Giant Trebuchet: Daily Planet

it's a medieval monster five stories high and so Newton the wood smells freshly cut we have to test every single part it's the largest trebuchet in continental Europe today Mikhail Fuchs and his club the outlawed dogs are going to fire it for the very first time today is a very important because we have to see how it shoots Mikhail needs to make sure this trebuchet shoots accurately and safely [Music] the outlawed dogs like to wind down by turning back the clock about a thousand years there is no Facebook or playing with you - once a year they put on a festival and staged a battle with siege weapons that can do real damage on festival day the crowds are just a stone's throw from the target so before every festival they test their weapons make sure their projectiles hits the mark and not the spectators the road trebuchet was four stories high and a proven performer when they discovered the wood was rotting they scrapped it and built a bigger one with a festival only a few weeks away the pressure is on very important that we hit the target absolutely in the middle because upside there all around there are hundreds of people the distance is a hundred and thirty six meters 446 feet to fire that far they use a counterweight that weighs as much as an elephant if the shot lands short they'll add more sandbags okay first thing we have to do Benny has to go upside there so that we can lift our rope Mikhail's friend Benny climbs to the top of the throwing arm to install a pulley he's used to working this high up in his day job he repairs cranes the pulley hauls up a big rope that's fooled around a winch that'll pull down the arm and raise the counterweight we have two treadmills to use the human power to remove the arm back down it seems that in this club membership has its privileges maybe not if the arm comes down the ratchet is working and it's locking the arm so it's safe for people here as the human hamsters do their job McHale make sure all the bolts are holding I'm checking every part of this construction blocks the arm down with the trigger there are six tons on this point the next step will be overloading the stone the stone weighs 75 kilograms a hundred and sixty-five pounds they carefully position it in the very center of the sling and check that the ropes are straight if they're not the sling could twist in the air and snag the stone then the sling ropes are connected to the arm one hand of the Rope hangs on a peg that our release it at just the right angle for maximum range positive weight ensure they clear the firing range the stone flies straight and lands slightly more than two-thirds of the way to the target it's not bad for a first shot but McHale spots a problem the huge counterweight has shifted on its axle it has to stay in the middle they can't risk it bumping into the support structure we're trying to pull the counterweight a one centimeter or two cinemas to the left side so they force it back into place next shot will be the same stone the same counterweight everything the same just to look if the machine that the machine is doing the same things again and again [Applause] in this test for predictability the stone lands just two steps from the first shot that's good now we're using another stone which is 10 kilograms lighter and now I think the third shot is hitting the target the only good thing is in Trier in German and English is three times a charm but this third time there is no charm there still well short of the target we got I think 25 metres to the target so we have to load more sandbags with the old trebuchet it took them two weeks of trying to hit the target this machine is already almost there absolutely the middle wonderful little more load in the counterweight and then we hit it the next shot bounces into the target not good enough for Miguel he needs a bull's-eye to prove the trebuchet is safe so they add a little bit of grease to the axle and then I hit it a little low but it's centered a one drop of grease and this is 15 metres next time I think we got a little bit more higher to make their bullseye spectacular they wrap the stone in cloth douse it with a flammable cocktail and light it the shot does not disappoint this the target is wonderful in the middle now we're ready for our event are we happy yeah [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Discovery Canada

Views: 2,221,052

Rating: 4.888947 out of 5

Keywords: Giant Trebuchet, Middle Ages, Weaponary, Daily Planet, Outlaw Dogs, game of thrones

Id: M1iPxY3FYNE

Length: 6min 18sec (378 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 27 2017