1999's vacation saw the Trebuchet set up facing the lake.
1999's vacation saw the Trebuchet set up facing the lake.
We were hoping to make some really big splashes, and we weren't
disappointed. Well, maybe we were a bit, but only because no Personal
Watercraft came by when we wanted them. :-)
The Trebuchet 1999 crew, both wearing their
Red Green
t-shirts for some reason.
A whole bunch of stuff was fired into the lake; this had the side benefit
of providing an excuse to go SCUBA diving, to collect the ammo for another
shot. In this photo, my young research assistant is holding the firing
cord.
Note also the new counterweight; this one is rigidly hinged to the throwing
arm so that it will swing cleanly between the legs, and it's filled with as
many rocks as I deemed safe, so the treb is much more powerful than it was
with the first-revision counterweight.
One interesting type of ammo was the Water Balloon Cluster Bomb.
This consisted of a bucket with three water balloons.
This actually worked quite well, with
the bucket falling into the lake just in front of the treb, and the
balloons flying onward.
Another picture with the flag in it; if the government cuts back on
defense much more, the Water Balloon Cluster Bomb will be all that's left
keeping The True North Strong And Free.
A waterballon soars out across the lake.
Unfortunately, the hinge joining the throwing arm to the counterweight,
despite being the biggest, beefiest one Home Depot had to offer, didn't
appreciate the dynamic stresses of all the fun we had, especially with
the keyboards and
the etherhub.