yes, and that isn't the payload side of the arm. the 'illegal' would just swing around for a bit. there's no way i'd launch myself with that thing. im afraid of it killing me when it's just sitting there.
actually, oddly enough, about 15 minutes after that picture was taken we loaded that box with 320 pounds of cinder blocks, pulled the arm down about halfway and the arm snapped in two at the axle.
me and my friend were swinging in the part that fell 20 feet to the ground and had a 100 pound hunk of the arm fall right into it. (we would have probably taken serious damage) we've fixed the trebuchet arm since then, but yeah. we're all very afraid of it killing someone now.