Jay, Waddy, what was cruising altitude for your airborne vegetables? The camera made it look like they nearly reached orbit!! ;)

(To reply in email replace blort dot invalid with anime dot net)

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-- Dan Hollis (goemon@blort.invalid), January 12, 2001

Answers

I'm not sure but I think the jet stream got us on that last shot!!!!!

JustJay

-- JustJay-Captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), January 12, 2001.

My guess on the altitude would be between 250 and 300 ft. We were shooting at about 75 degree elevation by the time we got the range worked out. It was high enough that the wind had time to carry it to one side. There was a levee between us and the beach, and the wind was gusty. We did turn the cannon a few degrees to the right before the last shot, just not enough to get it on target with the wind. It was not clear on the show, but the last shot landed right beside the "castle", only about five ft to the left. In our case, none of the "pieces hit the wall". ( my favorite line in the show, a take off from the "Three Stooges" where the last one turns to repeat a line and no one is there.) Our cannons at home can lob a melon out of sight. From our home video tapes we have timed shots that take 19 seconds to come back to the ground. They also work with compressed air, but we use motorized compressors most of the time.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

So how long before you start putting vegetables into low earth orbit? ;)

-- Dan Hollis (goemon@blort.invalid), January 12, 2001.

Bowling balls go out of sight while still climbing, so they must be going into orbit. Terminal velocity of a watermelon falling is 285 mph as measured using video.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

For more about our toys, go to Onager.net and find "Florida Fling", "Raleigh 1999" or "WCPC2000" pages in the "Competetions" link.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

There is a team near me, Waddy knows them, that have shot a frozen pumpkin over 2 miles out into Lake Erie. This was verified by the Coast Guard. Their gun is so violent it just destroys unfrozen pumpkins.

JustJay

-- JustJay-Captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), January 12, 2001.

I have a question for the Rusty Juvies: How come you didn't lower the angle on your cannon, increase the pressure on the tank and basically fire at the castle as if using a giant rifle? I can understand trying to lob in the first few times, but when you realized the wind's effect how come you didn't shotgun it on your last try? I think it would have increased your chances of hitting the target.

-- Tom (geo5370@aol.com), January 13, 2001.

Exactly what I was thinking before they even fired the first shot. If they aimed straight at it they would have surely got more hits then that other strange contraption :-)

-- Rick Lawrence (hoodoo2@povn.com), January 13, 2001.

ooops forgot to turn off html again LOL

-- Rick Lawrence (Hoodoo2@povn.com), January 13, 2001.

We weren't sure how it would have been scored if we went through the target, if it was a hit or in the castle. A tie was not a good consideration, because they might have splashed it again. We were really given no choice but to try to drop one in, mother nature just blew a little harder, or the jet stream got us at that altitude. Toooooo much hang time.

JustJay

-- JustJay-Captain-Three Rusty Juveniles (justjay@neo.rr.com), January 13, 2001.

Had we fired level, you wouldn't have that great shot of all of us looking straight up. We had to be off the military base by 5:PM, and we didn't have time for a shootout. The catapult misfired on their last shot, which they didn't include in the finished show, and that would have left us tied if we had hit the target. We were going for the glory shot, and missed.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), January 13, 2001.

you simply lick really fast

-- bill (you@hotmail.com), January 26, 2004.

ur a poofter

-- connie Lee Lumer (conker_08 @hotmail.com), August 08, 2004.