WEST GERMANY: MAN PREPARES TO FIRE DUMPLINGS FROM BIG CATAPULT AT LOW-FLYING AIR FORCE JETS

Record ID: 922975

  • Title: WEST GERMANY: MAN PREPARES TO FIRE DUMPLINGS FROM BIG CATAPULT AT LOW-FLYING AIR FORCE JETS
  • Date: 26th February 1967
  • Summary: HERR WINTER FIRING HIS CATAPULT; AIRCRAFT IN THE DISTANCE; HIS DACHSHUND DOG RETRIEVING DUMPLINGS. Initials RM/V/BHH/JG Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 26th April 2016 12:06
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MUNICH, WEST GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVAE2QGZ3RY70N93YGVC45J5O09V
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A WEST GERMAN COMMERCIAL ARTIST LIVING IN MUNICH FIRED A SALVO OF POTATO DUMPLINGS FROM A HOME-MADE CATAPULT YESTERDAY (SATURDAY) IN PREPARATION FOR HIS ONE-MAN WAR ON LOW-FLYING AIRCRAFT. THE MAN, 48-YEAR-OLD HELMUT WINTER, BUILT HIS CATAPULT ON A DESIGN FOR A WAR MACHINE BY LEONARDO DA VINCI, WHO DIED IN 1519.

    HERR WINTER, A WARTIME ARTILLERY OBSERVER, CLAIMS THAT FIGHTER PLANES FROM A WEST GERMAN AIR BASE NEAR HIS HOME FLY AS LOW AS 450 FEET (45 METRES) AND THAT HELICOPTERS COME DOWN TO UNDER 150 FEET (45 METRES). REGULATION HEIGHT IS MORE THAN 2,000 FEET (600 METRES).

    IN YESTERDAY'S "TEST FIRING", HERR WINTER'S DUMPLINGS REACHED A HEIGHT OF MORE THAN 250 FEET (75 METRES). HERR WINTER DECLARED WAR ON THE AIR FORCE 10 DAYS AGO, AND SINCE THEN ITS PLANES HAVE STAYED AWAY. BUT HERR WINTER SAYS HE'LL "OPEN HOSTILITIES" THE MOMENT THEY RETURN.

    HERR WINTER'S DANGEROUS-LOOKING CATAPULT INCLUDES A MASSIVE BOW SIX FEET (2 METRES) ACROSS AND MOUNTED ON A LARGE BASE. HE SAYS HE PLANS TO SUE DUMPLINGS FOR AMMUNITION BECAUSE STONES OR SOMETHING ELSE MORE SOLID MIGHT INJURE CIVILIANS IN FALLING BACK TO EARTH.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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