A while back I made some references to a very large potato gun I was working on. At the time I believed I was OK to talk a little bit about it but it turned out my Is weren't dotted and my Ts weren't crossed. That is fixed now. And thus, I return to present to ya'll my favorite creation. VERA. It's a gun designed to study transonic impact but what makes it fun is that it really isn't anything more than a very carefully crafted potato gun... If your potatoes come from Chernobyl Farms, that is.

 

Enjoy.

 

Oh VERA! That is AWESOME Inigo!

 

Did you name her after Jayne's assault rifle from Firefly or did the acronym just fall that way?

 

And what is the flash at 2:27 just as the sabot leaves the barrel? It's not there in the earlier shot.

Yes, it's a Firefly reference. I had to work hard for that acronym!

 

The flash is the result of two things....

 

1) Doubling of the kinetic energy. When the sabot hits the sabot stripper, some aluminum was vaporized.

 

2) The sabot was redesigned after the first shot and made to be much more... fragile. Yes, fragile is a good word.

Haha oh, you're an engineer. I was thinking that potato gun is way too huge for just a hobby.

Yes, it's a Firefly reference. I had to work hard for that acronym!

Shiny!

 

The flash is the result of two things....

 

1) Doubling of the kinetic energy. When the sabot hits the sabot stripper, some aluminum was vaporized.

 

2) The sabot was redesigned after the first shot and made to be much more... fragile. Yes, fragile is a good word.

Fragile, hmmm. Somehow it doesn't fit VERA. How about "cooperative"?

Haha oh, you're an engineer. I was thinking that potato gun is way too huge for just a hobby.

 

Well yeah, but.... Potato guns *are* my hobby. I figure it takes a special kind of engineer to convince your employer to indulge you in your hobby.

Well yeah, but.... Potato guns *are* my hobby. I figure it takes a special kind of engineer to convince your employer to indulge you in your hobby.

 

Trade lives, plz ?