Why pumpkin chunkin

Team Chucky busted its rope bundle during a pregame test shot and worked the phones to get an emergency overnight shipment of industrial rope from Seattle rushed to the Delaware field via UPS. With a precedent shattering two armed catapult, a flair for the dramatic and no small amount of Jersey moxie, the team is Chunkin legend.

Heavy metal. Chucky III is powered by a high tension bundle of twisted rope that generates , foot-pounds of torque. The coiled rope is attached to a power arm and an foot throwing arm. When the tension is released, the throwing arm snaps forward and flings the pumpkin at speeds approaching miles per hour. Chucky III currently holds the Punkin Chunkin world record for the longest throw by a mechanical machine - 3, The team's ultimate goal is to join the elite 4,foot club and serve the air cannon captains humble pie.

It's a pointless exercise that people really get involved with and it shows off their creativity and their work ethic and the fact that in America, even if we're blue collar people, we can figure out how to get a little bit of money or materials together. That's the closest any team has come to the coveted mile mark. This is America. Deal with it. Everybody in the NFL hates the Patriots because all they do is win. I'm not condoning some of the crap that they've tried to pull but they're under a microscope.

I'm not saying I'm Brad Pitt, but the more success you have, the more people resent you. Fire in the hole. American Chunker fired a pumpkin 4, But everything seems possible for Team Chucky on this sunny, if breezy, November afternoon. Hydraulic rams tension up the rope bundle while Gussen circles the machine holding his signature sledgehammer.

After two honks of a truck horn, a countdown and a cry of "Fire in the hole," the trigger is pulled and the arm arcs up with a whoosh, hurling the pumpkin heavenward.

The good news: The gourd does not burst into bits during its launch. In Ellsworth, Trey Melson, Bill Thompson and Donald "Doc" Pepper began experimenting with punkin chunking after reading an article about a physics class that that threw pumpkins as an exercise in energy and mass. Previous to this, the group held an anvil tossing competition. The longest shot, or "chunk" the group recorded that year was feet [ World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association ].

Compare that to the world-record holders, air cannon team Young Glory III's 4,chunk, and it's evident that the event is becoming more and more competitive, with teams putting their engineer skills to the test not to mention specially grown "aerodynamic pumpkins [ Science Channel ]. Teams compete in divisions such as air cannon, centrifugal, catapult, human power, trebuchet , theatrical and torsion. The competition is divided into three classes: Adult 18 and older , Youth 11 to17 and Youth under age Many of the pumpkin-throwing machines are mechanical in design.

The current record holders use compressed air. Some teams use scrap metal, which can greatly reduce the cost. Punkin Chunkers have a few options when it comes to streaking the skies with squash. All are based on the concept of force, power and torque:. Any machine using compressed air to launch a pumpkin is called an air cannon.

Air is compressed into a tank. We are sending our hopes and prayers for a full recovery to the injured woman, her family and loved ones. The annual competition had been on hiatus after a previous accident and lawsuit, which was dismissed in Facebook Twitter Email.

Show Caption. The event has not been held since This year's competition will mark the 30th ever Punkin Chunkin. It was the brainchild of Trey Melson and Bill Thompson after an argument about who could find a way to throw a pumpkin farther. Then-spokesman Harry Lackhove predicted a throw of 1, feet could take top prize and earn the winner "a cap or T-shirt and the right to crow for a year," he told The News Journal. It expanded in , adding human-powered and youth divisions plus a pumpkin recipe contest.

It quickly becomes a staple of their Thanksgiving programming. After the lawsuit is filed, the farmer who hosted the event says he won't let it return to his property. The lawsuit is eventually settled out of court.