We didn’t start out as the American Chucker.  The first machine we built back in 2004 was made of used deck boards from a team member’s back yard.  'Chucky' threw 252 feet in a charity event in Dayton Ohio that was sponsored by the engineering department at Wright Patterson AFB.  It was a very limited version of Yankee Siege design that broke on about the second throw, but we were hooked.