For those about to rock…

17 responses to “For those about to rock…”

1. 

   msamaclean ©

   Oct 1, 2007 at 4:11 am

   OH-bee geez! This is too fantastic! How much fun can you stand!
   Look at that sucker off the ground!!!!!

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2. 

   PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

   Oct 1, 2007 at 8:48 am

   LOL this is crazy…. "Sky bowler"Pirate cannon…in the middle of the dessert !!!!
   How far did it go ?

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3. 

   schoschie

   Oct 1, 2007 at 10:23 am

   Coooooool. Real bowling balls or things the shape and size of bowling balld? What does it use for propellant?

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4. 

   PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

   Oct 1, 2007 at 11:02 am

   @schoschie . They use some "strong pirate liquore" for propellant =)

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5. 

   RandyTurner

   Oct 1, 2007 at 1:44 pm

   __ Way Cool, _ WOW ! ____

   
   
   What a "Damn Cool" shot!
   We want this work in Damn Cool Photographers in the World

   Please add this photo to our group and tag YOUR PIX with "DamnCool"

   Reply
6. 

   Dabbler

   Oct 1, 2007 at 3:05 pm

   Wow… what fun!!!

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7. 

   jurvetson

   Oct 1, 2007 at 3:58 pm

   schoschie: Real bowling balls! It uses a bag of home-brew coarse black powder. Something about processed charcoal, but I was not paying close attention, but wondering how close I should be. He built the cannon from a used pressurized gas container.

   PhotonQ: It soared a huge distance and first hit the playa off-frame to the right… and left a series of dust-puffs as it bounced off into the distance. He also launched one almost straight up, and that offered a fine whistling sound on the return.

   msamaclean: my thoughts exactly. With big supersonic rockets going off (and sometimes blowing up) all day, it was a fun saturation limit test weekend. =)

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8. 

   benjiman

   Oct 1, 2007 at 5:02 pm

   Wow, thats awesome. And bigger then the potato howitzer that I built as a kid… =)

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9. 

   jorgempf

   Oct 1, 2007 at 5:23 pm

   very cool.
   i just would love to see an impact photo as well, or a video of the all sequence, but just this is already very cool.

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10. 

    schoschie

    Oct 1, 2007 at 5:40 pm

    fun saturation limit test… I like that *adds to vocabulary*.

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11. 

    jurvetson

    Oct 1, 2007 at 6:22 pm

    jorgempf: I do have a video (and the canon ball is much more clearly viewable in that… I will upload it now)

    The problem is that I was holding the video cam in my left hand and the SLR in my right. I prioritized the photo, and discovered that my left hand drifted a bit during the filming…

    But the insanely loud burst of the cannon guaranteed an involuntary shutter press on the SLR as I leaped backwards… =)

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12. 

    jurvetson

    Oct 1, 2007 at 8:32 pm

    Here’s the video… You can see the wadding fly up in the air in the foreground, and if you pause, you can see the bowling ball soaring off to the right.

    The exclamation "it moves" refers to the cannon owner saying that the cannon does not recoil much…. The folks standing behind the cannon wisely moved before the owner, who they called a "meat shield"

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13. 

    PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

    Oct 1, 2007 at 9:17 pm

    LOL Cool video… Big kids Big Guns =P

    Looking for intel on one of Erik Charlton picture, i came across another "crazy rocket" thing" :

    this crazy rocket experiment-Video, of the Top Gear Car Shuttle :

    

    Reply
14. 

    jorgempf

    Oct 1, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    i like the video, thanks, but couldnt pause in the right frame to see the ball. 🙁
    about the four wheels moto next to the cannon, well, if it where mine i wouldnt leave it there, but it was a good reference point to see where it was before shot. 🙂

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15. 

    schoschie

    Oct 2, 2007 at 9:13 am

    *big grin* [It’s easy to spot the ball in the video, but unfortunately I couldn’t see it skipping, prolly too far away.]

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16. 

    Lake Fred

    Jul 16, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Very nice! Please add this HOT Image to Some Like It Hot!
    Some Like It Hot!
    

    Reply
17. 

    jurvetson

    Oct 11, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    Victor just posted a short video of one of these flaming bowling ball launches… Great audio track!

    Reply