04-26-2009, 10:10 PM
Quote:I'm glad it makes sense to you. I've had others insist that they were almost exclusively direct-fire line-of-sight weapons.
They were most certainly not a direct line of sight weapon. The bolt follows a true ballistic trajectory as there is no procession as is the case with an arrow. This means that the projectile is falling at 9.81 m/s/s as soon as it leaves the end of the slider. And in the case of a manuballista with an initial projectile velocity of 25 to 30 m/s when torque to a draw weight of 400 kg, then you have a projectile that falls very quickly over it's range.
Quote:It rapidly outperformed and replaced wooden-framed weapons.
You may well be right but I think there's a little more to it than that. A traditional 3 span has a much higher discharge velocity than a 2" spring based manuballista, typically 30 to 45 m/s and fires a better weight of shot (ok, I mean bolt). I know the Lyon frame has 3" holes and obviously offered better performance, but only equal to the wooden 3 span (We'll know soon enough as both Len and Tom are near to completion of their machines).
The 2" holed manuballista was certainly more portable than the 3 span but the opposite is the case when up springed to 3". With approximately equal performance yet heavier than it's wooden framed cousin, I think there may have been a reason other than performance behind the phasing out of the wooden framed machines such as better reliability, ease of maintenance etc.
MARCVS VLPIVS NERVA (aka Martin McAree)
www.romanarmy.ie
Legion Ireland - Roman Military Society of Ireland
Legionis XX Valeria Victrix Cohors VIII
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[email protected]
www.romanarmy.ie
Legion Ireland - Roman Military Society of Ireland
Legionis XX Valeria Victrix Cohors VIII
[email protected]
[email protected]