How do you like my driving

Submitted: Friday, Apr 29, 2005 at 23:42
ThreadID: 22497 Views:2152 Replies:5 FollowUps:4
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May have been posted before but has any one read this.

The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smouldering 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-bleep."

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Reply By: Kazza055 - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:09

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:09
I believe this guy won a Darwin Award.

Bob Cheers
AnswerID: 108880

Follow Up By: Rosco - Bris. - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:47

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:47
A couple of years back.
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FollowupID: 365640

Follow Up By: Exploder - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 01:06

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 01:06
Did he. It was a good effort and deserves that sort of recognition.

My brother sent it to me. I thought it was rather funny so I posted it on hear to see who else had read it.

Thought it was a true story.

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Reply By: Pterosaur - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:46

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 00:46
Myth Busters BUSTED this myth (must be true, I saw it on TV)
AnswerID: 108884

Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 06:19

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 06:19
Yeah,,, Its hard to buy good brake pads these days!!!!!!
Patrol 4.2TDi 2003

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AnswerID: 108891

Reply By: Michael Carey - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 13:21

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 13:21
Jamie and Adam did a real good job researching this on Mythbusters. Unable to get their hands on a JATO, they used BIG model rocket engines which in themselves gave more thrust than a JATO. They used three, fired sequentially to equal the burn time of a genuine JATO.
Their radio controled car was no way near taking off but did accelerate quite impressivly. Their experiments showed that the myth is false, there is no way it could have happened with a single JATO.
AnswerID: 108927

Follow Up By: Exploder - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 16:20

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 16:20
Gday Michael.

Must of missed that episode of myth busters. I don’t see how 1 JATO would have any problem getting a car up to 250MPH thou, they r designed to help get heavy haulage aircraft of the ground that weigh 90,000KG plus ( I don’t always agree 100% with the myth busters finding)

I might have to do some reading on JATO devisers to find out how many Pound’s of thrust they put out.

P.S I would of thought that standard tyres would of parted ways at that sorter speed thou.

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Follow Up By: Michael Carey - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 17:21

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 17:21
I sort of wondered about that too. I can remember seeing some US military aircraft with multiple JATO's mounted on the underside. These were all fired at once. Mythbusters made a point that their solid fuel rocket motors gave more thrust than a JATO but had around a third of the burn time.
I have seen footage of some large transport planes getting airborne with JATO's (or similar) with VERY short runways (<70 feet!). I think they also tried them in reverse to help stop planes on short runways but the wings didn't approve, showing this by breaking off!

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Reply By: mattandlana - Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 19:27

Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 at 19:27
It's a great story. As Snopes debunking site says, there's something so wonderfully Wyle E. Coyote about it, I want it to be true.

But ... here's the link to Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/autos/dream/jato.asp.
AnswerID: 108974

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