Blog
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
site updates
28 brand-new, never-before-seen images from the rebuilding and testing phases of Medieval Postal Service during the 2009 season are now available. Also, we have added information on the changes to MPS on the MPS page. A few other minor changes have been made, but those are the major ones. Hopefully we will roll out some more stuff soon.
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| Dec 27, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
news, WCPC
So it has been nearly a month since we returned from Delaware and the World Championships of Punkin' Chunkin'. It is time to really condense down what happened.
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| Dec 07, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
site updates, WCPC
Just a quick update, we have uploaded a video of all of our shots at the 2009 World Championships of Punkin' Chunkin'. More videos will be coming eventually, from our fall testing to other machines at the event, we took video of a lot of different machines. Other pictures of Medieval Postal Service from this year during modifications, and some information on those modifications will come as well.
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| Nov 23, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
site updates, WCPC
We have uploaded 114 new pictures to the site from the 2009 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin. Also new this year is that not all of the pictures are from Matt's camera this time, Chris took a bunch too, and some are in the gallery. Enjoy all the pictures, most are of the extremely competitive trebuchet division, which saw a staggering 9 machines break 1000 feet, 5 of those machines never having broken that mark before in competition. Soon we will post a full trip report on the World Championships, there is a lot to talk about.
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| Nov 18, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
launches, WCPC
Sunday is traditionally break it Sunday at the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin. Everyone adds more counterweight, torques up their ropes more, etc. And today did not dissapoint. After the 2000 foot shot on Saturday, Yankee Siege shot a high 1800's shot, 1870 or so. We will post final distances later. Pumpkin Hammer, still stuck as a HCW this year, did not improve their distance. Hokie Hurler added even more weight to their machine, causing it to lean noticably, but they did not get any more distance. The machine did survive the shot, however.
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| Nov 08, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
launches, WCPC
That's right folks, you heard it here first! Yankee Siege shook off their troubles from yesterday, whatever they were and FINALLY broke 2000 feet with a 2034 foot shot! Needless to say, they are in first place after two days with that shot. More interesting is where the rest of the field placed. Pumpkin Hammer shot a shorter distance than yesterday, but Hokie Hurler broke 1300 feet! Congratulations to them. Great Gourd Experiment looked to improve their distance, but we did not get the actual number. First in Fright finally got off a decent trajectory shot and broke 1100 feet!
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| Nov 07, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
launches, WCPC
Day 1 is in the books with some very interesting results. First Yankee Siege only shot around 1295 feet after some very impressive-looking test shots yesterday. Pupmkin Hammer fired as a standard HCW as expected and went 1100 feet or so. Hokie Hurler followed up with an OUTSTANDING 1187 feet! Great Gourd Experiment bombed one out around 600 feet or so, and First in Fright had a massive pop up that netted them 350 feet roughly. Then Medieval Postal Service shot one out there to 916.04 feet, but it was a very flat trajectory and our sling may have rotated in midflight causing the pumpkin to come out slightly sideways, likely robbing us of some distance. Unfortunately it is not clear in the video if this happened for sure or not. What is known is that our trajectory was fairly flat, though not terribly so. We can only try again, we know we have much more distance. Morganna shot a decent shot, but only 500 feet or so probably and Fred the Treb was in roughly the same range, maybe a bit shorter even.
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| Nov 06, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
news, launches, WCPC
Well we finished setting up Medieval Postal Service today with fairly little incident. Really the only issue was that it took a while for us to get inspected, as the inspector likely forgot our request with all the other stuff he was undoubtably having to deal with. No big deal, we got inspected and got our first shot off around 4:15 PM (though we were ready to start firing ops around 2:30). A decent shot, but the one 25 minutes after it was even better, certainly a 1000+ foot shot. We are expecting stiff competition this year, as several teams from last year have made massive improvements to their machines, First in Fright and Hokie Hurler being among them. Shenanigans II should also be right in the mix, assuming they can get off reliable shots. They are there and set up, but we have yet to see John or Tom. Pumpkin Hammer is on site, unfortunately firing as a standard HCW this year due to some major problems that cropped up during their testing this fall. Yankee Siege looks pretty strong, and Merlin showed up late in the afternoon. This year Chris Gerow also brought the 3-time World Champion (albeit a few years removed) King Arthur, which historically shot right around the distances we are probably looking at. Like I said, it should be and interesting competition.
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| Nov 05, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
news, WCPC
Team Urban Siege has made it down to Delaware and is beginning to set up Medieval Postal Service. We were able to move right in to our pit as soon as we arrived around 3:20 after leaving Rochester at 7:20AM. This is despite the large amount of rain that had fallen on the field over the last week or so, prompting remarking of the pit locations at least once. Still, all was fairly dry once we got on-site today. Tomorrow we plan to finish setup, as we were only able to get the base put together before we ran out of light. Plus, we were tired after almost 7.5 hours of driving and an early morning to boot.
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| Nov 04, 2009
Posted by Matt
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Tags:
launches, news
Well, Medieval Postal Service is done with testing for 2009. We had a fairly successful testing period, despite the constant rain which washed out several days that could have been used to test even further. Nevertheless, the machine is firing at full capacity, and so far is not trying to destroy itself on each shot like last year. This in itself is good news. This weekend we will be packing up the machine for transportation to Delaware. The plan is to leave early Wednesday morning so that we get down to the field around 3 or 4 PM, and get our pit assignment and a few other little details sorted out before we begin to set up on Thursday. This year we ought to be able to shoot some test shots on Thursday, which will be good since we will be able to make sure we are in shape to compete starting Friday.
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| Oct 28, 2009
