Pumped for Pumpkins from Indiana Curiosities
(Elletsville)
Whattaya make of all this?
700 gallon air tank
12-in. butterfly valve
30ft. 12-in. black iron pipe
Ford truck front end
40-ft. house trailer frame
Some serious hydraulics
A lot of reinforcing steel
200 lbs. of welding rods
A gallon of aspirin
An understanding wife and neighbors
An unlimited supply of 5-gallon buckets for wading
I’ll tell you what you make. You make a pumpkin launcher that can propel a pumpkin over a mile or make it slam thru the side of a car and come out the other side.
Aren’t you glad you asked?
This particular pumpkin launcher belongs to Jim Bristoe of Ellettsville, a man who frightens people every Halloween without even wearing a mask.
Bristoe’s interest in propulsion began when as a kid he made a potato gun, a weapon of mass infraction since it is technically illegal, because the hairspray he used to fire the potato wad is considered an explosive propellant. I was going to leave this whole paragraph out, but I knew some of you guys would be interested.
To make a long (and loud) story short, Bristoe became fascinated with the idea of hurling something out into space through a tube and ultimately made his first pumpkin cannon using a pneumatic valve. He was a little embarrassed about his plaything, especially when his wife accused him of “not being all there,” a label that had a nice ring to it and is now the name of his website. Later Bristoe discovered there were national competitions for this kind of thing. “I felt better when I learned I was not the only one who liked to blow up vegetables.”
Bristoe entertains not only himself, but local kids who love to see a frozen pumpkin torpedoed through a car, boat or barn door. I guess this is better than playing violent video games, but I’m not positive.
If Jim can find an open field long enough, he claims he can launch a pumpkin a mile and a quarter, reaching speeds of 1300 miles per hour. This is twice as fast as a jet plane.
Jim is not obsessed with shooting pumpkins. He has other interests. In the summer, he shoots watermelons.
You can’t visit this monstrosity. You just have to be lucky enough to be somewhere Jim has lugged it. So, good luck.
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