Well Equipped - The Coolest Equipment on Earth

The Flaming Car...

2007-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Car jackers - beware! (see the CNN article)

2007-02-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

This one wasn't so cool. It's a satellite that blew up on the launch pad (nobody got hurt). Not a recommended method of transport...

Nitrogen Powered Car

2007-02-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

Nitrogen powered car...

2007-02-08T17:13:00.001-08:00

Darwin Award Honorable Mention:
"A guy wanted to watch a football game without buying a ticket, so he ties a whole bunch of baloons filled with helium to a lawn chair. He ties a rope from his truck to the chair to keep it in place, and carries a pellet gun with him to shoot the baloons one at a time to control his descent. He gets in the chair, and unties the rope.
"The chair shoots up like a rocket to about 12,000 ft. The guy is petrified, and is afraid to shoot the baloons. An airline pilot sees him and calls the control tower (paraprase) "Tower, there's a guy in a chair headed your way with a rifle". After convincing the tower that it isn't a joke, they dispatch a helicopter to rescue the idiot."

- Still looking for pictures of this guy's rig...

2007-02-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Not really sure what to call this thing...

2007-01-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

Might be a little rough getting it street legal...

Flying Boat

2007-01-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

I love sailing, but this looks MUCH cooler.

2007-01-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

Lawn mower races - not quite NASCAR, but still fun to watch...

Albert Einstein Action Figure

2007-01-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

The human kite

2007-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

I vividly recall trying to do this when I was younger and it didn't work...

Rocket-powered Shopping Cart

2007-01-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ever get frustrated with how slow those shopping carts go? Well, I guess this is one way to fix it.

2007-01-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

That's right, rocket luge. Don't forget to wear a helmet...

http://www.fastlanerocketluge.com/Road%20Thrill%20.htm

Personal Jetpack

2007-01-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

That's right - traffic sucks - so use one of these instead. The only question is: where do you park it?

The airplane/car

2007-01-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

Forget about traffic on the 110, just get yourself one of these:

Zip Line Kit

2007-01-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

This was the missing ingredient when I was a kid trying to build tree houses. After all, what's the point of a tree house without some sort of equally cool transportation to go with it.

Rocket Car

2006-12-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

(From the Darwin Awards Site)

The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading
"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-S***."

Water Balloon Launcher

2006-12-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

A classic college project, this baby sure beats throwing them by hand!

The Human Canon

2006-12-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

The human canon. I hope this guy has got something soft to land on!

Forget Disneyland, this is a real ride!

2006-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

Another piece of fine equipment: The Potato Gun

Make sure you don't do anything illegal, but this looks like a lot of fun.

The ACME Catapult

2006-12-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

Forget about slingshots - this thing is cool.

The ACME catapult has been used to launch all kinds of stuff:

Food:

Equipment (Dryer):

(see google video)

(Washing Machine, with water in it!)

Where was this thing when I was a kid?

(Pictures from http://www.acmecatapult.com/)