1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 In this episode of Mythbusters, it's the magic of movies on trial. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:14,760 You've seen this at the movies before, but can it happen in real life? 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,580 And remember this scene from the film American Graffiti. 4 00:00:18,580 --> 00:00:25,520 We go on patrol with remote control and put Hollywood illusions to the test. 5 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,320 Plus, what happens when you use a bullet instead of a few? 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,820 Can we fire up a bullet? 7 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:34,520 Who are the Mythbusters? 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,320 Is my missing an eyebrow? 9 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:38,520 Adam Savage. 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,520 I always enjoyed seeing Adam in pain. 11 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:42,320 Oh! 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:43,820 And Jamie Heineman. 13 00:00:43,820 --> 00:00:46,320 Jamie wants a big boom. 14 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,220 Between them, more than 30 years special effects experience. 15 00:00:50,220 --> 00:00:51,620 You're kind of sexy. 16 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:54,520 They don't just tell the myths. 17 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,520 They put them to the test. 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,520 You know a rock band has made it when they get their own private jet. 19 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:13,520 The Mythbusters know they've made it when they get to destroy their own private jet. 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:23,520 Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we test the myth of explosive decompression. 21 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:29,520 The myth is that if you are in an aircraft at altitude and you poke a tiny hole in the exterior of the plane, 22 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:35,520 will you get sucked out through that hole and potentially cause an explosive decompression? 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,520 You mean like in the movies when you see like the whole cabin like everyone's like going towards the hole? 24 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:48,520 That's it. 25 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:49,520 Cool. 26 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,520 Well this narrative's been around for years probably as long as high altitude flying has been around. 27 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,520 This also comes from this dual fear of flying and guns. 28 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,520 Two things that can kill you, two things that you have little control over. 29 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,520 So you see this image enough and we've probably seen it dozens of times in film. 30 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,520 It does become rather real. 31 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:10,520 It's a pretty starling image. 32 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,520 I think most people are thinking about a gun with this myth. 33 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:20,520 And so we're going to have to buy a pistol and put a remote firing mechanism on it, 34 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:26,520 a motor of some sort that we can operate from outside the aircraft so that we don't have to be in there when this happens. 35 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,520 Jamie has bought a 9mm handgun for the experiment. 36 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,520 He has a hunch about what he needs to do. 37 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:42,520 These things are taken out of vending machines for soda and this is the motor that actually launches the can of soda 38 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,520 down out of the reservoir into the slot. 39 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,520 But this is a troublesome little challenge. 40 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:51,520 That'll work. 41 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,520 And soon we can't reach Jamie. 42 00:02:54,520 --> 00:03:01,520 He is like a myth-busting monk in his trans-like problem-solving state. 43 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:06,520 Then the way becomes clear and the rig takes shape. 44 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,520 It's an ingenious device. 45 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:13,520 As the gear finger goes round, it can repeatedly fire the pistol. 46 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,520 Seems like it's working. 47 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:16,520 It fired it. 48 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:21,520 The myth-busters have taken the first step on a long, difficult journey. 49 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:29,520 The normal cruising altitude of a passenger jet is around 35,000 feet. 50 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:35,520 Humans can't survive at that height, so planes are built to be pressurized. 51 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:46,520 On-board compressors pump in air to replicate the atmospheric pressure of a lower, more habitable altitude, usually 6 to 7,000 feet. 52 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:56,520 It's the difference between the air pressure inside and outside of the plane that creates the environment for an explosive decompression. 53 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,520 A hole in the plane will be like a hole in a balloon. 54 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:09,520 The air will try and rush from the area of high pressure inside to the area of low pressure outside. 55 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:17,520 We've calculated that the differential in pressure between the inside of the aircraft and the outside at altitude is about 8 psi. 56 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:23,520 To replicate the myth, the boys need to pressurize a plane to 8 pounds per square inch. 57 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:30,520 Adam has found their test subject already, a DC-9 passenger jet. 58 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:41,520 Actually, this is a plane that's being salvaged, and so they would go into it and pull out all the stuff that they could resell, the avionics, the cockpit windows, the chairs, the bathrooms, and then they'd scrap the rest of it. 59 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,520 It's a big plane, though, isn't it? 60 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:49,520 Yeah, it's like over 100 feet long this thing. It's definitely not small. We're going to have some fun. 61 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,520 It's a full-size jet airliner. 62 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:52,520 Yeah. 63 00:04:54,520 --> 00:05:02,520 A full-size jet airliner won't fit in Janie's workshop, so the workshop goes on the road. 64 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,520 This is the Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles. 65 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:18,520 Out here, low rainfall plus low humidity equals low corrosion, a perfect solution for storing aircraft. 66 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:29,520 This is a giant parking lot for the world's airlines. Most of these planes will fly again. Some will land on the scrappy. 67 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:39,520 The more time I spend around planes, the more they absolutely mystify me. I'd be a terrible airplane designer because I'd look it up and I'd go, yeah, like that's ever getting off the ground. 68 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:49,520 This retired DC-9 once flew for Hawaiian Airlines. Now its wings are clipped and it's slowly being recycled for parts. 69 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:56,520 But first, it will become the Mythbusters Explosive Decompression Laboratory. 70 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,520 When do you ever get to do this? This is so cool. 71 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,520 Wow! Oh, that's cool. 72 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:17,520 This is where the pilot sits. So many little doodads and geegos and doohickeys. 73 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,520 Haha, I've always wanted to close one of these. 74 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:29,520 Trying to pressurize the plane right now would be like trying to inflate a fishing net. There's a few holes that need to be plugged first. 75 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,520 That was an antenna. You can see it was bolted in. 76 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,520 The biggest problem is up here in the cockpit. 77 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:50,520 You can see there are no windscreens in this plane. This is going to be my task for the next few hours, is cutting out cardboard templates of each of these windows and then make those out of plywood, pop them in and foam them. 78 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,520 Hopefully that will get us the pressure that we want. 79 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,520 Working in the desert heat isn't easy. 80 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:12,520 We've been crawling through this magnificent DC-9 here, trying to find all of its holes and plug them up, which is not that difficult to task if it wasn't 105 degrees in shape. 81 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:19,520 The people that work on these airplanes here indicate that we're not going to be able to seal this thing up. 82 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:28,520 We're almost done with this cockpit. 83 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:47,520 Right to the touch in 60 seconds, set hard in five minutes. And over here is when I've previously prepared. 84 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:53,520 We're actually having some fun working on this. It's interesting to see how these things are built. 85 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:58,520 I'm installing the pressure gauge onto the emergency escape window. 86 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,520 This gauge will be critical during the experiment. 87 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:14,520 Once it reaches 8 pounds per square inch, we know the difference between the pressure inside and outside of the cabin is exactly the same as it would be at 35,000 feet. 88 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,520 It will be time to fire the gun. 89 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:24,520 The plane seems to be sealed and ready, so Jamie and Adam put it to the test. 90 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:33,520 To fill something this large with compressed air, you need a big compressor. And they don't get much bigger than this. 91 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,520 Looks like it ought to be able to fly by itself with those big outputs. 92 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:37,520 I know. 93 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:43,520 This is a Huffer. Normally it's used to start the engines on a 747. 94 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:52,520 Now on unload, it's just venting all of its air out the roof. And you go to jet start and it puts every last bit of it into that hose. 95 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:53,520 Sounds dangerous. 96 00:08:53,520 --> 00:09:00,520 Apparently if the Huffer coupler came off while it was pressurized, pretty much take your head off. 97 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:06,520 Before there's any huffing and puffing, Jamie gives his signature safety speech. 98 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,520 Sign, seal. Let's deliver it. 99 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:15,520 People and equipment are shielded with metal cages and bulletproof plastic. 100 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,520 Clarence, keep serious because I've got the thing on. 101 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,520 A remote camera is feeding pictures of the pressure gauge to a monitor. 102 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,520 Jamie will call out the readings to Adam. 103 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:33,520 The cabin pressure is starting to rise. 104 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,520 But the plane is leaking like a sieve. 105 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,520 Guys, we have a problem with pressurization. We're going to fill a few holes that we found some leaks in. 106 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,520 So stand by it, it'll take about 10 minutes. 107 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:46,520 All these holes here? 108 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:52,520 Yeah, each one of those has to be filled. 109 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,520 Okay everybody, the holes are filled. We're good to go. Positions please. 110 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:17,520 2 psi, 3, 4, 5 and we're at 6 psi. Then trouble. 111 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:18,520 What happened? 112 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,520 We've got a blowout on one of the cockpit windows. 113 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,520 Whoa! 114 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,520 We got up to 6, 6.5 psi on that. 115 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:31,520 We're within the spitting distance of our goal. 116 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,520 But what was that black bag we saw flying over the plane? 117 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,520 Both pilot seats have a plastic bag on them. 118 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:46,520 And this is a very tiny hole and if a black plastic bag made it past that, that's explosive decompression. 119 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,520 Another quick patch, another try. 120 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,520 The whole piece? 121 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:12,520 And that's why aircraft windows are built from 3 quarter inch bulletproof glass and not plywood and foam. 122 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:18,520 One of the pilot seats was sucked out of the plane and blown over 200 yards away. 123 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:23,520 It was between the one on the fence and the next one in. 124 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,520 Oh my God. 125 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,520 I thought it was a piece of plywood. 126 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,520 Let's go see Jamie. That's the seat from the pilot's chair. 127 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:31,520 Yeah. 128 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,520 And that's what's left of the plywood. 129 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:40,520 I'm surprised and I'm a little concerned. 130 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:46,520 The cockpit windows are going to take a little more work, but that's a job for tomorrow. 131 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:55,520 Next morning, Adam continues his battle to seal and secure the cockpit windows. 132 00:11:55,520 --> 00:12:00,520 Reservations are unusually low for this experimental flight. 133 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,520 I'm kind of tired of lugging Buster around. 134 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,520 Our only passenger has just arrived. 135 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,520 A shy, quiet man named Buster. 136 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,520 Come on. You've had one too many. Sit down. 137 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:17,520 Next, Jamie mounts and aims his 9mm handgun. 138 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:22,520 I'm going to be extra careful with this thing that it's nice and secure. 139 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:28,520 And after all, it is a remote controlled gun and guns can kill people. 140 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,520 I'd say that's pretty good. 141 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,520 I'm loading the gun. 142 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,520 Okay guys, the gun is loaded. 143 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:42,520 Foam packing peanuts are spread around to see if they will be sucked out of the plane by explosive decompression. 144 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,520 Let's blow some stuff up. 145 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:54,520 Its earmuffs on, Huffer on. 146 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:00,520 As the pressure rises once again, Jamie monitors the gun through a remote camera. 147 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,520 We reach 8 pounds per square inch. 148 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:09,520 He activates the remote firing control and shoots a hole in the skin of the jet. 149 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,520 The plane doesn't tear open. 150 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:17,520 And apart from a puff of compressed air escaping, nothing dramatic happens. 151 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,520 You know, it did make a hole in the fuselage and we were at the correct pressure. 152 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,520 And I notice our packing peanuts are still in place and so is Buster. 153 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,520 The plane did not explosively decompress. 154 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,520 Perfect. 155 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:32,520 And just plug that sucker right up. 156 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,520 Well, we did it there little buddy. 157 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,520 Don't call me little buddy. 158 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,520 Yeah, you know, we pressurized the DC-9. 159 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,520 They said it wasn't possible. 160 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:46,520 And with a little foam and a little ingenuity, I think we did an admirable job here. 161 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:47,520 I'm really pleased with that. 162 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,520 Yeah, it held the pressure and the gun rig worked just like clockwork. 163 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:58,520 The next experiment is to see if a bullet fired at a window will cause it to blow out. 164 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:04,520 I'm re-aiming and reloading the gun so nobody walk in front of the plane from now on. 165 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,520 Starting the Huffer. 166 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,520 The jet is pressurized. 167 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:13,520 Jamie prepares to recreate the scenario we've seen in many movies. 168 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,520 A gun firing inside a plane. 169 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,520 Will it cause explosive decompression? 170 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,520 Jamie pulls the remote trigger. 171 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,520 The gun fires. 172 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,520 But nothing happens. 173 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,520 Well, that didn't seem to do much at all, did it? 174 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,520 Dead center in the window though. 175 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:38,520 Nicely aimed. 176 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:45,520 Our high-speed camera shows the bullet's impact with a plastic window, but no reaction from Buster. 177 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,520 The bullet went straight through. 178 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,520 Clearly Buster did not. 179 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,520 No explosive decompression here. 180 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:57,520 I think we definitively showed that a small puncture hole, either in the fuselage or in a window of a plane, 181 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:03,520 is not going to cause the plane to explosively decompress and you will not be sucked through that little hole. 182 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:05,520 Well, the myth is definitely busted. 183 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,520 Small holes ain't going to do it. 184 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,520 So now it's time to see what happens with a big hole. 185 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:19,520 Later in the show, we put the explosive in explosive decompression. 186 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,520 Starting the Huffer. 187 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,520 MythBusters experiments are meant to be fun. 188 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,520 But doing donuts with a remote-controlled cop car? 189 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,520 What excuse could they cook up for this? 190 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,520 It's a myth called Rear Axle. 191 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,520 This is really a Hollywood thing that we've got here, you know, busting what's possible in the physical world 192 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,520 and what's possible in the Hollywood world. 193 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:58,520 This comes from a movie in the early 70s called American Graffiti about kids in the late 50s. 194 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:02,520 And in the movie, one of the actors plays a trick on a cop car. 195 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:08,520 He takes some cable, puts one loop around a pole, and the other end wraps it around the rear axle of a police car. 196 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,520 And he takes off in front of the car. 197 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,520 And as the police car goes to chase him, reaches the end of the cable, and the rear axle is completely out of the cop car. 198 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:20,520 That's what we've got to do today. 199 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:22,520 When will the fun ever stop? 200 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,520 Okay, Adam, how are we going to do it? What do we need? 201 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,520 Well, it's actually a pretty simple shopping list for this one. 202 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,520 We need a police car. We need the materials to make it remote-controlled. 203 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,520 We need about 75 feet of cable, a pole to lash at two, and a couple hundred feet of running space. 204 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:47,520 The police were too happy about handing over one of their highway patrol cars. 205 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:56,520 So we've got a Hollywood stunt double, a cop car copy from top to bottom. 206 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:05,520 This is the back seat of a cop car with the spaces for your arms to be behind your back. 207 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:11,520 And in fact, when you sit in it like that, you find that it's really pretty amazingly comfortable. 208 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,520 No, I know what it'll be like when I finally get arrested. 209 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,520 Now it's rigged for remote control. 210 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:24,520 Go ahead and gingerly. 211 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:29,520 Jamie has wrapped his recycling brain around the steering. 212 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,520 This thing is an electric motor off of a wheelchair. 213 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,520 And we're going to use that to drive the police car. 214 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,520 It takes a bit of work, but these guys know exactly what they're doing. 215 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,520 Oh, I've got a hot ember on my crotch. 216 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:54,520 Pretty soon, we're ready to take our police cruiser out to the Mythbusters testing range. 217 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:05,520 Our urban legend expert, Heather Joseph Witham, says the story of the rear axle is a reminder of simpler times. 218 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:13,520 I think the reason people like it now is because it's the hijinks of an earlier era. 219 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:18,520 Nobody gets hurt. It's really funny. It's good, clean, fun. 220 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:27,520 It makes you think that there was a more innocent era where you could do things and not go to jail and not worry about the consequences. 221 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:34,520 This is where we will try and rip the rear axle from our police car. 222 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:41,520 An empty donk yard with plenty of room for Jamie to make sure the car is running properly. 223 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:50,520 I'm going to have to get a turn doing that. 224 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,520 Apart from the mustaches, these two haven't changed much since elementary school. 225 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:57,520 Come on, it's my turn. 226 00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,520 Wait, you think I'm getting out of this thing? 227 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,520 Not. 228 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,520 He's not as good at it as I am. 229 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,520 We can just sit here and do this all day. 230 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,520 Alright, back to science. 231 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:29,520 You've got the brake set up so that it fails safe, right? As soon as it would get out of range from you, the brake goes on, right? 232 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:31,520 Okay, well, we'll try to do that. 233 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:38,520 A runaway driverless police car is one danger. The other is this steel cable. 234 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,520 My guess is it's going to break, and when that happens, it's going to snap. 235 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:46,520 And when it snaps, it could probably, like, cut somebody in half. 236 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:53,520 So crew and equipment are tucked into the Mythbusters trusty Lexan safety shelter. 237 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,520 The cable will be tied to this telephone pole. 238 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,520 Shall we measure 75 feet from the pole? 239 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:03,520 Sure. 240 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,520 Well, I'm standing right here at 75 feet. 241 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:13,520 This is where the cable will end, and the chaos will begin. 242 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,520 You think Buster's going to be our driver? 243 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,520 Well, yeah, I think it's another job for Buster. 244 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,520 You ready, buddy? We've got a police uniform for you. 245 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,520 It's going to look like one of the village people. 246 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:39,520 We've got one more critical check before starting the experiment. 247 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,520 Are you ready for your test, Jamie? 248 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:42,520 I'm all set. 249 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,520 Let's take it for a spin. 250 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,520 Jamie has to start the car and put it into gear manually. 251 00:20:51,520 --> 00:21:00,520 After that, accelerator, steering and brakes are all in his remote control. 252 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:10,520 But maybe not his complete control. 253 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,520 Watch it, Jamie. 254 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,520 Why don't I put it in reverse there, honey? 255 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,520 Did you forget where the brake was? 256 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:22,520 Can you do a donut, man? 257 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,520 Come on, let's do donuts. 258 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:25,520 We'll see. 259 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,520 Jamie's still getting up to speed. 260 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,520 Now, did someone order some donuts? 261 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,520 Watch out for the fire hydrant. 262 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:49,520 That is sexy. 263 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,520 An empty car doing donuts kind of like a car. 264 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,520 An empty car doing donuts and a police car with its lights flashing. 265 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,520 Now, I checked. There's nothing more fun than that. 266 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,520 You just know what's coming next. 267 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,520 So can I drive it around a little bit? 268 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:10,520 I won't do donuts, I promise. 269 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,520 It's a delayed thing. You can ruin the car real quick. 270 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:19,520 So the main thing is the most awkward thing is the brake, because it's a delay. 271 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,520 This is Adam and Jamie's childhood dream times 10. 272 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,520 It's a remote control police car with lights. 273 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,520 Be ready to go for the brake. 274 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:41,520 Back to zero. 275 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:42,520 There you go. 276 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,520 That's all I wanted to do. 277 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,520 I'm going to assemble the cable. 278 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,520 So I'm going to get the cable on the harbour and drop it about four feet from the pole over here and assemble it. 279 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,520 75 feet of cable. 280 00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,520 5 sixteenths of an inch thick. 281 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,520 Adam checks for tangles and ties it to the telephone pole. 282 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,520 We're ready to go. 283 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,520 I can't wait to see what happens. 284 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,520 Our stunt patrol car rolls into takeoff position. 285 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,520 Put it in the park, shut it down, up and on the cable. 286 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,520 Here we go. 287 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,520 Adam loops the cable around the rear axle. 288 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:34,520 Just like in the movie, Officer Buster is unaware his car is being tampered with. 289 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,520 Basically it's around the right side rear axle. 290 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,520 We're wired and ready. 291 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,520 But can our cable pull a plug on the rear axle? 292 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,520 Find out later in the show. 293 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:54,520 Okay Bubba, what do we got? 294 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,520 Well, Thurston. 295 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:57,520 We got a good one today. 296 00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:58,520 We got Frog Gigan. 297 00:23:58,520 --> 00:23:59,520 Frog what? 298 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:00,520 Frog Gigan. 299 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,520 That's hunting frogs to the rest of us. 300 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:09,520 Apparently a couple of good old boys on their way back from the late night round of Frog Gigan, their headlights go out. 301 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:17,520 They determine that it's a blown fuse and they also determine that a 22 caliber bullet is the perfect replacement for said fuse. 302 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:18,520 That's clever. 303 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:26,520 So it would seem until 20 miles later the bullet heats up enough to fire and hit the driver in some very private parts. 304 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:31,520 At which point he loses control of his truck, hits a tree off the side of the road. 305 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,520 Both guys survived but the driver needed surgery. 306 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,520 The internet turned this story into an urban myth. 307 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:45,520 In 1996 an internet story appeared that purported to be from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. 308 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,520 The title was True Life Redneck Tale. 309 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:54,520 If you name something that has authority like a newspaper then that makes it even all the more plausible. 310 00:24:54,520 --> 00:25:04,520 Now in this case the Arkansas Democrat Gazette got all sorts of flak for this story and they had to print an article saying that they never printed the original article. 311 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,520 So what do you think we're going to need for this Jamie? 312 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,520 First thing we've got to do is find a pickup and it has to have this kind of fuse in it. 313 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,520 The old kind of glass style fuse that's shaped like a bullet you mean? 314 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,520 Yeah, that's the one. 315 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,520 Jamie and Adam head off on a hunting trip of their own. 316 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,520 So Jamie you're from Indiana, what the hell is Frog Gigan? 317 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:27,520 Well you get a spear and a flashlight and you go out and you spear frogs with it. 318 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,520 I think the flashlight kind of dazes them or something. 319 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,520 I used to do it when I was a kid but it was just for fun. 320 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,520 Did you eat them? 321 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,520 No, just a mean little teenage boy. 322 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,520 So just it was killing? 323 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,520 Killing frogs, yeah. 324 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:45,520 Alright. 325 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,520 This is one of their happiest hunting grounds, the Junkyard. 326 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:57,520 Stop! 327 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:58,520 Bingo Jamie, we got one. 328 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,520 There are pickups by the truckload. 329 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,520 But bagging the right type of fuse facing the right way, 330 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,520 well that isn't as easy as spearing frogs in a pond. 331 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:18,520 This Mitsubishi appears to have the closest thing out of all the pickups that we've looked at 332 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,520 to a fuse that's aimed directly at the driver. 333 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,520 I think that's the best we're going to do, I'm going to pull it out. 334 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,520 Five dollars for a simple entail, it's a letter, then it's fifteen. 335 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,520 The Junkyard Junkies were only looking for a fuse box, 336 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,520 but it's turned into quite a shopping spree. 337 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,520 No one's going home empty handed. 338 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,520 Well that's what we need for the show, but this is what I came out with. 339 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:51,520 The boys have decided to install this retro fuse box from the Junkyard into Jamie's old pickup. 340 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,520 Oh yeah, we're burning rubber now. 341 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,520 Hey baby, you want to ride, huh? 342 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,520 Adam gets to work wiring the circuit while Jamie rigs up the fuse box. 343 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,520 I pulled this one out and I'm going to crimp on the battery. 344 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:08,520 And then put it back in? 345 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:09,520 Yeah. 346 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,520 Alright, here we go. 347 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,520 Alright, so that's the main feed to the batteries hot. 348 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,520 Hey, they both worked, alright. 349 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,520 These are the twenty-two caliber bullets used in the myth. 350 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,520 As replacement fuses, they work. 351 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,520 Check this out. 352 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,520 Almost like it was made to fit in the fuse holder. 353 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,520 Yeah, it actually snugs right in there. 354 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:39,520 Alright. 355 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,520 You know, I don't think it'd be that bad of an idea as long as you didn't get it short. 356 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:44,520 The truck is ready. 357 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:50,520 If the bullet goes off, a high speed camera will record its path by the microsecond. 358 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:57,520 Time for Buster, our professional crash test dummy, to get behind the wheel. 359 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,520 Jamie and Adam will be trying to fire live ammunition here. 360 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:08,520 And taking a hit in the pants from a bullet is one part of the myth they don't want to recreate. 361 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,520 Bulletproof shields go up in front of the truck, 362 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,520 and a remote switch is wired to the circuit from a safe distance. 363 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:26,520 So, we've got our circuit wired up, that the headlights go on by themselves through the fuse box. 364 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,520 We've got our remote activation switch. 365 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:31,520 I think it's time to put the bullet in the fuse box. 366 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:32,520 Have you got one? 367 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,520 I have a bullet. 368 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,520 Alright, here we go. 369 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:38,520 Are you ready? 370 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:39,520 I'm ready. 371 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,520 Alright, this is the first test, just with how the bullet does. 372 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:46,520 With the lights on? 373 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:47,520 Yeah. 374 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,520 This does prove one part of the myth. 375 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,520 The headlights are on. 376 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,520 A bullet will complete the circuit. 377 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,520 They went for 20 miles, which I guess means about 20 minutes. 378 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,520 So, let me get you an alligator clip. 379 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,520 We've got a stopwatch. 380 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,520 One that's quarter after. 381 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:04,520 Yeah. 382 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:10,520 While the truck goes for an imaginary drive, Adam has a very real nap. 383 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,520 So, Adam, it's been a solid 20 minutes. 384 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,520 Well, given that nothing's happened, I think we've given it another 10 minutes. 385 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:22,520 Just to be sure? 386 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:23,520 Yeah. 387 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:24,520 Okay. 388 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,520 It's been a long and utterly uneventful trip home for Buster. 389 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:29,520 It's been about 30 minutes. 390 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:30,520 I think we're ready to check it out. 391 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,520 You want to disconnect and go read the temperature on our bullet? 392 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:34,520 Okay, you ready? 393 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:35,520 Yeah. 394 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,520 Hey, Adam, do it from a distance for... 395 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:39,520 Yeah. 396 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,520 No, I'm not going to put my eye up to it or anything. 397 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:46,520 So, I got a temperature off the bullet of about 113 degrees. 398 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,520 Nothing real special there. 399 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,520 It gets hotter than that in the summer in a car. 400 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,520 And bullets don't often go off that way. 401 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,520 Okay, so what could set that bullet off? 402 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,520 When a fuse blows, there's usually a good reason for it. 403 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,520 You know, it just doesn't do it by itself. 404 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,520 My guess would be that it would be a short. 405 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,520 So, you say we just short right across the bullet from the battery? 406 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:08,520 Yeah. 407 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,520 Once bypass the light bulbs and see whether we can get the bullet to go off. 408 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:13,520 If anything works out well. 409 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:17,520 A short circuit is when the electricity coursing through the wires of a circuit 410 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,520 is diverted to a shorter path, 411 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,520 usually one that allows much more current to flow through it. 412 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,520 That's when a fuse would normally give way 413 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,520 and stop the dangerously high current. 414 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:34,520 So, I'm going to short across the leads of one of the headlights. 415 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,520 We're about to cause a flat short right across the circuit. 416 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,520 And that will either heat up the bullet, set off the bullet, 417 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,520 or it will fry the wiring. 418 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,520 No matter what, never connect red to black. 419 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,520 Alright, well, this ought to work. 420 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:51,520 Be a short. I'm pretty sure. 421 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:52,520 Ready? 422 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,520 Ready when you are. 423 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,520 Should start. Yeah, there's the smoke. 424 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:57,520 Cool. 425 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:58,520 Fit? 426 00:30:58,520 --> 00:30:59,520 Yeah, wiring fried. 427 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,520 That's a bonafide short. 428 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,520 Obviously, you didn't get the bullet hot enough. 429 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:06,520 There it is. 430 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:07,520 Let's see. 431 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,520 Oh, look at that. That's yummy looking. 432 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:15,520 The next step that I see is to take the heaviest gauge wire that we'd find in a car 433 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:20,520 and run this short again and see if that gets the bullet hot enough. 434 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,520 The heavier wire will carry more heat to the fuse box, 435 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:29,520 but will the bullet get hot enough to fire before the wire fails? 436 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:31,520 Okay, ready? 437 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:32,520 Yeah. 438 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,520 Hey! 439 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,520 Can we fire off the bullet? 440 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:37,520 We fired off the bullet. 441 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,520 Oh, thank God! That's excellent! 442 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,520 I smell gunpowder. 443 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:44,520 You smell gunpowder? 444 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:45,520 I know that smell. 445 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:46,520 Oh, let's see. 446 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,520 It went off. 447 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,520 Ah, bullet is missing. 448 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,520 Oh, look at that. 449 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:56,520 You're loving this. 450 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,520 There's the cartridge. 451 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,520 It's almost like the cartridge in the bullet exploded like this, 452 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,520 and the cartridge went into the rubber mat of the floor, 453 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,520 and the bullet seems to have gone that way. 454 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:10,520 We haven't found it yet, but we're going to do a few more tests. 455 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,520 Pull the dummy out and take a look at him to see where the bullets went. 456 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,520 Jamie, Jamie, can I try it this time? 457 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:16,520 Can I blow the bullet up? 458 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:17,520 Can I? Can I? 459 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:18,520 I'd really like to try. 460 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,520 Set the bullet off. 461 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:25,520 This is fun. 462 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,520 Just like clockwork. 463 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:28,520 Let's do another one. 464 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:30,520 Let's do another one. 465 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,520 Okay, give me another one. 466 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:38,520 Here, you grab one, I'll grab the other. 467 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,520 We'll do like a Wonder Twins one. 468 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:41,520 Okay. 469 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:45,520 There we go. 470 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:46,520 All right, ready? 471 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:51,520 I'm impressed with how fast this works. 472 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,520 It turns out to be a pretty effective way of setting off a bullet. 473 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,520 It's not lethal, I don't think. 474 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,520 But you know, the thing is, there was nothing in the myth that said 475 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:01,520 that he took a lethal hit. 476 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,520 I mean, I have to say, if I put a bullet in a fuse box, 477 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,520 and 20 minutes later I hear a bang, 478 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,520 and I feel something smack into my groin, 479 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,520 I'm going to freak out and like run the car right off the road. 480 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:17,520 Buster has faced the fuse box firing squad 10 times. 481 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,520 Let's see if that broadside made a mark. 482 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,520 The high-speed camera shows at least one bullet 483 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,520 shooting towards Buster's bits. 484 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,520 Warped and twisted by the firing, 485 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:34,520 some of the shells also turned into threatening pieces of shrapnel. 486 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:39,520 I laugh every time I do that. 487 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,520 Jamie takes a closer look and makes a startling discovery. 488 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:44,520 Oh, look at that. 489 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,520 That wasn't there before. 490 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:47,520 See that? 491 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,520 One of those bullets, at least, 492 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:52,520 shot a hole in his pants. 493 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:57,520 And there's actually another bullet hole down here and here. 494 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,520 While those pants are full of holes, 495 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:04,520 Jamie can't find any signs of damage on the dummy's legs or torso. 496 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,520 I don't think that those bullets had enough force to really do anything. 497 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,520 I bet if we were a real person, 498 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,520 you'd probably have some pretty nasty little bruises. 499 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:13,520 That's about it. 500 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,520 Well, we set off quite a few bullets, it worked. 501 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,520 Oh, no, that was a lot of fun. 502 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,520 I had no idea that would go off so easily. 503 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:26,520 Yeah, but we did have to short-circuit it. 504 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,520 We had to use heavier than the normal wire that was installed in the truck. 505 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,520 We had to line up the fuse box in exactly the right position. 506 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,520 No, it's obvious that an extraordinary sequence of events 507 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,520 would have to occur for this to happen. 508 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:45,520 But given how easily they went off with heavier-than-average wiring 509 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,520 and the decrepit state of some people's pickup trucks, 510 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,520 I still think it's possible that this could happen. 511 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,520 I'd agree, it's possible. 512 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:54,520 Unlikely, but possible. 513 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,520 I'd say myth-busted for now, 514 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,520 but still out there waiting to happen. 515 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,520 It happened in the film American Graffiti. 516 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,520 But can the myth-busters do it for real? 517 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,520 We've got a remote-control police car tied to a telephone pole. 518 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:18,520 Will we remove the rear axle? 519 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,520 Let's go. 520 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:21,520 Everybody ready? 521 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:22,520 Yep, ready! 522 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:29,520 Jamie starts the engine and runs to his safe driving post on top of this building. 523 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,520 Okay. 524 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,520 Get ready to goose the throttle. 525 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,520 Our police car is off in hot pursuit. 526 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,520 The cable whips into one of the cameras. 527 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:49,520 And driving blind, Jamie pulls off a remarkable remote-controlled stop. 528 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,520 Inches from disaster. 529 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:56,520 Your stopping was beautiful. 530 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,520 So it snapped at the pole, huh? 531 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,520 Yeah, it looks like it's dragging the cable. 532 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:03,520 It looks like it snapped at the pole. 533 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,520 I think we need a stronger cable. 534 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,520 It turns out the cable hasn't snapped. 535 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,520 It's simply come undone. 536 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:11,520 Yeah, nothing broke. 537 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:15,520 I think the next time we have to either duct tape it or, you know, I brought some of that binder wire. 538 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:20,520 Yeah, I think we should definitely bind it with wire when we get back there. 539 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:21,520 Yeah. 540 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:22,520 Shall we reset the car? 541 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:23,520 Yeah, everything's fine, fortunately. 542 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,520 I'll tell you when to go, Jamie. 543 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,520 Alright. 544 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:38,520 Good. Nice. Perfect. 545 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:43,520 The cable actually did what we were afraid it was going to do and it's actually quite dangerous 546 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:45,520 because it, you know, it whipped way off to the side. 547 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,520 It took out one of our high-speed cameras. 548 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,520 The person had been in there in that same position. 549 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,520 It would have taken them out as well. 550 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,520 Of course. Of course I could have hooked it up better. 551 00:36:55,520 --> 00:37:00,520 But just about anybody else would have made the same mistake that I did. 552 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:01,520 Don't you think? 553 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,520 This little guy won't be on hooking next time. 554 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:06,520 Okay. 555 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:07,520 I got some wire. 556 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:08,520 I got a hook. 557 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,520 I got to let the jacket I no longer care about. 558 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,520 Here we go. 559 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:17,520 The other end of the cable gets the same treatment. 560 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,520 We're calling that first attempt a test run. 561 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,520 Nothing was really proved or disproved. 562 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:27,520 This run will be the real deal. 563 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:29,520 Come on. Yeah. 564 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,520 Isn't television glamorous? 565 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:32,520 Let's see. 566 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:36,520 70% that the cable does break, but before it does, 567 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,520 it does enough damage to the car we can't do a second test at all. 568 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,520 20% that it actually breaks but doesn't do any damage to the car. 569 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,520 We can do a second test, weaken the axle, etc. 570 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,520 10% it works perfectly, yanks the axle right out of the car. 571 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,520 I believe if you add those numbers up, they come to 100%. 572 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:58,520 We have a remote-controlled police car with its axle tied to a telephone pole 573 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,520 by 75 feet of cable. 574 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:06,520 Let's step on the gas. 575 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:14,520 This time the cable really snaps. 576 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,520 That's spectacular. 577 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:21,520 I should point out that the cable has a breaking load of 15,000 pounds. 578 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:28,520 I would say right there that would be myth busted definitively. 579 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,520 Big cable, bigger than even I thought was the one used in the movie. 580 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:39,520 Still snapped to standard Ford chassis, not dissimilar at all from what they had back then. 581 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:40,520 Myth busted. 582 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,520 And what about Adam's bold pre-test predictions? 583 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,520 Yes, okay, so I was off of my percentages. 584 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,520 I gave what happened here a 30% chance of happening. 585 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,520 20%? 586 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:53,520 No, 30. 587 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,520 70%, 20%, 10%? 588 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,520 No, that wasn't me, that was somebody else. 589 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:00,520 I said 50, 40, 10. 590 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:04,520 70%, 20%, 10%? 591 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,520 I reject your reality and substitute my own. 592 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:09,520 Okay, so what's the plan now? 593 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:12,520 Now what we do is what we do on every myth. 594 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:16,520 First we replicate the circumstances, then we duplicate the results. 595 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,520 And actually to do that we're going to have to do it like they do it in the movies. 596 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,520 I mean if I had to do this for a film, what I'd do is I'd use a much bigger cable 597 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,520 than you see in the film and I'd weaken the hell out of the axle. 598 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:29,520 Take out half of its bolts or all of its bolts practically. 599 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,520 Adam gets the job of crawling in the dirt. 600 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:36,520 Since he's already dirty he's been kind enough to spare me. 601 00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:38,520 That's how his shirt stays white. 602 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,520 I do all the dirty work. 603 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:45,520 You having any luck, Adam? 604 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:47,520 Yeah, most of the way through that one. 605 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:52,520 Adam is slicing through the supports that hold the axle to the car body. 606 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,520 I'm going most of the way through all four of these smaggiggies. 607 00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:03,520 Jamie had a visit from the cable guy and scored an upgrade to super size. 608 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:10,520 This is 5-8 instead of 5-16 and the braking strength of this is approximately 10 times the weight of the car. 609 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:13,520 And I don't think we're going to break this cable. 610 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,520 I'm going to go around the extreme right end of the axle too. 611 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,520 I figure all the leverage action we can get is good for us, don't you think? 612 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:21,520 I agree. 613 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,520 I think that's as good a job as we can do. 614 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:26,520 I'm dirty. 615 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,520 I'm the eighth dwarf, dirty. 616 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:36,520 When this cable comes taut it's going to twist and hopefully torque that differential right off and the whole thing will come off. 617 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:43,520 I've taken the oxytorch and I've cut through probably about 75 to 90% of each one of those four control arms. 618 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:48,520 Either we're going to simply stop the car or we're going to break the car. 619 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:53,520 I think we'll sooner shear the post off at its base than snap this cable. 620 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,520 The car is ready for its final run. 621 00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:57,520 Okay, ready? 622 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:09,520 There we go. 623 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,520 While their relationship has taken a big shake off, 624 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,520 car and axle are still mostly attached. 625 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:22,520 Something really horrible happened inside that police car just now. 626 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:24,520 I think she's done for. 627 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:28,520 Incredibly, the cable snapped at the telephone pole end, 628 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:32,520 but the car won't be driving any further. 629 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:35,520 This is the coil spring from the rear suspension of the car. 630 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:37,520 It was sitting like 10 feet from the car. 631 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,520 It flattened the tire. This other one is jammed. 632 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:47,520 The tires are in a wheel well and so even if we had been able to completely remove the thing, they're not going to go very far. 633 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:54,520 You're exactly right. I mean, you can see under there the trunk is compressed by the impact it took from the axle 634 00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:58,520 and it looks like this entire thing yanked out but had nowhere to go. 635 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:04,520 So if the misbusters couldn't pull the axle off, how did they do it in the movie? 636 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:08,520 I think the key is just pyrotechnics. They somehow blew it. 637 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:13,520 You'd have the rear axle probably on a ramp so that as soon as it underwent any pressure, 638 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:17,520 it would both go out and under from the car but it would also raise up the car, 639 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,520 which is exactly what it did in the film. 640 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:25,520 So, Jamie, the Hollywood myth, the rear axle, what do you think the verdict is? 641 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:33,520 Myth is busted. It's just not going to happen by itself, not with anything remotely like the circumstances that you saw in the movie. 642 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:40,520 The Hollywood myth is busted. Buster performed admirably as usual, always a little tired. 643 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,520 We're done here. Let's go home. 644 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:59,520 You're in a jet at 35,000 feet and there's a hole in the fuselage or a window. 645 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:06,520 What happens? Do you get sucked out in an explosive decompression or not? 646 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:12,520 So far, the mythbusters have shown a bullet hole will have no immediate effect on cabin pressure. 647 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:20,520 The tiny amount of air that can leak out is not enough to cause a rapid decompression. 648 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,520 Well, I didn't see you do much at all, did I? 649 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:25,520 But what about a bigger hole? 650 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:31,520 Say, an entire window gets blown out. That's the next phase of our experiment. 651 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,520 So, Boyd, I think we're going to need your help. 652 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,520 Hell yeah. 653 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,520 I think I can solve all your problems. 654 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,520 Boyd is today's guest pyrotechnician. 655 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:47,520 He sets a charge on Buster's window. 656 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,520 Okay, Buster, get ready for a big bang. 657 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:53,520 We're clear, over. 658 00:43:53,520 --> 00:44:00,520 Our super air compressor, the Huffer, pressurizes the plane to 8 pounds per square inch. 659 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:09,520 The pressure difference between the inside of the plane and the outside is now the same as it would be at 35,000 feet. 660 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:11,520 We're ready to fire. 661 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:15,520 Three, two, one. 662 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:25,520 Woo! 663 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:29,520 Oh, that was worth it. That was worth everything we went through. 664 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:31,520 It didn't quite fit through the hole. 665 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:36,520 Now this is explosive decompression. 666 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:42,520 A hole the size of the window allows a huge rush of air out of the plane, 667 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:48,520 taking with it anything that's not tied down, including our crash test dummy. 668 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:51,520 Wow. 669 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:55,520 Yeah, it looks like it's ripped some of his back flesh off there. 670 00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:58,520 They would have pulled it all the way out towards the window. 671 00:44:58,520 --> 00:44:59,520 Can we yank this out of here? 672 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:00,520 Yeah. 673 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:02,520 Buster is having a bad year. 674 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,520 Oh, well, he survived really well. 675 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,520 I wouldn't want to be sitting near that window when that happened, 676 00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:12,520 but these kind of things that you see in the movies 677 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,520 where just like somebody standing at the other end of the plane gets pushed out, 678 00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:18,520 I don't really think so. 679 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:20,520 No, however, I would not want to be in this seat. 680 00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:23,520 I would imagine that this guy might have lost his arm. 681 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:27,520 That's one sealed window. 682 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,520 Boyd has some explosives left over, 683 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:34,520 so the team decide to see what a really big bang will do. 684 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:37,520 So, Boyd, what kind of charges is this you're laying now? 685 00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:43,520 This is a 100 grain shape charge that is designed to take the side out of this airplane. 686 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:46,520 Attention, the charge is laid. The plane is live. 687 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:49,520 We're clearing out sealing doors and warming the hover. 688 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:02,520 We're back up to pressure and ready for ignition. 689 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:09,520 This blast was a little bigger than expected. 690 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:11,520 I'm glad we were over there. 691 00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:16,520 You're good. Everybody's good. 692 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:17,520 Everybody's good. 693 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:21,520 You know, again, it just pays to be really careful with these explosives. 694 00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:23,520 Buster, you're good. 695 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:24,520 You're good. 696 00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:25,520 You're good. 697 00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:26,520 You're good. 698 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:27,520 You're good. 699 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:28,520 You're good. 700 00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:29,520 You're good. 701 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:30,520 You're good. 702 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:31,520 You're good. 703 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:32,520 We're ready to go close. 704 00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:35,520 Buster may be done for. 705 00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:36,520 Did he, where is he? 706 00:46:36,520 --> 00:46:37,520 No. 707 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,520 Incredibly, Buster is still sitting in his seat, 708 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:46,520 although the next row of seats are now sitting on him. 709 00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:57,520 The camera looks okay. 710 00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:01,520 Please make sure your tray tables are in the upright and locked position. 711 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:09,520 The combination of explosives and the high air pressure inside the plane has peeled the entire roof off. 712 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:13,520 Boy, this is as close as I ever want to come to a scene like this. 713 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:17,520 You know, it's fun to see things blow up sometimes. This is actually kind of disturbing though. 714 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:20,520 You know, we've all ridden in airlines. 715 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:26,520 Explosive decompressions similar to these experiments have happened in real life. 716 00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:35,520 In 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 suffered a spectacular decompression that was blamed on metal fatigue. 717 00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:42,520 One flight attendant was killed when she was pulled from the 737 at 24,000 feet. 718 00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:49,520 But incredibly, all passengers survived and the plane was able to make an emergency landing. 719 00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:54,520 This incident shows the structural strength of modern aircraft. 720 00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:58,520 They can take a big hit and still keep flying. 721 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:03,520 A fact that Adam and Jamie have learned working on their DC-9. 722 00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:12,520 If anything, testing this myth made me feel safer about flying because it showed that even if somebody fires a bullet through the window that you're sitting at, 723 00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:17,520 all you're going to hear is like a rushing sound, but it's not going to destroy the plane at all. 724 00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:20,520 You know, the myth that you can be sucked out a tiny hole is just not true. 725 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:25,520 It's not going to make the cabin explode or make chairs pile towards the door. 726 00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:27,520 It's not going to throw bodies around. 727 00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:32,520 We pierced the window. We pierced the aluminum shell of the airplane. 728 00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:36,520 Nothing happened. It might have whistled a little bit. That was it. 729 00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:39,520 Myth busted. 730 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:43,520 You guys keep bringing in more crap into the shop. 731 00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:47,520 That is not crap. That is a fantastic trophy for your wall. 732 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:51,520 From one of the most fun myths we've ever had to bust. Come on. 733 00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:53,520 It was pretty fun.