Comshaw
VAGITARIAN
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2000
- Posts
- 12,084
A friend from my home town Police Depatment gave me this. He thought I might get a laugh for it. I figured Ya'll might too. It's from the Law Officers Safety and Intelligence Bulletin.
"Total Station" This
The Arizona highway Patrol responded to the scene of a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it appeared to be a car. Lab personnel ultimately figured out what had occured.
Apparently someone managed to acquire a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off unit). This is a solid fuel rocket utilized by heavy military transport planes as an extra "push" for their take-offs from short airstrips.
The person had driven their 1967 Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. They attached the JATO to the car and jumped in!
Investigators were able to determine that the operator of the Impala hit JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles fro the crash site. This was established by the prominent scorched and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within seconds, causing the Impala to reach speeds in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds.
The driver, soon to be pilot, most likely would have experienced G-forces similar to those endured by the dog fighting F-18 jocks under full afterburners. Momentarily incapacitated, the driver/pilot recovered enough to attempt brake application after 2.5 mile (15-20 seconds) run
down the highway. Officers located thick rubber marks on the road's surface where the brakes completely melted down and all four tires blew out. After that, it appears the vehicle became airborne for an additional 1.4 miles before impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet. The result was a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock. The majority of the driver's remains were not recoverable.
Speeding never killed anybody....Stopping did.
"Total Station" This
The Arizona highway Patrol responded to the scene of a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it appeared to be a car. Lab personnel ultimately figured out what had occured.
Apparently someone managed to acquire a JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off unit). This is a solid fuel rocket utilized by heavy military transport planes as an extra "push" for their take-offs from short airstrips.
The person had driven their 1967 Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. They attached the JATO to the car and jumped in!
Investigators were able to determine that the operator of the Impala hit JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles fro the crash site. This was established by the prominent scorched and melted asphalt at that location. The JATO, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within seconds, causing the Impala to reach speeds in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds.
The driver, soon to be pilot, most likely would have experienced G-forces similar to those endured by the dog fighting F-18 jocks under full afterburners. Momentarily incapacitated, the driver/pilot recovered enough to attempt brake application after 2.5 mile (15-20 seconds) run
down the highway. Officers located thick rubber marks on the road's surface where the brakes completely melted down and all four tires blew out. After that, it appears the vehicle became airborne for an additional 1.4 miles before impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet. The result was a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock. The majority of the driver's remains were not recoverable.
Speeding never killed anybody....Stopping did.
