FLYING PIANOS!!!!

[Roger Jolly]

Robert Goodale wrote:
Hi Robert,
          This Gentleman cannot claim to have started the piano smashing
club. In the mid 60's we have an annual gala event at university,
involving pianos.
 Each college was resposible for finding it's own sutiable vertical
piano, on the the great day they were lined up on the sports field.
 Several well used Austin Mini tyre's were suspended and fixed to a
scaffold.
 All parts of the afore said INSTRUMENT had to be passed through the one
foot diameter hole of the tyre and be carried to the finish line.
 One 14lb sledge hammer was alloted per team. As was one keg of beer.
 It was permissable to try and steal either the Keg or the hammer.
 A great fund raiser for worth while causes.
This was my very first brush with piano technology.
Regards Roger> 
> Did anyone besides me catch the segment on "Goodmorning America" this
> morning about the guy in England who is launching pianos?
> 
> This seems to have evolved into a new sport, and a lot of people have
> been experimenting with this new form of destruction. This is certainly
> not a new concept. I'm sure everyone has heard of or viewed the now
> famous scene from "Northern Exposure".
> 
> What this guy is doing, however, is much more impressive. His name is
> Hew Kennedy from England, and he has built a MASSIVE machine which
> flings full-sized cars hundreds of feet into the air, sending them
> flying hundreds of yards accross an empty field. The clip from the show
> this morning was absolutely hilarious. He also launcehs large pianos
> which spontaniously turn to splinters upon impact. Hmmmmm, I can think
> of a few that I'd like to do that to. (A great destructive test for CA
> glue?)
> 
> I did a brief internet search and found the following, well worth a peek
> and a good laugh. Enjoy!
> 
> Rob Goodale, RPT
> 
> http://asylum.apocalypse.org/pub/u/zonker/fpp/html/trebuchet.html
> (About the guy in England)
> 
> http://www.eskimo.com/%7Everne/treb.htm
> (About the "Northern Exposure" machine)
> 
> http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~ar39/trebuchets/
> (Various links on the subject)