The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising about the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at the scene. Police investigators later pieced together the mystery. And amateur rocket scientist had somehow gotten his hands on some JATO, or Jet Assisted Take Off fuel, which is a solid fuel booster used to give heavy military transport planes an extra boost when taking off on short airfields carrying heavy loads. The driver had driven his Chevy Impala into the desert, and found a long, straight stretch of highway. He attached the JATO unit to the car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the JATO.
The facts, as best as could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala (and I had the '67 Impala SS, 409, creme with black vinyl top, rolling pleated leather bucket seats) hit the JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the scorched and melted asphalt at the location.
The JATO, if operated properly, is designed to reach maximum thrust within five seconds, causing a Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds.
The driver, and soon to be pilot, would have experience G-forces usually reserved for dog fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, causing him to become irrelevant for the remainder of the 'flight'.
However, the automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving a trail of thick, black rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable. However, small fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.
They also found the remains of a cap. Though most of it was badly burned, the investigators thought the cap color was green, and there appeared to be good stitching on the face of it. They also noted the bill of the cap was flat.
The facts, as best as could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala (and I had the '67 Impala SS, 409, creme with black vinyl top, rolling pleated leather bucket seats) hit the JATO ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the scorched and melted asphalt at the location.
The JATO, if operated properly, is designed to reach maximum thrust within five seconds, causing a Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20-25 seconds.
The driver, and soon to be pilot, would have experience G-forces usually reserved for dog fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners, causing him to become irrelevant for the remainder of the 'flight'.
However, the automobile remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving a trail of thick, black rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable. However, small fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.
They also found the remains of a cap. Though most of it was badly burned, the investigators thought the cap color was green, and there appeared to be good stitching on the face of it. They also noted the bill of the cap was flat.
