Catapult Campout

It was stated at committee on the 4th that the boys wanted to build a catapult. Mr. Cox told the committee he could draw up designs. With the committee’s consent, Mr. Cox began drawing designs.

Over the next few days, Mr. Cox researched and developed an idea. By testing the elasticity of various cables, he found out how far a tennis ball would travel. By Monday there was a completed catapult design in Google sketchup. It was sent to the boy scouts for approval.

Towards the end of the next Boy Scout meeting four designs were set out for voting. First of all was a small wooden model. Next, was a similar model made of office supplies. Thirdly, there was a 2 foot backyard catapult. Finally there was our design. By the end of the meeting, our design was chosen

Once Mr. Cox’s design was picked, he was given a budget. First order of business was to find lumber. Our job was to find the best pieces for the project at hand. While most of Lowe’s selection was good there was little of the quality we needed. We managed to find what we needed, but it took quite a while. Afterwards, we collected the rest of the hardware.

The next day, we lined the pieces up and drilled holes through the wood in preparation for the troop assembling it.

On Monday, we worked with the troop to assemble the catapult to get them used to building it. All boy scouts took turns assembling the various parts. We did this by cycling boys in rounds.

On the eighteenth, we applied various finishing details. It was hard work, late into the night. Later on, when we needed to attach the bungee cords, Dad seemed to need a metal anchor. We looked through the garage until we found a piece off the back of a microwave. It worked quite well. We also conducted a test fire and all went well.

We left for slate run the next day. Towards noon, after a good nights sleep, we took the parts, one by one, up a hill in the campsite. Then we assembled the catapult as planned, and spent the afternoon enjoying firing our new catapult. Every scout who attended fired the catapult, and there is a full list of attendees below. However Tyler R., Andrew P., and I were instructed as to range safety, loading and firing the catapult.

Arlo, Grant, Joey J, Gabriel, Andy C, Frank, Tyler, Andrew P., Justin B