This challenge will require the teams to build
a vehicle capable of extinguishing fires. In the ten hour time limit, the
teams will be building fire trucks that must extinguish three different
kinds of fires. The first is a dumpster/garbage fire. Next they will have
to put out a 1988 Lincoln Town Car and finally, a "towering inferno" consisting
of a stack of wooden pallets. The team who completes all of the tasks first
wins. If either team should run out of water, they will have to drive all
the way back to the start to refill their tanks.
Hackett wants to build what amounts to a giant
fire extinguisher. An air compressor will pump air into a tank and pressurize
it. This tank will be connected to a second tank which holds the water.
The compressed air will force the water out under pressure. This will provide
a really good stream of water that should put of the fires quite easily.
However, it require two tanks, two sets of valves...just a whole lot of
parts. The other downside is that this design will pump out a lot of water
quickly. This could cause them to have to refill more often than Col Dick.
Col Dick just wants a "simple" pumper truck. A
truck with water tanks will hold 2 engines on the bed. One engine will
be connected to the other and power it. The powered engine will have a
tree of valves on the top of the pistons. The natural action of the engine
pistons is to pump (oil) so Col Dick wants to take advantage of this action.
It's not ridiculously complicated but does it sound familiar? It should
because its the same design Col Dick used to defeat The NERDS in the Series
3 final (Fire Boats). It should produce a steady, yet puny stream.
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