Date: Mon, 17 Jun 96 14:58:05 +0200
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: verbeek@the-hague.stbv.slb.com (brian verbeek)
Subject: Vanagon engine transplants
>>I hope you all get a laugh out of this story from Mark Elliot in Nigeria!
>>>>>
>>>>>Subject: An interesting news item....
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> You may know about the Darwin Awards - an annual honor given to the
>>>>>> person who did the gene pool the biggest service by killing
>>>>>> themselves
>>>>>> in the most extraordinarily stupid way. Last year's winner was a
>>>>>> fellow who managed to kill himself by toppling a Coke machine upon
>>>>>> himself while attempting to tip a free soda out of it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This year's nominee:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal
>>>>>> embedded into the side of a cliff rising above the road at the
>>>>>> apex of
>>>>>> a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash,
>>>>>> but it
>>>>>> was a car. The lab finally figured out what had happened.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It seems that a guy had somehow gotten hold of a JATO unit (jet
>>>>>> assisted take off - actually a solid fuel rocket) that is used
>>>>>> to give
>>>>>> heavy military transport planes an extra push for taking off from
>>>>>> short airfields. He had driven his Chevy Impala out into the desert
>>>>>> and found a long, straight stretch of road. Then he attached
>>>>>> the JATO
>>>>>> unit to his car, jumped in, got some speed and fired off the JATO.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The facts as best as could be determined are that the operator of the
>>>>>> 1967 Impala hit JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0
>>>>>> miles
>>>>>> from the crash site. This was established by the prominent scorched
>>>>>> and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating
>>>>>> properly,
>>>>>> would have reached maximum thrust within five seconds, causing the
>>>>>> Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 miles per hour and
>>>>>> continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds. The
>>>>>> driver,
>>>>>> soon to be pilot, most likely would have experienced G-forces usually
>>>>>> reserved for dog-fighting F-14 fighterjocks under full afterburner,
>>>>>> basically causing him to become insignificant for the remainder
>>>>>> of the
>>>>>> trip. However, the automobile apparently remained on the straight
>>>>>> highway for about 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied
>>>>>> and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick
>>>>>> rubber marks on the road surface. It then became airborne for an
>>>>>> additional 1.4 miles and impacted the cliff face at a height of 125
>>>>>> feet leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable, however, small
>>>>>> fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater and
>>>>>> fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris
>>>>>> believed to be the steering wheel.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not the brightest guy to leave our presence. Oh well, more beer for
>>>>>> the rest of us.
>>>>>
>>>>>Dave
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