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A howitzer cannon is vaguely aimed, and a smoke generating shell is fired 7-15 miles into an untracked wilderness. The shell releases a moderate amount of smoke for an hour or three.
As the launch is also the starting gun, the participants then race to the impact site, where the shell photographs
the winner as proof of their victory.
Various levels of competition will include running, human powered only, anything goes, night-time, naval artillery/jetski, etc.
Probably forest fire teams will consistently win at the 'anything goes' version. Possibly unintentionally.
Why get the army involved: Do YOU have a howitzer?
Anosmia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anosmia
[normzone, Sep 07 2007]
Wiki: Howitzer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howitzer
Many makes and models to choose [21 Quest, Sep 07 2007]
Another type of howitzer, firing at night
http://en.wikipedia...30_firing_night.gif
[21 Quest, Sep 08 2007]
Same howitzer, clearly visible in daylight
http://en.wikipedia...28front_view%29.jpg
[21 Quest, Sep 08 2007]
Annotation:
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I don't have a howitzer, but every avalanche abatement team probably does. |
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Does this have to be into wilderness? Why not launch the marker into the urban jungle? |
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Because you will hit someone. |
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Just add a parachute so it lands softly. |
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It could cause a car accident. Or break a window. Or fall through the sunroof of a deaf, anosmic man sleeping in his car, suffocating him. |
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Yes, but what if you fire it into the wilderness and it hits two hikers having sex? |
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You will get some great photos. |
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Oh, so only men can be deaf, anosmic and really tired? And own a car with a sunroof? |
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Actually, even if there is one massive orgy covering 100 square feet located in each square mile of this specially selected untracked wilderness (It is possible the actual number will be lower), the odds of hitting it with a shell are 1:278,784. Happy hunting. |
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//Oh, so only men can be deaf, anosmic and really tired? And own a car with a sunroof?// |
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Well, how many women do you know who fit that description, eh? eh? |
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As for //Why get the army involved?// |
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//A howitzer cannon is *vaguely* aimed// is also an explanation. [+] |
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Don't even need a howitzer, really. Just fly a Cessna or Piper, maybe a helicopter, over the wilderness and drop the camera with a parachute. When it hits the ground it starts smoking. Probably safer than a howitzer. |
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And just wondering here, but which model of howitzer are you talking about? Because there have been a lot of them throughout history, with different range and caliber. Let's see, there's the 19th century 12 pounder (5 kg) mountain howitzer that looks like a civil war-era cannon. I'll post a wiki link so you can decide which model would be best. |
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//Possibly not the kind of wildlife one might be expecting // |
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But hoping to stumble across...? |
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Kinda the point of an orgy, isn't it? |
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Better yet, do fish drink water? (this one may surprise you if you do some research) |
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I like howitzers. I like 'em a lot. Especially the airborne variety. One of the most accurate airborne weapons delivery systems in the world. |
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<pedant>Is it still a howitzer if it's doing direct fire from above?</pedant> |
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WHat do you mean? Yes, it's a 105 mm howitzer artillery cannon mounted on an airplane. Where you mount something doesn't change what it is, only where. |
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//Well, how many women do you know who fit that description, eh? eh? // |
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As many elephants as I have seen hiding in cherry trees |
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My point (which is not serious) is just that if you're firing direct, then the aim might not be as //vague// as stipulated in the idea. ...and I thought that a howitzer was, by definition, a weapon mounted to fire along a high trajectory at a target with no line of sight; if you re-mounted the barrel horizontally you would just have, say, a normal field gun. But maybe I've got that wrong. Ah, yes; reading your wiki link, I see that my quibble has been obsolete since about 1918. Sorry. |
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Hand-placing the target does sort of remove most of the point of the idea. It will also probably decrease the challenge, as the plane will be visible and audible when it drops the target. |
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