On Thu, 6 Sep 2001, Karsh wrote:
> I don't know if its true but I've been hearing this for like 5 years so far.
>
> Karsh
Agree, started as a Urban Legend, was even in a DW Route66 commercial.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET
> [mailto:owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET]On Behalf Of Bill Pruitt
> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 12:55 PM
> To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
> Subject: DML: Rocket Powered Chevy?
>
>
> I ran into this on the net, thought I'd share.
> I don't know if it's true.
>
>
> Human Projectile of the Month
>
> Top honors for "Human Projectile Of The Month" go to an as-yet unidentified
> dude who, we're told, is also a serious contender for the annual Darwin
> Award. That prestigious prize is given- posthumously- to the person who does
> the human gene pool the greatest service by removing himself from it in the
> most extraordinarily stupid fashion. Well, the Darwin folks might see it
> that way, but we consider it a gallant if not brainless form of ballistic
> research.
>
> Troopers from the Arizona Highway Patrol got onto this historic event after
> motorists reported some mysterious scorched and blackened scars on a stretch
> of deserted highway. The more officers found, the stranger the case got,
> until they pulled back, regrouped, and launched a full-scale investigation.
>
> Here's what they kinda "pieced" together: JATO units are basically huge
> canisters of solid rocket fuel used to achieve "Jet Assisted Take Off,"
> typically lifting big transports into the air from rough-ground, short
> runways, or shooting overloaded planes from the decks of aircraft carriers.
>
> They were not, repeat not, designed to augment the inherent boost factor of
> a 1967 Chevy Impala. But we guess- let's call him "Zippy"- didn't know that
> when he hooked one up to his ride.
>
> Ol' Zip apparently chose his runway carefully, selecting a nice long, lonely
> piece of straight-as-string highway in good repair. Not guessing he might
> need a bit more than five miles of zoom surface, Zippy's test track had,
> that far down the strip, a gentle rise on a sloping turn.
>
> Anyways, the Zipster kicked the tire, lit the fire, and ran his Chevy up to
> top cruising speed. And then he hit ignition!
>
> Investigators know exactly where this happened, judging from the extended
> patch of burned and melted asphalt. The pocket-calculator boys figure Zip
> reached maximum thrust within five seconds, punching that Chevy up to "well
> in excess of 350 mph" and continuing at "full burn" for another 20 to 25
> seconds.
>
> Early in that little sprint, at roughly the 2.5 mile mark, the Human
> Hydra-Shok stood on the brakes, melting them completely, blowing the tires
> and rapidly reducing all four 'skins to liquefied trails on the pavement.
>
> Remember that gentle rise on the turn? That's where Zippy concluded his
> land-speed record attempt and went for aerial honors, ultimately reaching an
> altitude of 125 feet and still climbing when his flight was abruptly
> terminated. We'll never know how far and how high The Big Zip might have
> gone. A cliff face of solid rock kind of got in the way, posing a serious
> violation of the laws of physics vis a vis two chunks of matter attempting
> to occupy the same space at the same time. Zip gave it hell though, blasting
> a three-foot deep crater in the terra-very-firma.
>
> The best modern forensic science could do was ID the car's make, model, and
> year. As for Zip, only trace evidence was found of bone, teeth and hair in
> the crater, and splinters of fingernail embedded in what is believed to be a
> piece of steering wheel. If there ain't room for this one in the Guinness
> Book of World Records, there damn sure ought to be an honorable mention in
> Weatherby's.
>
> Bill Pruitt
> '01 QC 4.7, Auto, Flo-Pro exhaust, K & N Homebrew 3" Air Intake
> Downey SST Tarp, Viper Alarm, RhinoLiner
> "Tail-Gate Open" warning light
> http://web.tampabay.rr.com/billspages/
>
>
>
>
>
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