Rocket Chevy
Butler RN
Think there s a factual basis behind this?
Myself, I don't think an Impala would be
aerodynamically stable no matter how big a rocket you
attached to it. Seems more likely the assemblage
would tumble end over end rather than fly (if the
hypothetical "pilot" had attached the booster firmly
enough to keep it from simply breaking free).
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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. The
wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but
it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at
the scene. The lab finally figured out what it was
and what had happened.
It seems that a guy had somehow gotten hold of a
JATO unit (Jet Assisted Take Off - actually a solid
fuel rocket) 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 as could be determined are that
the operator of the 1967 Impala hit JATO ignition at a
distance of approximately 3.0 miles from 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 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds
well 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
usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under
full afterburners, basically causing him to become
insignificant for the remainder of the event.
However, the automobile remained on the straight
highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20) seconds before the
driver applied and completely melted the brakes,
blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on
the road surface, then becoming airborne for an
additional 1.4 miles and impacting 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.
S.C.Sprong
In article <4pt726$q...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, butl...@aol.com says...
>Think there is a factual basis behind this?
[rocket-powered car story snipped]
This story is a so-called urban legend. The newsgroup alt.folklore.urban
is devoted to checking and/or verifying urban legends. Their faq can be
found at <www.urbanlegends.com/afufaq> or <ftp.urbanlegends.com/afufaq>
Under the header "Wild Life In The Fast Lane" you'll find:
T. Guy in Los Alamos labs fitted a jet engine to Honda Civic, ran on salt
flats.
U. Person fitted rocket/JATO unit to car, embedded in rockface at first
bend.
with
T = 100% scientific truth
U = unanswered and may be unanswerable
Your story is one of the more popular versions (semi-believable references
to 'Arizona Highway Patrol', 'Chevy Impala', etc.) You may bet that the
afu'ers have tried to verify these details: asking the AHP, checking
newspapers, everything.
Hope this helps.
Note: the fact that these stories are reduced to one-liners indicates that
they have been discussed over and over and over again, until everybody
either got sick or got involved in a major flamewar.
Therefore, please think twice before following up on this thread.
regards,
scsprong