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Feeling the heat
We were back after only ten days and it was now the semi-final. Usually when we arrive back in the UK the weather is miserable but this time it was scorching.
We got to the hotel, everyone was drinking outside in the unusually warm summer evening. Naomi (the researcher) introduced us to our expert, there was no, 'Hi, nice to meet you' from him, it was, 'Mine's a pint.' We would get on well.
We sat down and were then introduced to the other expert, Paul, who started telling us he'd applied for a job at CERN and had friends near Geneva. We then went into the bar to get the drinks, Paul followed us in and was talking about CERN, saying he was very interested in that sort of thing.
Then he came out with a line that dropped him off our radar of respect, 'It will be a shame to beat you guys'. We had talked about what it would be like to come up against a condescending team or expert and here he was in the flesh. I don't think we spoke to him for the next three days.
Then we met our opposition. Geoff, Lyndon and Marc were a team of off-roaders who called themselves The Anoraks. We were lucky, third opposition in a row who were a laugh.
Build Day
The only problem this morning was our expert didn't get up on time. His alarm didn't go off and in his rush to get ready, he had badly cut himself shaving. He looked a bit of state.
Then Rob (Llewellyn) came out with, 'You are to build a flaming flinger, a machine to throw balls of fire'. The scary part is we understood what he was talking about. This is what we had waited for, a big challenge with fire, burning things, and just general destruction. This was why we entered Scrapheap in the first place.
We had to build a machine that could fire a football-sized object, filled with solid rocket propellant, at four targets placed up to about 70m away.
We then had to film the run in to the yard and as David rounded the corner, his feet came out from under him. Slipping on some junk, he hit the ground with a resounding thud. Richard was doubled-up with laughter and the camera guys could barely hold their cameras. He got up and as well as knocking the wind out of him and injuring his pride, he was complaining about the pain in his legs. Calling the medics in, he dropped his overalls, all of us expecting a massive gash down his leg. There was just a slight graze.
We went in to start the filming and Richard then introduced himself for the cameras' benefit, 'Hi, Richard Little, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.' Then it clicked, he'd built the catapult that had beaten the Barley Picker's trebuchet, and Paul, the expert on the other side, was the guy who had built the trebuchet, and it was the only time he had lost. The competition was hotting up.
Richard laid out what we were going to do, not like we had a choice. We were going to launch the cannon balls in the same way that an automatic tennis ball machine does, by spinning the ball out between two wheels. After a bit of a discussion on how it was going to work, we sent the guys out to get anything with a hydraulic arm so we can raise and lower our cannon, and a lightweight high-revving engine.
Hot stuff
Almost immediately the guys shouted they had found a conveyor belt used for loading aircraft but it would need work getting out. Richard and I went down and we got it jump started. After trying to drive it and tow it with the quad, we had to get the dumper truck to pull it back to the yard. The guys then went back out and found a transit van axle which Richard and I started pulling to bits, and then David and Jimmy went out to find us a motor.
Now in the two previous episodes, both David and I had had our stress moments but all the time we had our team motivator, Jimmy, saying we were idiots for getting wound up. But this time it even got to him.
I had sent the guys out to find a lightweight engine but after half an hour in the baking sun, neither of them had found what we were looking for. Jimmy finally settled on an old Volvo and the guys tried to get it started. The first problem was a dead battery which they resolved quite quickly.
Now whether it was the heat or the fact they'd been 'yomping' over the yard looking for a non-existent motor, Jimmy had a complete motivation failure. The engine was turning over but not starting and Jimmy just lost interest.
One of the behind-the-scenes guys had to suggest to check the fuel pump. So they get the car started, except now the car wouldn't move anywhere. Then the cameraman pointed out that there was a metal spike through the engine bay and that was why the car is going nowhere. He then gave the guys a hand getting it off the spike and free to drive up to the yard.
After lunch, Jimmy and Richard started pulling the engine out. David and I began working on the rear axle, pulling all of the brakes off, then taking one of the drive shafts out.
I then cut the axle in half with the gas axe, and then we welded the differential to transfer everything from the drive through to one wheel. Then it was all hands on deck to get the engine out of the car, with Richard and Jimmy winching the engine out on a piece of string and the safety guy having kittens, the engine was lifted and we just rolled the car back into the yard.
There we had it, a nice 2-litre Volvo engine. Richard and I then went on to weld and grind duty preparing the conveyor to install the engine. We welded on plates of metal and then welded the engine mounting, which David had removed earlier, to the conveyor. After making sure the engine was turning in the correct direction, we then had to get the engine up on to the conveyor. After using the lifting arm, we realised we needed the dumper back in to lift it in to place.
While Richard and I were preparing the conveyor, David and Jimmy were removing the complete wiring loom from the Volvo. David then pulled out the fuel pump and made a bracket to attach the radiator, fuel pump and wiring loom to. With that welded in place, we started to prepare the loading mechanism for the cannon ball. Time just seemed to fly but everything seemed to go very smoothly.
Particularly successful
We were given eight flaming shots to hit four petrol-soaked targets. The first target was about 20m away, so we lined up the Partickle Axelirator MKI on to the first target, started the engine. David was looking after the kill switch, Richard on the firing mechanism, I was pulling on the bogey wheels to make the bottom wheels spin. With Jimmy controlling the engine speed, he revved the engine up to firing speed for the first shot, 3,000rpm.
Once the solid fuel in the cannon ball was lit, Richard pulled the firing mechanism, pushing the ball into the spinning wheel. Shooting out the other side, the flaming cannon ball hit dead on the centre of the target, setting it ablaze. First target down with the first shot.
Lining the contraption up to the second target, we decided to leave it at the same inclination but increase the speed. Fuse lit, the second cannonball was fired. It hit the ground in front of the target but rolled off to the left, bursting into flames inches from the target. We moved the machine slightly to the right and fired again, this time rolling into the bottom of the target, setting it alight. Two targets in three balls, and the opposition were beginning to look really worried.
The fourth shot fell short so we raised the beam and fired. Straight in but it didn't catch light. While we're speaking to Lisa for the camera, it burst into flames about a minute later. Three targets five shots.
Raising the arm and the speed, we then went for the fourth target, the sixth shot came up well short, with the seventh went a lot further but not in the right line. Our last shot at 7,000 rpm and a slightly lower height, just buried itself in the sand. We'd done all we could.
Then came the opposition. The Anoraks had a spinning mechanism attached to the rear axle of a car, that when a pin was released, it would release the ball at a predetermined point, firing the ball at the targets. The machine started spinning, Paul then pulled the cable. The ball went clattering into the safety hood of the mechanism and then flew into the air and stopped half way to the target.
They altered the release point and started their machine up again. The second ball flew from the machine and bounced five metres in front of the target and hit. Their third shot flew up in the air, bouncing off the hood again and came to rest on their diesel tank.
Their fourth shot bounced ten metres in front of the target and rolled into the second target. We were still ahead of them. Their fifth shot flew high into the air, bounced just in front of the target and hit: great shot. We were in trouble.
Their sixth shot hit the ground some 15 metres in front of the target and came to a rest just before the target. Their seventh went nowhere and the eighth shot stopped before the third target.
It was a draw.
Shot down in flames
We then went over to chat to the opposition, no one knew what was going on or who had won. There were two schools of thought, David and I reckoned we had won because our machine was more reliable, fired all shots in the right direction and we'd hit the first two targets with fewer shots. Whereas Jimmy and Richard thought The Anoraks had won it because they'd fired one shot further than all the rest.
The crew was keeping us in suspense. Then it was over to film the final shot. Lisa announced the winners, The Anoraks, and it all came crashing down. We were out, because their ball had gone further. I was gutted. Even as I write this, I still feel robbed. Not because of the opposition, they were the rightful winners and a great bunch of guys. We had to take it on the chin, but we came so close to winning and then it was gone.
Ali Day