The stunt
An open plaza by the ballpark on a game night, a stage at one end and a long runway in front of it. The ramp kit goes on the runway with the gap in front of the stage. On the way in, the first pitch gets thrown from the wheel at speed. Then the jump, the biggest of the season before the finale.
The work
Runway timing: how much room it takes to reach 35 mph, and how much to stop. The kit set at the same gap in a lot until the speed at the lip repeats. Throwing from the wheel at 10, then 20, then full speed.
The night
A game-night crowd on the plaza, the MC on the stage, and the radar speed of the pitch and the speed at the lip on the big screen.
Solve the Jump
If you throw a ball while you're riding, how fast is it really going?
Speeds add. A ball thrown forward from a moving wheel leaves with the wheel's speed plus the throw. Throw it backward and they subtract. The jump works the same way: the wheel leaves the lip at its own speed, and the ramp kit's table says how far that carries.
Example: riding at 20 mph and throwing forward at 50 mph, the ball crosses the plaza at 70 mph. Now throw it backward at 20 mph while riding 20 mph forward. What does the crowd see?
The physicsBall speed over the ground = wheel speed + throw speed (thrown backward: wheel speed − throw speed)
What gets measured
- Speed at the lip
- Pitch speed by radar, thrown from the wheel
- Landing force in g
What has to be true first
- The plaza's owners say yes and close it for setup
- The kit is tested on the runway at lower speeds first
- The crowd behind barriers and nobody on the runway
- Room to stop before the stage