Heard the one about the rocket car?

by **Chacal** » Sun May 30, 2004 2:00 pm

Everyone has heard about the Darwin awards, and about the one (now admitted to be urban legend) where a guy sticks a JATO rocket in the ass of an old car in the desert and ends up embedded in a conveniently-placed mountainside.

This Wired article dated Aug. 2000 could tell the final truth about what started the JATO story. It goes on a bit, but is pretty damn funny, especially at the end. It even features YaDad, although he's named Sal in the story.

by **LordShard** » Sun May 30, 2004 2:55 pm

The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded into the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve....

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO unit (or Jet Assisted Take-Off) that is used to give heavy military transport planes an extra "push" for taking off from short airfields. He had driven 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 JATO!

The facts as best could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala hit JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The Impala quickly reached speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continued at full power for an additional 20 to 25 seconds. The soon-to-be-pilot experienced g-forces usually reserved for dogfighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners. The automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.6 miles (15 to 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 became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles and impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet leaving a blackened crater 3 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 and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

by **cavalierlwt** » Sun May 30, 2004 7:29 pm

It's funny, but something about that story seems as though it was written by Stephen King. He has a very distinct style and reading that story, it somehow just felt like Stephen King's style. The way the friends were (one comically stupid, one very smart) and the way he wrapped it up. I can't quite put my finger on it.

by **Tommy Boy** » Sun May 30, 2004 9:49 pm

you lost me at page 3 when I fell asleep....teachers who do not know how to use the internet...must be Canadian!

But don't get me started about Canadian teachers and the state of our education system...

by **CharlieDontSurf** » Sun May 30, 2004 10:30 pm

I'm with you Tommy; after page 3 it was nappy time. I didn't need an article to explain to me why this 'urban legend' was total bull from the beginning.

I was in the Air Force from 1986-1991 (Served in Desert Storm I) as an Avionics mechanic and worked on several versions of the C-130 aircraft. While I didn't work on the JATO system, I saw it in action and it is truly impressive to watch this thing being used.

Here's a link to the dimensions of an average C-130
http://www.lmtas.com/products/airmobility/c-130/specs.html#weights and the idea of strapping a
JATO to ANY commercial land vehicle is laughable. Even
more laughable is people that actually believed this 'legend'. :rotflmao:

Here's a photo of the C-130 being towed into a hanger. Look
how big that thing is compare to the tug towing it and the tug
is bigger than almost all commercial vehicles.

by **PudriK** » Mon May 31, 2004 11:58 am

Ever put a bottle rocket on a matchbox car? I imagine it would have about the same effect... it just went flipping down the road, tumbling and bouncing all over the place. Then again, I don't think a real car would bounce so much as crumble.

by **SavageParrot** » Mon May 31, 2004 12:08 pm

Someone want to tell me the end of the story I haven't got time to read that novel he wrote, I couldn't be bothered to read past page 2

by **Chacal** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:19 pm

He ducked-taped Sal to the rocket and sent him in orbit.

by **TestMonkey#8** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:11 pm

Have you ever seen the show mythbusters on the Discovery Channel? They did a segment on this urben legend. Basicaly they rigged up several rockets to an Impalla and set it off via remote control in the salt flats in Utah. Im not sure if they used a JATO rocket or not, but the car reached like 250mph. I cant remember all the details cause its been awhile since i saw it, but i think they locked out the steering and added wings for down force to keep it on the ground. Check it out in reruns.

by **deathBOB** » Mon May 31, 2004 8:57 pm

350mph? Would his tires be ripped to shreds??? I imagine the impalas tires couldnt take 100 mph, much less 350...

by **SkiloDog2000** » Mon May 31, 2004 9:05 pm

Originally posted by CharlieDontSurf
I'm with you Tommy; after page 3 it was nappy time. I didn't need an article to explain to me why this 'urban legend' was total bull from the beginning.

I was in the Air Force from 1986-1991 (Served in Desert Storm I) as an Avionics mechanic and worked on several versions of the C-130 aircraft. While I didn't work on the JATO system, I saw it in action and it is truly impressive to watch this thing being used.

Here's a link to the dimensions of an average C-130
http://www.lmtas.com/products/airmobility/c-130/specs.html#weights and the idea of strapping a
JATO to ANY commercial land vehicle is laughable. Even
more laughable is people that actually believed this 'legend'.

Here's a photo of the C-130 being towed into a hanger. Look
how big that thing is compare to the tug towing it and the tug
is bigger than almost all commercial vehicles.

theres a guy on top of the plane

also,,, i saw a guy with a pickup truck strapped to a huge jet enjine at the otis air show a few years back before 9/11

he apparently crashed it and is still rebuilding it though

cant find a pic but heres a "rocket train" http://www.spacedaily.com/images/soyuz-train-bg.jpg

by **CharlieDontSurf** » Mon May 31, 2004 11:11 pm

I've spend some time on top of those planes checking antennas and it sucks being up there when there's ice on the surface. Long fall to the ground.

Heard the one about the rocket car?

Heard the one about the rocket car?

Who is online