High Winds Can't Stop Physics Club Pumpkin Launch

While various Illinois State University athletic teams are working their way toward their respective trophies and conference titles, one ISU team is already wearing a championship banner.

The ISU Physics Club team took first place in its division at the 11th annual Punkin’ Chuckin’ event in Morton over the weekend.  The Physics Club entry, “If Reggie Could Fly,” stormed past other competitors in the trebuchet division with a final day throw of 929 feet (more than three football fields) into 35-mph headwinds.  The ISU’s team’s 12-foot-tall trebuchet launched throws of 629 feet and 722 feet on Saturday

Other Punkin’ Chuckin’ competitive divisions were catapult, air cannon, human powered and other.

Physics Club Secretary Tim Garvin and Physics Model Shop manager Jim Dunham were the leaders behind the trebuchet design and construction, with help from many other students including Matthew Norton, Jon Moller, Michael Cliff, RJ Linton, Alison O'Connell, Amy Erxleben and James Kristoff.  The Physics Club has worked on their “chucker” for more than 18 months.  Physics faculty members George Rutherford and Jay Ansher also were part of the team.

The ISU Physics Club trebuchet is mounted to a 16-foot trailer.  The throwing arm, when extended, stands an additional 11 feet taller.  The trebuchet uses a variable amount of counterweight hung from a 300-pound weight hanger.  Up to 40 steel barbell plates of 45 pounds each can be added for a total possible counterweight of 2100 pounds.  Human power and a custom-designed winch with steel cable is used to manually crank the weight up into the air.  A 10½-foot sling with a pouch holds the pumpkin and is attached at the end of the throwing arm. The chucked pumpkins were all between 8 and 10 pounds.

For their championship efforts, team members won medals and the Physics Club earned the $200 first prize.