What's the craziest, most dangerous thing you ever did?

[lunatic59]

I'll agree to crazy, but not dangerous.

Unless you were sitting in front of the one with the weak stomach.

Wouldn't take that long before I . Did the puker have to buy everyone a drink?

We already had a few before we got on.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

LOL.

 

[basic 101 user]

Not my story, all third-hand info, but from reliable sources.

Everyone is familiar with the catapults that chuck jet fighters off the end of the flight deck on an aircraft carrier, yeah?
In round numbers, 50,000 LBS, flicked to 200 MPH in a few hundred feet.
Any way you do the math, we are talking about big, big horsepower numbers.

And as the aircraft clears the end of the deck, there are about 20 feet of boat left to get all of that mechanism back under control, reset for the next plane; The hairy chested genie that made all the magic happen over the last 2 seconds, now must be put back in the bottle in about 1/4 second.
Cubic horsepower to be absorbed and dissipated.
Without going into great deal about the fascinating engineering that does manage to absorb all of that energy reliably and predictably (Viet Nam era story, so who knows how, today).........

Guys would go below the flight deck, up into the prow of the ship, and as a display of courage / hazing ritual; They would stand face to face with the catapult damper assembly, while it was in service.

 

[Dngrsone]

Well, modern-era catapults use a water-brake: as I recall, it is a very massive plate of steel with a constant stream of water flowing across its face. The front of the catapult shuttle strikes this blanket of water (which resists compression very well) and stops.

A cable then pulls the shuttle back to the start-point.

One of the rituals I am aware of involved taking a shower in the water brake water... Cold and stinky (heavy grease).

 

[basic 101 user]

^^^^^
Sounds very similar to what was described to me; The nature of the components described makes following blah, blah, blah perilously close to "heavy metal pornography", forgive me.

Spoiler: Oh, grow up! ; )

What was described to me was a stationary "female/ receiver" component, in the prow of the ship, and a corresponding "male / penetrating" component, in motion with the launch sled.

The male component was described as an enormous steel "spike", perhaps 6 feet long, a tapered cone section, perhaps three feet in diameter at the tail end, one foot in diameter at the lead end.

The female component was an enormous recumbent structure with a similar internal taper; As it was "lying" with its axis of symmetry inline with the travel axis of the sled, it could not be properly referred to as "being full" of water; Water was constantly pouring out of the wide open large diameter, and an annular ring of water jets was constantly forcing as much water back into the receiver as possible, keeping it "kind of full" of water at all times.

So when the spike began to engage the receiver, at 200 MPH, the cross sectional area of the "ring" through which the water could escape, would progressively be reduced, with deeper and deeper engagement of the two components; And while the pressure of the trapped water would go up exponentially, the velocity of the sled would go down at a controlled, more linear rate. I assume there were multiple bulkheads within the receiver assembly, defining multiple ring sections through which water must pass, each bleeding pressure into adjacent partitions? I assume there was no fixed "limit stop" to prevent overtravel of the sled, bottoming of one taper into the other; It was strictly hydraulics that prevented any "metal to metal" contact in routine service?
Such a design might lend itself well to being "throttled up or down", depending on the launch demands of various aircraft; More or less water in the system at the moment of initial engagement, more or fewer "active / flooded" partitions used in any one cycle?

Again, just what was related to me, perhaps only a kernel of truth, one of the many ways to "skin the cat".....But I thought a nifty, simple solution to a pretty tough engineering challenge.
And considering the forces involved, the visual spectacle, the sensations, the smells (yes, cold, smelly, oily water) and above all, the sounds involved......crazy to stand right there! No thank you!
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[Dngrsone]

Your description soun ds about right, considering what I recall of the general shape of the shuttle when removed from the track.

Cats were not my specialty, so I have only a general knowledge.

If you think about it, one of the craziest things the average person could do is hang out on the flight deck during operations. Been there, done that.

Ran back to my shop add soon as I was able to, for sure.

Not that it was entirely safe in there. One task I had to do is adjust the output voltage on the test-bench main power supplies: 5vdc @ 125a.

Not much voltage but enough current capacity to kill you a thousand times over. I always has someone standing by at the emergency cut-out when I crawled inside the bench to do that one.

 

[basic 101 user]

Not crazy,( just stupid,) and definitely dangerous:

The house had provisions for an electric drier in the laundry room, but I was running natural gas.

I had no need for the 220 in the laundry room, but I did need some 220 in the basement, to run my compressor. It was a no brainer.......Tap into the unused dryer feed, put in a receptacle, and Bob's your uncle.

Please be smarter than I was, and never ever blindly trust that the former homeowner had properly labeled the circuit breakers. I have some side cutters that will never be the same again, and I'm fortunate to be around to hopefully never make a mistake that stupid again.......Trust, but verify!

 

[mikedt]

It's all 220v in China. BTW what's this "circuit breaker" thing that you speak of? I think there's a knife switch somewhere. Having the washing machine/drier in a wet bathroom seems to be the usual place for it.

 

[LizMac]

Told a member of an infamous Outlaw MC gang to "F**K off" while he was pointing a gun at another guy that he was pissed off at outside a sleazy biker bar. I was very drunk.

Somehow, I'm still alive.