[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/

[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!

[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.