They don't do it for the money.
They don't do it for the…read morecheer.
They do it for the glory.
And beer, and fried pickles, and turkey legs, and pumpkin funnel cake.
At least that's what I'm assuming why some grown men and women would voluntarily want to build a catapult or air vessel to launch a pumpkin in the air the length of 13 football fields. The only thing you win is a gnome trophy.
This was one of the few times I went to Delaware for non-surfing reasons. I have to say I'm starting to like this small state more if this is one of their official state sports. This is a three day spectacle, The Superbowl of Pumpkin Chucking. Basically, I spent my Sunday listening to drunk people scream "Fire in the Hole" and throw/destroy stuff, basically it's like an average Sunday at my house but outdoors and with new faces.
So here's how it works. You drive to some corn field in the middle of Bridgeville (use GPS), pay $10 bucks, park and discover the sights and smells of this world championship. There are rides for the little ones, all kinds of fried foods, chili and barbeque, even a beauty pageant.
And then you have the piece de la resistance, the mechanical engineering masterpieces that rocket pumpkins into the sky from three different types of "chunkers": catapults, trebuchets and air cannons. Here's an explanation:
Air Cannon
Uses compressed air to launch a pumpkin.Air is compressed into a tank. When the constraint holding that air is removed, air expands back to its normal volume. The result is released air acts like a spring and forces the pumpkin through the tube at great volume, expelling the pumpkin out with a big boom. Centrifugal air vessel/cannon has an arm that spins at least 360 degrees to launch a pumpkin. The spin accelerates the pumpkin, and each rotation gains more and more momentum until it can build up enough energy to propel the pumpkin forward.
Catapult
Uses stretched springs or rubber bands. When the springs or bands are pulled and then released, the stored up energy is transferred to the arm of the device, which hurls the pumpkin. A torsion catapult uses twisted rope. The rope stores mechanical energy when it is twisted. The amount of force it releases is proportional to the amount it is twisted.
Trebuchet
Transforms the potential energy stored in the lifted heavy mass into the kinetic energy that is the motion of the smaller mass (the pumpkin). It uses a short arm, which is weighted down with a heavy object to counterbalance against the long arm, where the projectile (the pumpkin) is placed. When the heavy mass of the short arm falls down, it provides energy to fling the long arm.
So how do I know all this? For one reason, I dyed over all the blonde highlights in my hair recently and now can retain more information, and secondly I was right behind the discovery channel camera men and Mythbuster people.
The time in between launchings is long, and there was an hour long break due to a spotter getting hit by a flying pumpkin. Luckily there's lots of entertainment (beauty pageant, rides, Pumpkin cornhole) and food (chili cook off tent, Smoked Turkey Legs, Bar-B-Q Ribs, Chicken, Baked Potato,Dipped and Fried Vegetables,Cheesecake-on-a-stick) to keep you occupied. It's a very family friendly event, so bring your offspring and teach them hands on lessons about energy and mass, or they can just hold your beer for you.
