Fullerton
Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 1:35 pm
OK, it's over and we didn't win again. There were 16 entries, with the usual sprinkling of rubber-band slingshot machines, some more sophisticated than others, a number of FATs (two original, the others F2Ks) some regular-ish trebs and two ballistas, one a truck-spring arbalest sort of thing and the other torsion powered.
The range had targets at 100, 150, 220 and 320 feet, points awarded, point value increasing with range. The slingshots mostly had a hard time reaching the closer targets. We, one of the original FATs, an F2K, and my nemesis, Medieval Mayhem were launching at the long targets, with most of the other FATs and trebs going for the next-farthest ones. The spring ballista barely reached the near ones and the torsion ballista may have broken. They were working on it during the recess between practice and serious launching, with c-clamps on the arms and so on. I was sort of pleased that the complex F2K (Alpine Engineering) was only trying for the 220 foot targets. Those guys are a bit full of themselves.
Our own effort was OK, walking the shots up to the target distance in practice, third shot just a tad high, but dead center east-west. Closest we came all day, though, as inconsistent pumpkins had us missing "by that much". At the end there's a mass launch by all machines and for that I loaded up the extra CW I had brought along and sent a lob way past the targets, nearly reaching the fence on the far side of the field.
I wound up doing a number of interviews and Q&A sessions, mostly with high school kids a couple accompanied by a "Tiger Mom". Nice to get a little recognition.
When I can I'll put up some photos on the Eastvale FB page. We had local coverage from the Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/04/o- ... an-be-fun/, and there was a crew from a local TV channel, but I haven't seen anything from that.
The range had targets at 100, 150, 220 and 320 feet, points awarded, point value increasing with range. The slingshots mostly had a hard time reaching the closer targets. We, one of the original FATs, an F2K, and my nemesis, Medieval Mayhem were launching at the long targets, with most of the other FATs and trebs going for the next-farthest ones. The spring ballista barely reached the near ones and the torsion ballista may have broken. They were working on it during the recess between practice and serious launching, with c-clamps on the arms and so on. I was sort of pleased that the complex F2K (Alpine Engineering) was only trying for the 220 foot targets. Those guys are a bit full of themselves.
Our own effort was OK, walking the shots up to the target distance in practice, third shot just a tad high, but dead center east-west. Closest we came all day, though, as inconsistent pumpkins had us missing "by that much". At the end there's a mass launch by all machines and for that I loaded up the extra CW I had brought along and sent a lob way past the targets, nearly reaching the fence on the far side of the field.
I wound up doing a number of interviews and Q&A sessions, mostly with high school kids a couple accompanied by a "Tiger Mom". Nice to get a little recognition.
When I can I'll put up some photos on the Eastvale FB page. We had local coverage from the Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/04/o- ... an-be-fun/, and there was a crew from a local TV channel, but I haven't seen anything from that.
