I did a lot of work at Lockheed Martin (formerly Goodyear Aerospace) and got the whole story on their Chicken gun. Air powered with a radical new type air valve 8" in diameter with a diaphram made out of Mylar. A high speed circular knife cut the Mylar to release the air. I saw one of the valve frames but all that was left of the cannon was the concrete foundation. In fact I was asked to bury the exposed foundation with excess dirt from my excavation since dirt dug up on site is not allowed to leave the site because it is a Superfund clean-up site.
They were told to use frozen chickens obtained from a store because the PETA people were not convinced that Hickman's Egg Ranch in Glendale knew how to humanely kill a chicken. Rumor has it that when the dignitaries showed up for a demonstration, it had to be delayed because one of the feral cats that roam the place had smelled the chicken and decided to get some. Couldn't get the cat out so the demo was postponed. They put a security guard on night watch and as soon as the cat came out he sealed off the cannon.
I don't know what the big deal was. If I was a pilot, I would want to know if my canopy could withstand a chicken and a cat at the same time.
Tom
_________________
Sometimes, I'm as confused as a baby in a topless bar.
My short term memory is absolutely horrible and so is my short term memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG16m2e4O6I