catapults that fire off fighters from the deck. It wasn't enough to just toss broken gear overboard. Launching old copiers, computer monitors, engines, etc..... from the flight deck is a lot more fun.

Ten year old boys make a potato gun from old soup cans and duct tape. Twenty year old boys are no different. They just have better resources to work with. By the time you're fifty, we're talking serious childhood munitions!

[blackdog]

I loved the scenes from the recent Joan of Arc flick. The trebuchet scenes were sooooooo fantastic. I really enjoyed some of those scenes. Pretty accurate too. I loved the way the guy in charge of the launch would chisel and get stones down to an exact weight in order to get them just right.

[Centurion2000]

I can't figure out how the catapult slung a pumpkin over a thousand feet.

Did you see the Lord of the Rings ? Third movie, siege combat scenes. Those HUGE rock throwers that the humans had in Minas Tirith ? They are different than the catapults the orcs had. Those devices are trebuchets.

[WildTurkey]

The gun was very gentile

Hmmm.

[Poohbah]

Pumpkins propelled by a variety of home-brewed artillery smashed to Earth in a Sussex County field Sunday in the closing chapter of the 2004 World Championship Punkin Chunkin.

Overall, bragging rights for the greatest distance - and the prestigious World Championship Punkin Chunkin trophy - went to Old Glory, an air-powered cannon with Sussex roots in Georgetown and Milton.

After watching 60 Minutes' piece on Burt Rutan last night, I want them to do the ultimate:

Be the first to put a pumpkin into orbit.

[Melas]

Is Manitou still hippy haven?

[Poohbah]

I think the whole thing got started from former navy guys. They fired all kinds of stuff off the deck with those steam operated catapults that fire off fighters from the deck. It wasn't enough to just toss broken gear overboard. Launching old copiers, computer monitors, engines, etc..... from the flight deck is a lot more fun.

HMS Ark Royal (the one that was paid off in the 1970s) launched the captain's old car and the wardroom piano...

[RandallFlagg]

The Trebuchet missile from Freespace 2.

[Revelation 911]

Then there's Harold the flying sheep. Well, he's really not flying yet,

no doubt akin to Tony the carnivorous pony

[Revelation 911]

Be the first to put a pumpkin into orbit.

I have $75 bucks for the first private spaceflight to accomplish the task

[Rebelbase]

My brother and I are going to built a bait cannon for shooting a 6.oz weight/hook rig with squid or finger mullet attached 200-300 yards into the surf.

The initial ranging should pretty funny.

[martin_fierro]

That's one of the few computer games I play. LOVE IT

[Rebelbase]

"What is the wind resistance to a pumpkin laden European Swallow?"

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

[Joe Hadenuf]

Some people have way too much time on their hands...

[RandallFlagg]

You wouldn't believe my joy when I learned that it DOES work on Windows XP.

[dfwgator]

Now that's what I call "Smashing Pumpkins."