Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Human Projectiles #6


Hugo Zacchini cannon in 2003.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There have been 3 Hugo Zacchinis who have done the cannon act.

Hugo 1, was one of the original Zacchini brothers who built this cannon for Ringling in 1933. I have learned that this was built on a "White" bus chassis.

Hugo 2, (in photo with me) is the son of Edmundo, who was Hugo 1's brother. He is now retired ans lives in Tampa.

Hugo 3, is a son of Hugo 1, and lives in Red Level, Alabama, where this cannon is now parked. He spoke of plans to resore this cannon back to it's original style.

In the 1960's all of the Zacchini cannons were re-designed to look like rockets, due to the popularity of the U.S. Space Program. I had once heard that when these rocket/cannon vehicles drove through areas that had nearby military bases, they came under close scrutiny by local police. Helicopters were often seen following from above!

Anonymous said...

Makes me want to cry.