We took the show on the road in 2001, traveling to Morton, IL, for their Punkin Chunkin contest. “The Big 10 Inch” finished “in the money”, placing 3rd behind the “Aludium Q36 Punkin Modulator” and “2nd Amendment”. These teams hail from Illinois and Michigan respectively.
Finishing third was a disappointment versus our expectations but a tribute to improvements by our competition. 2001 taught us it’s dangerous to rest on your laurels, and spurred us on to make improvements for 2002.
2000 - World Championship Punkin Chunkin
The Big 10 Inch launched several pumpkins over 4000 feet
during the 2000 World Championships. Our best shot was hurled a
distance of 4111 feet (1.25 km), or about 4/5 of a mile, as accurately measured
by a professional surveyor. This record shot exceeded our best performance of
the previous year by 11%. It was the longest shot of any event held during the
year, including the original World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest, which
has been held every November in southern Delaware for the last 16 years. This
event draws over 80 entrants from as far away as Illinois, Michigan, and
Florida. The 2000 champion, “Old Glory”, won with a shot of 4086 feet, rivaling
our record shot. “Old Glory”, along with “Q36” and “2nd Amendment” are the
other members of the “4000 Foot Club”
2000 - World Champions!
In our second year of competition, the Big 10 Inch was crowned 1999 Punkin Chunkin World Champions after hurling a 9.2 lb. pumpkin a distance of 3,695 feet, besting the second-place finisher, “Q36”, by 150 feet.
Our winning toss exceeded our best rookie year mark by over 30%. We attribute our dramatic improvement from our 1998 rookie year to two things:
Our winning toss exceeded our best rookie year mark by over 30%. We attribute our dramatic improvement from our 1998 rookie year to two things:
- 150% increase in the energy released by The Big 10 Inch as it propels a pumpkin down its 100-foot barrel, upping the output to roughly 1000 horsepower!
- Pre-launch beer bath for the pumpkin. As with any sporting contest, it’s the little things that count. Now that we have a streak going, we don’t dare change this practice. (Of course, the team members consume a considerably larger amount than they use for bathing the pumpkins. This practice contributes to soaring spirits if not to soaring gourds.)
1999 - So It Begins...
We came in as cocky engineers with our brand new chunker. We
left with 7th place. Turns out, pumpkins can take 500 g’s before they turn to
“pie”. Who knew?
