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Give us a break.

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Don't try what you're about to see at home.

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On this episode of MythBusters, Adam and Jamie shed some light and heat on the Hindenburg

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disaster.

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Was the inferno caused by chemicals painted onto its skin?

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That was totally amazing.

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From zeppelins to zigzags.

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No, the crocodile.

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Is a crooked run the best way to confound a ravenous reptile?

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Who are the MythBusters?

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Adam Savage.

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Is everybody ready for diving?

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Jamie Heinemann.

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It's me all worked up just looking at it.

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That was beautiful.

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Between them more than 30 years special effects experience.

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That was heavy.

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Joining them, Grant Imahara.

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You feeling lucky, punk?

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Tori Belichi.

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Somebody order some exploding pants.

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And Carrie Byron.

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Picazzo!

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They don't just tell the myths.

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They put them to the test.

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So what's the myth?

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The myth today has to do with the cause of the Hindenburg disaster.

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May 6th, 1937.

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One of the darkest days in aviation history.

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The giant German zeppelin Hindenburg with 97 people on board hovers over New York City.

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That evening, as it comes into land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the airship suddenly bursts

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and it's changed.

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Oh man, you manned it all up there.

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Thirty-six people die in the inferno.

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History's largest airship is reduced to ashes in just 34 seconds.

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And an unforgettable image is burned into the memory.

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Doesn't everybody know that that was caused by the hydrogen, which is the reason they don't fill blimps with hydrogen anymore?

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Not according to our myth.

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Our myth states that the cause of the Hindenburg disaster was its skin, specifically the dope and paint on its skin.

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This myth is not just wild internet speculation.

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The incendiary paint theory was actually put forward by a retired NASA scientist, Dr. Addison Bain.

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After studying fragments of the Hindenburg's hull, Bain cleared hydrogen as the cause of the blaze, blaming instead the airship's metal-based paint.

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It's a myth Adam and Jamie were born to bust.

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They're going to turn up the heat, do the rottomy, and put the paint theory to the ultimate test.

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In a world first, they'll build scale model Hindenburgs, cover them with a paint identical to that used on the giant blimp,

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and find an answer to aviation's burning question once and for all.

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This is my favorite scale experiment we've ever done.

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Full stop.

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Okay, well where do we start?

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Well, since the myth is about the skin, I think that's where we should start.

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We should find out exactly the type of fabric that was used,

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and exactly what that fabric was coated with, and replicate the skin in the shop, and see how it burns.

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Okay.

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The Hindenburg skin was 100% cotton, treated with a kind of paint, or dope as it's known in the trade,

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which made the fabric taut and waterproof.

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The dope's ingredients included aluminum powder and iron oxide.

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Put them together, and they produce an extraordinarily explosive substance called thermite.

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Adam's keen to demonstrate, he's going to whip up a batch of thermite.

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For this cooking lesson, Adam will need the fire suit, and its safety masks all around.

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So, just like gumbo night at Adam's.

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Take a cast iron skillet, add the aluminum powder and iron oxide, combine well.

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Thing is, they won't ignite by themselves.

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To get a thermite reaction, you need to add one or two secret ingredients.

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This ingredient is made of blur.

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And this has some blur in it too.

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Blur is very dangerous, you don't want to mix blur with blur.

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Add the mysterious mixture to the pan, and retire immediately.

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It takes a few seconds for the ingredients to react, then suddenly you're cooking, on a very high heat.

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4500 degrees in fact.

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Wow!

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So we've seen thermite in action, and we know that the Hindenburg skin was coated with the compounds that create thermite.

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So, that's a check mark for the myth.

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The question now is, will they do that in a dope solution?

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So I think it's time to test the fabric samples.

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Now the Hindenburg didn't have the same dope solution all over.

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The lower half had three coats of dope containing aluminum powder.

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The upper half had the thermite mix, a base coat of butyrate and iron oxide, then three coats of butyrate and aluminum.

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Here's what I'm wondering, if aluminum powder and iron oxide are so dangerous, why use those two components to coat the Hindenburg skin?

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Well, they figured that was the best combination to reflect both heat and light from the delicate inner bladders that held the hydrogen.

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Good enough for me!

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Jamie prepares panels using cotton and aluminum frames that match the material used on the Hindenburg.

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On one panel, the fabric's left raw, the second is painted to match the bottom of the Hindenburg, and the third has the same dope mix as the top half.

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This is basically to find out if the dope has any influence on the speed of burn.

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So we'll start out with a raw piece of fabric, see how fast that burns, and then compare that to the other concentrations we have.

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Adam sets fire to the untreated cotton. It doesn't so much burn as smolder.

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If we don't have high speed on this, we need a time lapse.

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Anything you say, Adam.

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Five minutes and 25 seconds.

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That's not very fast.

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That took almost ten times longer than the Hindenburg took to burn.

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The entire Hindenburg.

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Okay, we've got our control. Time for the first dope test.

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Bottom of the Hindenburg, plain dope with three coats of aluminum.

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Yeah, you ready?

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I'm ready.

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Go.

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It's not a cajom.

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The Hindenburg was 800 feet long and the whole thing burned in less than a minute.

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Remember, there's no chance of a thermide reaction here because there's no iron oxide in the dope.

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What was the time on that one?

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Two minutes, 26 seconds.

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The bottom sample burned twice as fast as the raw fabric,

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which makes it pretty clear that there is a factor in the coating that has to do with how fast this thing burns.

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Next, the dope that was on the Hindenburg's upper half.

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This is the potential thermide mix. Will there be a reaction?

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Still ahead, the croc zigzag myth has the guys on the run.

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What is that? Was a mouse chasing you?

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And up next, Adam becomes Jumpin' Jack Flash.

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It's gas, gas, gas.

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Everybody okay?

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Alright you guys, get ready for this one.

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Crocodile myth.

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Is it that they live in the serious?

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No.

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Is it that crocodiles have tears?

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Oh no. This one is. If you're getting chased by a crocodile, you can easily escape it by running in a zigzag pattern,

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because they cannot turn corners.

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In the water, the crocodile is a lightning quick ambush predator.

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In that explosive split second when they strike, crocodile lunges have been clocked at around 30 miles an hour.

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Lunging is one thing.

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Running is another.

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According to the myth, if you're being chased by a crocodile, all you have to do is run in a zigzag,

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because their long bodies and short legs cannot make sharp turns.

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The plan is to dangle a dummy from a remote controlled trolley, which moves from side to side.

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The trolley in turn will be suspended from a steel track.

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As the trolley is pulled along the track, those juicy meat legs will zigzag.

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Then they'll take the rig to a croc farm,

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and see if they can make some reptiles run.

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But this time, believe it or not, Buster's off the hook.

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The rig that we're going to have to put up is going to be suspended.

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Therefore, my Buster needs to be really, really lightweight.

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I'm going to make him entirely out of foam for a torso, and then I might have a little surprise for his legs.

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Soon a new foam Buster is rising like a cake in an oven.

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As you can see, he's very light, and it's not going to put a whole lot of strain on the rig.

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This new lightweight Buster hasn't got a leg to stand on, but Keri has a pair of meat legs all mapped out.

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What are these?

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They're fishnet stockings.

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He'll be wearing fishnet stockings.

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Give me all your cash!

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And they'll be stuffed with quail.

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But these are not like any frozen bird you might find in your supermarket.

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Oh, see, I can't do this.

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They've got feathers on them still.

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I can't do this.

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You know what, they're not even gutted.

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No thermite reaction.

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No intense heat.

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In fact, it takes five and a half minutes for the panel to be consumed.

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That's almost twice as long as the aluminum coated cotton.

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It's almost identical to the cloth by itself.

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Wow.

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Hang on, guys.

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Don't write off this myth yet.

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That was one little panel.

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The Hindenburg was covered in thousands of square feet of material.

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Could there be a better boom on a bigger scale?

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I mean, maybe there's some crazy amount that could yield an energetic reaction, but it's not this amount.

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Obviously, the Hindenburg's designers didn't set out to coat their creation in rocket fuel.

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Those who pan the paint theory say the aluminum and iron oxide couldn't afford to be used.

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Because the compounds weren't mixed that way.

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The recipe was completely different.

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So that's got the mythbusters curious.

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What would happen if you did paint pure thermite on the skin?

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It's more like a paste than a paint, but I think we can smear it on.

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Next up, whoa, mechadope.

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This is just total worst-case scenario.

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Can you actually make thermite in a dope formulation?

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Be careful when you light it.

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Adam ignites the panel.

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Time it.

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Not exactly the pyrotechnic display we might have expected.

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They start discussing Plan B when suddenly...

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Oh!

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Deuteronomy!

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Okay, wait.

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Well, that's thermite.

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You got that right.

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Wow!

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Once the mechadope ignited, the panel was consumed in just 20 seconds.

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That was dramatically different.

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That was totally amazing.

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Well, I'll tell you, that's the first evidence I've seen yet that there might actually be something to this myth.

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Because that's the kind of thing that's going to be a problem.

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This was not what was on the Hindenburg.

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We have to make that clear, because this was just over the top crazy.

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The concentration of thermite in there was...

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Thermite to dope was maybe like 75% thermite.

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And they wouldn't have, in any stretch of the imagination, coated the Hindenburg with something like that.

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So, burn the skin side of the mechadope.

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So, burn the skin samples, but you know, the Hindenburg was filled with 200,000 cubic meters of hydrogen.

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Well, let's burn some skin in the presence of hydrogen, see what it does.

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The newsreel shows the Hindenburg engulfed by fire.

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Yet high school science tells us hydrogen burns with a near invisible flame.

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So, what are we seeing in the disaster footage?

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Is it the skin burning and not the gas?

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Adam will burn some hydrogen to see what the flame looks like.

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He takes a cylinder of 100% pure hydrogen and makes an enormous Bunsen burner.

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That's an orange burn, baby.

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The hydrogen definitely burns orange, but it is extremely low visibility.

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In contrast to the newsreel footage in which the flame is clearly visible.

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Now, I've witnessed a set it burned orange, but it's a lot more visible than this was.

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One thing's for sure, hydrogen burns like nobody's business.

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So, it does sort of beg the question.

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You know, I don't understand why if it's so flammable, they filled the Hindenburg with hydrogen in the first place.

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Well, the Hindenburg was originally intended to be filled with helium,

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but a United States military embargo against the Germans and selling them helium

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caused the Germans to re-engineer the Hindenburg to use hydrogen instead.

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And in any case, it gave more lift.

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Okay, so what do we do now?

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The Hindenburg was filled with 200,000 cubic feet of hydrogen, which burns like this.

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That's an orange burn, baby.

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And its skin was covered in chemicals which, in the correct concentrations, burn like this.

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Deuteronomy! Wow!

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So what happens when gas and skin burn together?

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To find out, Adam builds a box and stretches some fabric over the top.

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The dope-covered fabric that I've got covering this box for this test represents the top half of the Hindenburg.

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It is a layer of butyrate dope and iron oxide covered with three layers of butyrate dope and aluminum powder.

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Ladies and germs, here we go.

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Hydrogen is pumped into the box, and Adam introduces a naked flame.

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Oh!

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Okay! Is everybody okay?

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Fresh underwear for Mr. Savage, please.

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Because the volume of gas inside the box was only small, the reaction was quick and violent.

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To have skin and gas actually burn rather than go bang, the hydrogen will have to be diffused over a larger area.

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We want a slow burn. We want to see the fabric burning with the hydrogen. We don't just want an explosion here.

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Time for Adam and Jamie to start thinking outside the box and take their Hindenburg hijinks large scale.

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Still to come, the great Hindenburg experiment, almost up in smoke before it starts.

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That is the textbook definition of irony, kids.

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And next, can you get away from a crocodile by running zigzag?

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According to the myth, outrunning a crocodile is not straightforward. It's a zigzag.

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Carries foam and fishnet, Buster Bait is ready. Meanwhile, Tari's got the crock rig on track.

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So I have my two inch steel tube. This is going to be our track that's going to go over the crocodiles.

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And so now what I'm going to do is build the trolley. And the trolley will carry the dummy along that run and the crocodile will have something to chase.

234
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,880
Next, the zigzag rig has to be calibrated for human speed.

235
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:59,880
So what we're going to do is lay out a grid on the floor of our shop, take a shot from overhead and just run a bunch of zigzags and see what the best time is.

236
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:05,880
The grid is made up of 12 inch squares. It's 12 feet long and 9 feet wide.

237
00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,880
The question is, what constitutes a zigzag?

238
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:18,880
Well, I'm pretty sure that the essence of this myth comes from the fact that they have those long rigid bodies.

239
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:24,880
So it's not sort of like a weird hopping thing like they're snapping and you're just jumping, but it's more of a...

240
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:31,880
So you're going to try and hit the corners as fast as you can rather than like hopscotch jumping.

241
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:32,880
Yeah.

242
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,880
What the heck was that?

243
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,880
One by one, the guys run a series of zigzags across the grid.

244
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,880
What I was trying to do is actually maximize the side to side.

245
00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,880
What it may have saved your life due to the fact that that crocodile right now is in a belly laugh.

246
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:02,880
He can't even move. He's like cramping.

247
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,880
Then Grant studies the high speed footage.

248
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:13,880
By counting how many frames it takes to move across one square on the grid, he can time each rut and come up with an average speed.

249
00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,880
And it is very average.

250
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:29,880
The average speed in the X direction, which is the long direction that you're going to be handling, is 7.6 feet per second.

251
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,880
That works out to be only five miles per hour.

252
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,880
Some crots have been clocked running at more than twice that speed.

253
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,880
So will our cross-dressing dummy be fast enough to escape?

254
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,880
Time to see what this crock-rig can do.

255
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,880
Yay!

256
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,880
That weird buster-rig is actually working really, really good.

257
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:55,880
Hey, nice meat legs by the way.

258
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,880
Where are we going to get some crocs?

259
00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,880
Clearly there aren't any around here.

260
00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,880
The only place we're going to be able to get crocodiles to chase us is going to be in Florida.

261
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:04,880
So pack your bags.

262
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:05,880
Field trip!

263
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,880
It's time to crock and roll.

264
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:10,880
Is Florida here we come?

265
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,880
Here we go.

266
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,880
Later, Tari has to come to grips with his new role, wrestling crocs.

267
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:22,880
You'll actually tape the jaw shut too.

268
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,880
It's no longer able to bite us.

269
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:25,880
What?

270
00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,880
And after the break, Adam and Jamie's glim-building business is cooking.

271
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,880
These things are always catching on fire.

272
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:54,880
Adam and Jamie are on the case, but so far their Hindenburg investigations have been hindered by scale.

273
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,880
Well, the small scale just isn't doing it for answering all these questions that we've got.

274
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,880
We have to go bigger scale, but we can't possibly go full scale.

275
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:04,880
How big do you think we can go?

276
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,880
I don't know, like 10, 12 feet?

277
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,880
Well, if we go 16 feet, that's 1.50th scale.

278
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:10,880
It's a nice round number.

279
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:11,880
You think we can do that?

280
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,880
This should solve the mystery once and for all.

281
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:21,880
They'll build two 16-foot Hindenburg scale models and coat them with the aluminum iron oxide paint.

282
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,880
One will be full of air, the other hydrogen.

283
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,880
And if the hydrogen Hindenburg burns faster, then this blimp myth is busted.

284
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,880
Okay, everyone happy?

285
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:34,880
Not quite.

286
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:36,880
I think we need to do a third one as well.

287
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,880
I mean, one that guarantees a thermite reaction.

288
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:41,880
All right, so three blimps it is.

289
00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:43,880
I think we can do it.

290
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:51,880
That third blimp burn will show what would happen if someone was crazy enough to paint their airship with pure thermite.

291
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,880
To help with the build, Adam unearthed some blueprints of the real Hindenburg.

292
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:09,880
To match the original airship, the replicas will need aluminum frames, so Jamie's off to get wired.

293
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:16,880
We've come to a wire stock place and they have just about every kind of gauge of steel wire that we need.

294
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:17,880
I'm going to buy some.

295
00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:25,880
The wire will have to be thin to keep the models lightweight, yet strong enough to prevent buckling.

296
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,880
The last thing they want is a limp blimp.

297
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,880
I've picked a wire gauge that is, I think, just thick enough for us to weld.

298
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,880
And otherwise, the frame, when we're done with it, may only weigh maybe 10 or 15 pounds.

299
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:43,880
Back at Hindenburg headquarters, Adam and Mithtern Jess Nelson are hard at work.

300
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:51,880
Behind me here, this fishbone is the guide backbone for all the concentric rings that make up the body of the Hindenburg.

301
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:59,880
And then we will, once we have that laid out with all the rings on it, we will go in and weld all the long struts and then we'll do it again.

302
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,880
And then when we're done with that, we'll do it again.

303
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:16,880
By following the original Hindenburg blueprints, the Mythbusters soon have their own mini Hindenburg taking shape.

304
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,880
Look at that! That is very, very cool.

305
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,880
It weighs maybe about 10 pounds of that.

306
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,880
Okay, enough with the horseplay. We need another two Hindenburgs pronto.

307
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,880
You want three Zeppelins in a day? We'll give you three Zeppelins in a day.

308
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,880
The frames need cotton skins. Adam soon has that all sewn up.

309
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,880
Everything's going smoothly until Jamie opts for a spot of last-minute welding.

310
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,880
And suddenly, the model is looking disturbingly like the real Hindenburg.

311
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,880
These things are always catching on fire.

312
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,880
The last thing they have to do is apply the dope and the models are complete.

313
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,880
Now the Mythbusters are ready to crack this case once and for all.

314
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,880
Next up on Discovery, the world's deadliest piñata.

315
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,880
Can you escape a crocodile by jumping into the water?

316
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:32,880
Or by running in a zigzag?

317
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:38,880
To find out, Carri-Torian Grant have harnessed all their know-how and built a zigzag rig.

318
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,880
Now they're off on a reptile wrecking.

319
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,880
We are now here in Florida at St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

320
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,880
And they're crazy enough to let us try our buster rig on some of these alligators and crocodiles.

321
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:57,880
What does it mean when they hiss?

322
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,880
When they hiss, they feel a little threatened because you're getting a little bit too close to them.

323
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,880
So they're kind of unhappy with your presence right now.

324
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:04,880
They're unhappy.

325
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,880
St. Augustine is the only farm in the world to have all 23 species of crocodilian.

326
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,880
Director John Bruggan has heard the zigzag myth many times.

327
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,880
The crocodiles are going in the straight line, you're kind of going in the zigzag.

328
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:29,880
I think you're going to meet a couple times in there.

329
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,880
It doesn't sound so good to me, but it's worth trying.

330
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,880
They choose a good straight run and assemble the rig.

331
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,880
Soon, Buster Tu's got his fetching, quail-filled fishnets on.

332
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:45,880
Now, it's croc time.

333
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:51,880
These are very dangerous animals, so it's important that you're listening to the keepers, listen to David and Kevin.

334
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,880
They'll tell you where to be, if something goes wrong, they're going to be yelling at you.

335
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,880
They don't mean any disrespect, but they're going to tell you to get somewhere quickly.

336
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,880
Hope you were listening, Tori. You're going to help wrangle the first reptile.

337
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,880
I've been watching a lot of professional wrestling on television, so I've learned some wrestling moves,

338
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:08,880
and I'm going to try them out on this crocodile.

339
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,880
The Cuban crocodile is one of the quickest and most aggressive crocodiles on the planet,

340
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,880
a perfect candidate for the zigzag test.

341
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:19,880
If they can catch one, that is.

342
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:24,880
We'll get the animal secured, hold the mouth shut, and then you'll actually tape the jaw shut

343
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:26,880
so it's no longer able to bite us.

344
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:27,880
What?

345
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,880
You're going to tape the mouth shut.

346
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,880
That's what he thought you said.

347
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:39,880
Give Kevin that mouthful.

348
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:43,880
Wow!

349
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:44,880
Okay.

350
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,880
Okay, here we go.

351
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,880
Can the Cuban crocodile catch those zigzagging quail legs?

352
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,880
Tori's poised to pull the dummy along the track.

353
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:59,880
Using the remote control, Grant twitches Buster's delicious legs.

354
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:07,880
Our reptile doesn't seem tempted, although its potential speed is obvious when it suddenly rounds on its keepers.

355
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:08,880
Whoa!

356
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:15,880
They keep trying to tease the croc into a chase, but the beast just won't budge.

357
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:16,880
Signor.

358
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,880
So they wheel out a second Cuban.

359
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,880
Okay, this is the new one, the fresh crocodile.

360
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:22,880
Here we go.

361
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:23,880
Jiggling.

362
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:25,880
Tasty.

363
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:26,880
Come on.

364
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:28,880
Take a bite.

365
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,880
But no cigar.

366
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,880
The reptiles just won't run.

367
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,880
A big part of the problem may very well be that it knows it's not a person.

368
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,880
How can it tell?

369
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:40,880
Yeah.

370
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:47,880
The test subjects are refusing to chase Buster's meat legs in a zigzag or any other configuration.

371
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,880
Luckily, the mythbusters have a plan B.

372
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,880
We're actually going to take a quail and put it on my robot here.

373
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,880
This is a battle-ready combat robot.

374
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:05,880
So if, unfortunately, an animal gets a hold of it in its jaws, it is built for combat,

375
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:07,880
so it probably will stand up.

376
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:13,880
With its cargo of quail in place, Grants Robot sets out on its mission.

377
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:19,880
Looking like the Mars rover, it parks near the edge of a pool, well within striking distance.

378
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,880
Grants poise to hit the accelerator at the first crocodilian quiver.

379
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,880
But, apparently, this croc doesn't feel like meals on wheels.

380
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,880
We're having a hard time getting this crocodile to come to the surface of the water,

381
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:34,880
so I'm going to try to entice it with some quail.

382
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,880
I'm just going to drop it right in front of his nose, or her nose.

383
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,880
Tori ventures close and throws the bird.

384
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,880
Nothing, not a ripple.

385
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,880
I don't think he's coming out the water.

386
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:53,880
Well, the trainers here say that they're naturally secretive animals, and what's more, they're not stupid.

387
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,880
Yeah, it seems pretty spooked by their robot.

388
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,880
No response to the rig, no response to the robot.

389
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:04,880
You can't say the mythbusters aren't trying.

390
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,880
You know, those crocodiles seem like they're slow on land, but shooting out of the water, they're lightning.

391
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:15,880
Well, actually, I've done a little bit more research, and it turns out in almost every crocodile or alligator attack,

392
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,880
since they've been keeping records, the victim has been in or near the water.

393
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,880
Well, then what are the rules to avoid being chomped?

394
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:28,880
First, if there are any warning signs, don't go in the water.

395
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,880
Second, if you fall into the water, get out as quickly as possible,

396
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:38,880
and third, never ever dangle your legs or arms over the side of the boat.

397
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:40,880
I think we can handle these rules.

398
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,880
There's only one thing left, Plan C. That's C for crazy.

399
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:51,880
Tori's going to put his behind on the line and get a crock to chase him instead.

400
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,880
Stay with us.

401
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,880
Soon, Adam and Jamie will see if the Hindenburg myth can stand the heat.

402
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,880
It's a lot quicker than I thought it was going to go.

403
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:05,880
But next, Tori's in for a crock shot.

404
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:13,880
Tori, Carrie and Grant have been wrestling with the myth that crocodiles can't run in a zigzag.

405
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,880
So far, they haven't been able to coax a crock into running at all.

406
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,880
You know what they say about desperate times and desperate measures.

407
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,880
What I'm going to do is I'm going to actually suit up with some protective gear,

408
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,880
get in there, try to agitate the crocodiles and see if they'll chase me.

409
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,880
Tori's going out on a limb.

410
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,880
Let's just hope all his are still there when it's over.

411
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,880
Tori's legs will be well protected.

412
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,880
Unfortunately, the heavy padding will also slow him down.

413
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,880
Great. The safety protection caused me to fall down.

414
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,880
Protective gear is hindering me from running away from the crocodile.

415
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,880
Nevertheless, he's ready for a face-to-face crock confrontation.

416
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,880
The Johnston's crocodile is found in Australian waters.

417
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,880
It's smaller than the Cuban crock, but fast and fiercely territorial.

418
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,880
So there's a first test chasing Tori with the Johnston's crocodile.

419
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,880
What do you think is going to happen?

420
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,880
I think it can catch him.

421
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,880
Can Tori snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

422
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,880
Was that an unfortunate turn of phrase?

423
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,880
Once again, provoking a crock attack proves to be a lot harder than you'd think.

424
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:29,880
But if he succeeds, Tori will have to remember to run in a zigzag.

425
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,880
Suddenly...

426
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:41,880
The crocodile lunges, but doesn't continue the chase beyond that initial strike.

427
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,880
The experiment ends with Tori intact.

428
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,880
And he's starting to draw some conclusions about this myth.

429
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,880
I don't think you're going to have to worry about it.

430
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,880
I think you're more worried about getting away from that initial explosive attack.

431
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,880
If you can get away from that, you're pretty much going to be okay.

432
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,880
Actually, Tori, you're spot on.

433
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,880
In the wild, crocodiles don't chase prey on land.

434
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,880
They're ambush predators attacking from the water, escape that initial lunge,

435
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:13,880
and you're pretty much home-free.

436
00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:15,880
That's crocodiles.

437
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:17,880
But what about alligators?

438
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:22,880
Grant wants to try one more experiment, swapping the crocs for their cousins.

439
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,880
Okay, David, so up to this point, we've been using crocodiles.

440
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:31,880
They haven't been going for the food, but here you have some trained alligators.

441
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:33,880
We have three good candidates in here today.

442
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,880
We have Fluffy, Skipper, and Bob.

443
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,880
And with any luck, one of those will come at you at full speed.

444
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,880
Fluffy, Skipper, Bob, Gee!

445
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,880
With names like that, it must be hard not to smile at a crocodile.

446
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,880
You should lay the food about maybe a foot in front of his head.

447
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:52,880
Oh, okay, that close.

448
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,880
That close.

449
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,880
Using his most commanding voice, Grant calls the animal.

450
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,880
Skipper! Skipper!

451
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,880
I said commanding voice.

452
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,880
Skipper! Skipper!

453
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:12,880
Skipper follows the bait, but he's not setting any land speed records.

454
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:18,880
So then Carrie plays Gator Bader, trying to lure her living dinosaur in a zigzag.

455
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,880
Oh, yes, you're just freaking me out now, Smiley.

456
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,880
Yay! This way! All right!

457
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:27,880
You're the most popular girl in the lagoon.

458
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,880
I don't know if she's more afraid of the alligator or the bird.

459
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,880
The alligator slowly changes direction to follow Carrie,

460
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,880
but is that a zigzag as defined by the myth?

461
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,880
I did a zig, I did a zag.

462
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,880
He could follow me, but only sort of in a curvy motion,

463
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:50,880
not really sharp turns, and it didn't make me get away from him any better or any faster.

464
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,880
Let's face it, this myth is looking more and more,

465
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,880
if you'll pardon the expression, like a crock.

466
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,880
Man, we threw everything at this one, including ourselves.

467
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,880
I don't know what more we could have done.

468
00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:08,880
Yeah, you know, I'm really frustrated. We didn't even get to try our crock zigzag rig.

469
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:13,880
We were in the right place at the right time of year on a hot day with cranky crocodiles

470
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,880
and their food of choice, and they still wouldn't chase.

471
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,880
I mean, we even strapped quails to your robot, and we couldn't get those crocodiles to chase it.

472
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,880
Well, doesn't that in itself prove something? Forget the zigzag.

473
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,880
Crocodiles are just not going to chase you on land.

474
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,880
Yeah, they're ambush predators. If they miss you that first time,

475
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,880
they're just going to wait until some easier prey comes along.

476
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,880
So this whole zigzag theory is just ridiculous.

477
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,880
I mean, you're never going to use it because they're never going to chase you.

478
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,880
It's ridiculous, and what's more, it's busted.

479
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:44,880
Busted.

480
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:45,880
Totally busted.

481
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,880
After the break, it's high noon for the Hindenburg.

482
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:53,880
It is maker break for this myth.

483
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:04,880
For almost 70 years, it's been assumed that hydrogen was the cause of the Hindenburg disaster.

484
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:09,880
But the incendiary paint theory, developed by a retired NASA scientist,

485
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:14,880
lays the blame for the blaze on the metal paint that covered the airship's skin.

486
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,880
Adam and Jamie have built some blimps.

487
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:18,880
Ta-da!

488
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,880
And are set to give that theory a serious thermal workout.

489
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,880
They're off to their home away from home, the abandoned naval base.

490
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,880
And now, we're going to blow up some zeppelins.

491
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,880
As Tarantino might say, bring out the blim.

492
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,880
At 16 feet long, the zeppelin is 1 50th scale.

493
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,880
It's not been designed to get airborne, so it'll have to hang suspended.

494
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:45,880
We've got these figures from a train set.

495
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:47,880
These are 1 50th scale.

496
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,880
Check these guys out.

497
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:55,880
That's how big an actual person would have been with the Hindenburg.

498
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,880
This thing is massive.

499
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:04,880
This fire must have been just the most unbelievable thing that anyone that day had ever seen.

500
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:10,880
The myth says that the destruction of the Hindenburg was because of the skin, and not because of the hydrogen.

501
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:16,880
The blimp skin matches the Hindenburgs exactly, right down to the dope formula painted on its surface.

502
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:23,880
The first test is just the blimp, and without any gas, no hydrogen,

503
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,880
we're just going to burn the skin and see what that does.

504
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,880
The room will be a strict no-go zone during the test.

505
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,880
Adam and Jamie will watch a live feed of the action outside.

506
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:39,880
To set fire to the blimp remotely, Jamie rigs a blow torch on a stand.

507
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:41,880
This is a test number one.

508
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,880
Period, correct skin, no gas.

509
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:46,880
Good night when you're ready.

510
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,880
Time to put a blow torch to the belly of this 70-year-old myth.

511
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,880
That looks good, you're right on target, it's going! That was quick!

512
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:59,880
A thermal imaging camera will show the path of the fire as it rages through the blimp.

513
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:02,880
The Hindenburg burned in 34 seconds.

514
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:08,880
For the myth to be plausible, this Hindenburg has to be consumed in a similar time.

515
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,880
I'm seeing little thermite sparkers, a little.

516
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:16,880
But yeah, we're already at one minute ten seconds.

517
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,880
So we could have burned two Hindenburgs by now.

518
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,880
And we're only like not even a quarter of the way through this.

519
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,880
Suddenly the fire accelerates.

520
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,880
Oh wow! Wow!

521
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:31,880
Oh yeah.

522
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:32,880
That is so beautiful!

523
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:38,880
Sparks cascade as the aluminum and iron oxide on the skin create thermite.

524
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,880
The thermal camera shows a mass of orange as the fire spreads through the blimp.

525
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,880
Two minutes, six seconds.

526
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:49,880
A lot quicker than I thought it was going to go.

527
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:57,880
But still slow, the real Hindenburg could have burned almost four times over in the time it took for the model to burn.

528
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:05,880
There's the unmistakable smell of charred myth in the air, but Adam still sees a spark of hope.

529
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:11,880
Critics of the skin theory say that there couldn't have possibly been a thermite reaction on the face of the Hindenburg

530
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,880
because not only are there proportions of aluminum to iron oxide wrong,

531
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,880
but they're suspended in separate layers of butyrate.

532
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:24,880
The fact that we saw a thermite reaction in this test tells me that while that doesn't prove the myth is true,

533
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:26,880
it tells me the critics aren't entirely right.

534
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,880
On to Hindenburg burn number two.

535
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:32,880
This sepulon would be filled with hydrogen.

536
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,880
Now just pumping the blimp full of gas and lighting it won't work.

537
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,880
Instead of a burn, they'll get a bang.

538
00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:41,880
Just like Adam did back at the shop.

539
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:46,880
Everybody okay?

540
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,880
So the gas will have to be diffused.

541
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:55,880
We're going to feed it from the hydrogen tanks through this blue gas hose up the main strut and into a trough of water.

542
00:37:55,880 --> 00:38:00,880
And the trough of water is going to diffuse the hydrogen across the entire Hindenburg.

543
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,880
This is where the rubber meets the road people.

544
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:10,880
If this hydrogen Hindenburg burns faster than the first blimp, the paint theory enthusiasts will be deflated.

545
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,880
It is make or break for this myth on this test. Let's go.

546
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,880
Jamie sets fire to the blimp.

547
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,880
Call it. You're lit.

548
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:25,880
As the flames take hold, Jess starts feeding hydrogen into the Hindenburg.

549
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:27,880
The gas ignites.

550
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:29,880
Whoa!

551
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:32,880
More hydrogen. More, more, more.

552
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,880
And the blimp is instantly filled with flame.

553
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:42,880
Wow.

554
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Look at that.

555
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:54,880
What's our time?

556
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:56,880
Boom. Wow.

557
00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,880
59 seconds flat.

558
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:03,880
That just feels exactly like what we see in the newsreel. God, it's great.

559
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:11,880
Compare Adam and Jamie's result with the newsreel footage. They're remarkably similar.

560
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:19,880
This is my favorite scale experiment we've ever done. Full stop.

561
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,880
The burn times tell the story.

562
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:28,880
The period skin plus the hydrogen burned twice as fast as the period skin without the hydrogen.

563
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,880
It doesn't get much more definitive than that kind of result.

564
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:37,880
The metal compounds on the skin undoubtedly played a role in the Hindenburg tragedy.

565
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:42,880
But to say the hydrogen had no effect, well, that's a lot of hot air.

566
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:50,880
At the outset of this, we said for this myth to be true, both burn times with and without hydrogen had to be the same and they weren't.

567
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:55,880
With hydrogen, this thing burned up twice as fast. It's busted.

568
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,880
Yeah, but the skin actually did have a fair amount to do with this.

569
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:04,880
We saw that it does burn aggressively and it was clearly a part of what was going on here.

570
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:13,880
We even saw little bitty thermite reactions, which tells us that like any good myth, there is a grain of truth to the fact that the skin had something to do with thermite.

571
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:16,880
But in the end, it was the hydrogen plus the skin.

572
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:17,880
Yeah.

573
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:19,880
We're calling this one busted.

574
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:31,880
But hang on, what about that third blimp?

575
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:40,880
The skin of this Hindenburg has been coated with pure thermite. Aluminum and iron oxide blended in a secret searing formula.

576
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:47,880
It's the same over the top completely unrealistic, mega dope mix Jamie tested back at the start.

577
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:48,880
Deuteronomy.

578
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,880
With the myth already busted, this test is simply myth buster theatrics.

579
00:40:53,880 --> 00:41:02,880
What you're about to see is what would have happened if the original Hindenburg filled with hydrogen was painted with rocket fuel.

580
00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:08,880
There's 15 pounds of thermite on this blimp right now. It's a different sort of beast.

581
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,880
This thing is going to burn.

582
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,880
It's a safety red alert.

583
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:15,880
You're lit.

584
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:17,880
Whoa.

585
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:20,880
Dude.

586
00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:28,880
Unsurprisingly, the flammable thermite fires up in no time and after a dash of hydrogen, we're cooking with gas.

587
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:29,880
Whoa.

588
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:31,880
Oh.

589
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,880
Dynamon's Hindenburg is history.

590
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:43,880
We got to call that. Boom.

591
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:45,880
30 seconds flat.

592
00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:58,880
That is exactly the kind of burn that the proponents of the skin theory believe happened.

593
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:04,880
Except that the skin of the Hindenburg was not coated in hundreds of tons of thermite.

594
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:08,880
Yeah, that thing wouldn't have gotten off the ground with that much thermite per square foot.

595
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:09,880
No way.

596
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:20,880
Our work here is definitively done.

597
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,880
I love the smell of thermite in the afternoon.

598
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:40,880
You know, Hindenburg was more fun than I've had in a long time, but I'll just bet it doesn't end there.

599
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,880
I'll bet this one is going to be super controversial.

600
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:52,880
Well, one of the good things about the show is that we do listen to the fans and in fact we've got a whole episode coming up that is devoted to fan suggestions.

601
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,880
Right you are. So you sitting there yelling at us, forgetting it wrong?

602
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:02,880
Log on to Discovery.com slash MythBusters and tell us exactly what you'd like to see on the show.

603
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,880
Yeah.