We continued to throw with 11,500 pounds of counterweight. Saturday was breezy and in the mid-50's with a steady 10 to 20 mile per hour headwind for most of the day. As late afternoon approached, the wind died down with a consequence of a significant increase in distance.
We added 500 pounds of counterweight on Sunday morning to bring the total counterweight up to 12,000 pounds. There was a 10 mile per hour headwind but the extra weight seemed to over power the wind. We had fairly consistent throws, with one throw at the 2100 foot mark after changing to a 24 foot sling instead of our standard 25 foot sling.
On Monday we had four schools visit our site. These were high school physics and engineering classes, as well as, some grade school students. Winds were very calm but temps were only in the high 40's. We tried a slightly longer sling (26 feet) to see how the machine would react. The throws were very good, with one shot around 1950 feet but very high.
Results of the 19 throws October 18, 19 & 20, 2008
Note: We added 500 pounds of counterweight (Sunday) for a total of 12,000 pounds.
Saturday October 18, 2008
Throw One - 1650 feet
Throw Two - 1400 feet - low trajectory
Throw Three - 1800 feet - high trajectory
Throw Four - 1400 feet
Throw Five - 1800 feet - good height
Throw Six - 1800 feet - good height
Throw Seven - 1800 feet -good height and calm wind
Sunday October 19, 2008
Throw One - 1900 feet - good height
Throw Two - 2000 feet - good height 15 mile an hour headwind
Throw Three - 1400 feet - low trajectory
Throw Four - 2100 feet - good height 10 to 15 mile an hour headwind and change to 24 foot sling
Throw Five - 1650 feet - slightly low trajectory
Throw Six - 1800 feet - good height
Throw Seven - 1700 feet - high hard left
Throw Eight - 2000 feet - slightly low
Monday October 20, 2008
Note: Changed to 26 foot sling.
Throw One - 1850 feet
Throw Two - 1850 feet - good height
Throw Three - 1950 feet - very, very high
Throw Four - 1450 feet - slight pie
PS This will be the last posting of throws before the competition. We will be practicing next weekend but we won't be posting results because we will be dismantling the machine starting on Sunday night and Monday day and that will consume all our time. The logistics of transporting a 52,000 pound machine and associated support on four separate vehicles can be mind numbing. (I have nightmares about forgetting some critical part).
I wish every team the best of luck in their practice sessions. I hope everything goes well and safe and nothing breaks. This year promises to be quite competitive, now that Pumpkin Hammer and Merlin have had a full year to tweak and tune their new machines. Both these teams have designed very sophisticated and efficient machines. Their efficiency far surpasses Yankee Siege. They are smart machines, finesse machines. Yankee Siege is just brute force. Yankee Siege is probably the least efficient machine in the whole competition (dumb machine). Any one of these three machines could win, or maybe some unknown machine will come along. Win or lose, this year will be exciting!
Steve Seigars, YS
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