I think this was the first Darwin Award story I ever read. It probably is fiction, but who really knows. After spending several years on this site and reading forum posts, I'm sure there are people who would really give this a try. 😉
A Darwin Award
The JATO/Impala Story
The former front-runner was the mystery owner of a jet-propelled Chevy
Impala. The Arizona (USA) Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smouldering
metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the crest of
a curve. Wreckage resembled that at an airplane crash, but it was a
car--make and model unidentifiable at the scene.
A lab figured out the story. It seems the driver had somehow gotten hold of
a JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off--actually a solid fuel rocket) that's
used to give heavy military transport planes an extra "push" taking off from
short airfields.
He drove his Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight
stretch of road. Then he attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, got
up some speed and fired off the jet device. The cops calculate that the
driver of the car...hit JATO ignition at a distance of about 3 miles from
the crash site. Asphalt was scorched and melted there.
Reaching maximum thrust within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy
to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds, the driver, soon to be pilot, most likely would have
experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog fighting F-14 jocks under full
afterburners, basically causing him to become insignificant for the rest of
the event.
The individual remained on the highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds)
before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the
tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface.
Became airborne for an additional 1.4 miles, impacting the cliff face at a
height of 125 feet and leaving a black crater three feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable; however, small fragments
of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater and fingernail shards
were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering
wheel.
Originally posted by mwmillerA great story, I've always loved it, but sadly, it's one of those urban myths.
I think this was the first Darwin Award story I ever read. It probably is fiction, but who really knows. After spending several years on this site and reading forum posts, I'm sure there are people who would really give this a try. 😉
A Darwin Award
The JATO/Impala Story
The former front-runner was the mystery owner of a jet-propelled Chevy
Imp ...[text shortened]... hards
were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering
wheel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JATO_Rocket_Car
Originally posted by SquelchbelchOne for the mathematicians :
My favourite by far is Lawnchair Larry.
Absolute gem!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry
Assuming the weight of the man and chair were 100kg,
and he was using a total of 45 balloons, how much balast
would he need to counter a descent from 15,000 feet?
Originally posted by Sam The ShamWiki quote:
Here's one the ladies can have fun with: Why are the recipients of Darwin Awards almost exclusively men?
The Awards honour people who ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.
Men would be uniquely qualified to achieve this feat. 😀
Originally posted by MissOleumBut women seem to keep finding ways to make us breed anyway!
Wiki quote:
The Awards honour people who ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion.
Men would be uniquely qualified to achieve this feat. 😀