I’m reminded of the chicken cannon story. They were designed to fire chickens at plane parts to simulate bird strikes. But the first time they used it (back in the late 1940s), the poultry penetrated everything like they were AP rounds. When they complained to the cannon design crew, the response was, “First step: thaw the chickens.”I remember building a potato gun with my dad and my older brother. We used hair spray as a propellant, a cook stove switch as a trigger, and a couple of old junk cars in an empty field were our targets.
My brother and I discovered that if we used oranges instead of potatoes, we could make a much larger dent in the door of a car (because it was more aerodynamic). We showed our dad, and he was impressed that we had figured that out.
And then we discovered that if we put those oranges in the freezer overnight first, we could put a hole completely through the door of a car. When we demonstrated that for dad, he took our potato gun away.
A more modern one discussed here:

The US built a special cannon in 1972 to shoot chickens at planes
It truly is incredible when you think about how many people owe their lives to something called the "Rooster Booster."Like this video? You'll love https://ta...
