by KerikM » Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:37 pm
Congratulations to you and Ballistikraft, which I will miss. Look forward to seeing your new one. Don't forget some extra tools to stack on the counterweight!
I was with Bob Peterson and Skyward. Its arm fell down between the rails while I was helping cock it, due to a bolt having worked loose undetected. After this was fixed and we got a successful launch, our next one went straight up, might have been 100 feet or more, I didn't stick around to guess--you never saw a handful of people scamper so fast, in a handful of directions. It came down near the front of the next treb over, Insane Clown Chunker, which had previously given us a demo of insufficient weight ratio by flinging a crash dummy over the truck that cocked it and onto the edge of a flowerbed. When more weight was added, the dummy went in the right direction. But even when one gets used to seeing pumpkins go splat, one might not be used to seeing one splat that close. As Bob put it, "That's why we all wear hard hats."
Gourdinator was present as usual, throwing them the farthest as usual. UFO and Logcraft were not present, and it felt like we have lost too many machines and not gained enough new ones, even though there is only so much room in the "pit".
I was delighted to see the Gladiator Gourd Girls back, with an improved release prong. They were tickled to meet Sevara, which I had in my arms, and said there were other girls out there that might be interested in this sort of thing. I hope so. Sevara did not perform--it was too small for the crowds to see anyway--but Bob and co. liked it too. I did not get around to asking them about the performance of their own small wooden model. I always leave with at least as many questions as answers. But that's what keeps me coming back... that and the chance to see fine machines in action and the fine people who build them.
Lastly I am extremely grateful to whoever provided the food!