Darwin Award - Death by Catapult

2004 Reader Submission - Darwin Awards ^ | FR Post 2-20-2004 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

For the benefit of the rest of the world, in 1986 the UK saw its most violent storm for over 350 years. Wind speeds in some parts exceeded 90 mph and an incredible amounts of damage were done to property and people up and down the UK.

This story made several of the Kent newspapers at the time and - like most sane, rational beings I too found it dificult to believe - but it is absolutely true.

In Margate in the county of Kent, there are many tall Poplar trees and it's not uncommon for residents in the more rural areas to be surrounded by woods and spinnys. During the 1986 storm, an estimated 1 billion trees were lost - uprooted - by the gales. One hapless resident of Margate owned a house that bordered a small wood on the edge of which were 3 massive Poplars. The wind had felled 1 - which had come to rest across his back garden - while the other 2 had managed to resist the winds but had bent over just far enough to lodge their tops under the soffat of this guy's roof.

The foliage of the bent trees was obscuring almost 100% of the light which would have entered his upstairs bedroom windows. Now, this chap did not own a chainsaw nor could he reach the trunks of the trees which were several yards beyond his reach - even when leaning out of the window.

Undeterred by these frustrations and apparently unfettered by common-sense, he decided to find the base of the first tree, shin up the trunk from its location on the edge of the wood and (you can see it coming can't you?!!!) saw the top off while sitting astride the trunk with his feet wedged against his roof gutter.

After almost 20 minutes of sawing, the tree - which experts estimate held the energy equivalent to small field gun - broke away from the part he was sawing off and sprang back upright.

His body was found in a neighbour's garden over 1 mile away and had suffered massive trauma. The police surgeon stated that his neck probably broke during the whiplash and he would therefore have known nothing of the impact with the ground.

[vannrox]

Cross Indexing for validity sake...I say it is bogus.

[Rebelbase]

I was with it until they said the body was found "over 1 mile away"

Everyone know they use the metric system in Britain :-O

[TommyDale]

A billion trees? Gimme a break!

[Post Toasties]

I couldn't imagine anything short of a reinforced concrete bunker or a castle withstanding that much stored energy. Plus a tree that large would probably have snapped rather than bent more than slightly.

[Dr. Marten]

"His body was found in a neighbour's garden over 1 mile away"

Im willing to sell you the London Bridge at a good price...

[socal_parrot]

1 mile? A perfectly working trebuchet would only go few hundred yards.

[BushMeister]

The UK is smaller than Michigan. I doubt anywhere near 1 billion trees could be lost due to a windstorm. I doubt the UK even has 1 billion trees total.

The catapult story is silly, too.

[vannrox]

Top 2002 Darwins

2002 the Palindrome Year brings us tales of terrible aim as Gerald shoots blindly over his shoulder... firecracker roulette, grenade meets chainsaw... Kansas man chatting on cellphone hit by train... Target practice on high tension wires... man's last breath!

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BIG INDEX

[cripplecreek]

You should use that for those "mid evil" zot cases.

[South40]

Don't you know that humor is not wanted at FR?

I posted a similarly humorous message late yesterday which was met by the following Freepmail...

Why do you pollute a serious thread with inane comments? FR was established for a specific purpose and is not a chat room for bored adolescents. Please come back if you grow up.

His name was BuffaloHead, and his mission appears to be to eradicate ALL humor at FR. How dare we stand in his way!

Great post, btw...

[vannrox]

How to Build a Catapult

We get a LOT of requests for plans, diagrams, instructions, parts lists, and other overly general questions. For the most part, people who build catapults (myself included) don't really make formal plans. Some of us design as we build, others keep their plans in their heads. The few who actually do write things down tend to do so in their own personal shorthand, which would probably not be much use to anyone other than the author.

This practice is consistent with ancient traditions. There are no detailed plans in existance of any of the ancient machines. We're lucky if we even have a bad, off-scale sketch to work from, and there are never any details!

So, here is a collection of what plans we've been able to collect from around the web. These are compiled from several sources by many people. Some are suitable for physics projects, and some are for more serious hobbyists. You'll have to figure out which ones are right for you.

Most of the rest of us got started with books and encyclopediae. We feel that the research and design of these machines is half the fun. (The other half being building and firing them!)

Take a look at these links, do some research, and have fun! (Oh, and if you create any plans of your own, be sure to send them to us so we can post them here with the others!)
Good Luck!

---

1. Buy a History E-Book.
   The Projectile Throwing Engines of the Ancients by Ralph Payne-Gallwey
   Published in 1907. This English Nobleman researched and developed fully functional catapult and trebuchet recreations at the end of the 19th century, then wrote a book about it. It's a great way to learn how these machines were made. Lots of pictures and diagrams.

2. Get the Trebuchet Simulator!
   This is by far the easiest and fastest way to test your trebuchet designs!
   "It's what I use!" -- Ron L. Toms

3. Buy A Kit!
   A complete, easy to assemble kit including everything you need to build a working trebuchet or mangonel. All pieces are pre-cut and pre-drilled for easy construction.

4. About the original F.A.T.           How other people built the F.A.T.
   Photos, video clips, specifications and descriptions.

5. Ripcord's Trebuchet Stuff
   By far the best place to get started and learn the basics of trebuchets, including slings, pouches, and release pins. Tons of great info and pictures!
   Now including detailed PLANS!

6. The Paper Trebuchet
   A working card model that you can print out and make.

7. Dan Becker's GOOD PLANS
   A great resource for building a tabletop model from scratch. Lots of detail photos.

8. INGENIUM medium trebuchet
   Very nice printable plans, and don't forget the smaller version here .

9. The Grey Company Trebuchet Page
   A tremendous source of research, photos, drawings and other info. This is a fabulous place to start.

10. Knight's Armoury
    The best site around for blueprints of real medieval weaponry! Great research material!

11. Jari Vaarma's siege engine page
    Contains detailed drawings for a small trebuchet and pictures of a larger trebuchet and an onager.

12. Onager Online
    Team Carbo's award winning onager. Click on the "upgrades, plans, and construction details" on the left side-bar.

13. The Algorithmic Beauty of the Trebuchet
    WinTrebStar - A fabulous software simulator for trebuchets. Versions for both Mac and Windows. Information about onager behavior and materials strengths is available too!

14. Projectile Motion
    A page with the basic physics formulae for ballistic projectiles:

There are many other great sites as well. If you run across one that should be included on this page, be sure to let me know!

[vannrox]

[socal_parrot]

I checked it out on Snopes, but didn't find anything. I did find an Urban Legend about a cat being flung out of sight from a tree.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Sounds like Yosemite Sam trying to overtake the castle where Bugs Bunny is guarding the "Singing Sword."

"I'm gonna get you varmit!"

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[1066AD]

Yes, that figure is way too high. It was hurricane force in some areas, hitting huge trees who still carried their leaves and who were in ground sodden from rain. It was a hell of a mess. The effects are still visible. The weather service got it totally wrong so it hit as a surprise.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/16/newsid_3174000/3174374.stm

[Restorer]

A billion trees? Gimme a break!

The UK has appr. 240,000 sq. km. of land area. Let's assume that 1/4 of that or 60,000 sq. km. is covered with forest.

If the trees are 10 feet apart, there are about 400 per acre.

There are 247 acres per sq. km.

400 x 247 x 60,000 = 5,760,000,000 trees.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if 1 in 5 trees fell down during the highest winds in a century.

But that is a LOT of trees!

[Restorer]

A billion trees? Gimme a break!

The UK has appr. 240,000 sq. km. of land area. Let's assume that 1/4 of that or 60,000 sq. km. is covered with forest.

If the trees are 10 feet apart, there are about 400 per acre.

There are 247 acres per sq. km.

400 x 247 x 60,000 = 5,760,000,000 trees.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if 1 in 5 trees fell down during the highest winds in a century.

But that is a LOT of trees!

[StACase]

[King Prout]

I agree - this smells like an Urban Legend.