Episode Name:   Explosive Decompression

Original Air Date:   February 22, 2004

Myths:   Explosive Decompression, Frog Giggin', Rear Axle

The Myth: (As explained by Jamie)   " If you are in an aircraft at altitude, and you poke a tiny hole in the exterior of the plane, you will get sucked out through that hole and potentially cause an explosive decompression."

The Experts:
Dr. Heather Joseph-Witham, Folklorist:  This narrative has been around as long as high altitude flying and scares us because it involves two things we can’t control that can kill us: fear of flying and guns.  We see it repeatedly in movies to the point we believe it to be real.

Boyd La Cosse, Pyrotechnician- "I believe I can solve all your problems." Sets up the charges to blow out Buster’s window, and eventually the side of the plane.

Best Quote from the Narrator:
     "You know a rock band has made it when they get their own private jet. The Mythbusters know they’ve made it when they get to destroy their own private jet!"

Actions/Results:
Jamie buys a 9mm handgun and rigs it to fire remotely with a small motor from a vending machine. Adam has arranged to use a salvaged DC 9 located at the Mojave Desert Boneyard, a low humidity storage facility for the world’s aircraft. The guys know that a normal cruising altitude can be around 35,000 ft., and the normal pressurization of the passenger cabin is 6-7,000 ft. Because the plane will be on the ground, they calculate they must pressurize the cabin to 8 psi to match the difference between the internal and external pressures the plane would experience at 35,000 ft.

Arriving at the Boneyard, and after a hysterical time jumping around all over the outside of the aircraft, Jamie and Adam get to work plugging the many holes left by the salvaging of parts in the passenger cabin. Jamie fits a pressure gauge to the emergency exit window and rigs a remote camera to be able to read it from a safe distance.  Adam closes up the cockpit windows with plywood cutouts and foam. A Huffer arrives, a giant compressor designed to start up 747 engines and they do two pressure tests that result in blowing out the cockpit windows (and a pilot’s seat!). They leave repairs for the next day.

Adam reinforces the cockpit windows and they check Buster into his window seat.  Jamie sets up and aims the gun for the fuselage and spreads foam-packing peanuts to see if they move.  They pressurize the plane, shoot the gun...nothing happens but a puff of vapor escaping.  Jamie plugs the hole, re-aims the gun for the window and tries again. Once more, only vapor escapes the small window hole. Myth Busted!

Now for duplicating the results. Boyd La Cosse puts primer cord around Buster’s window.  He blows the charge...BOOM! Buster’s arm, back and foam peanuts are explosively sucked out the window. While things from a distance weren’t pulled out, the guys conclude a person in that seat would be seriously hurt by a window blowout.

This would have been the end, but, according to producer Peter Rees, their pyrotechnician could not return across county lines with the explosives he had remaining, so......! Boyd sets up a 100 grain shape charge on the side of the aircraft, Adam pressurizes the cabin, and they blow the side and roof off the plane! Everything was pulled towards the opening, including seats, and some was ejected or piled up on top of Buster...who remained in his seat!  Conclusion: this would have been terminal in a plane flying at altitude.

Quotable Moments:
Adam: "Y’know, the more time I spend around planes, the more they absolutely mystify me.  I’d be a terrible airplane designer because I’d look at that and I’d go, ‘Yeah, like that’s ever getting off the ground!’."

Jamie, while putting the emergency door from the plane on the table in the workshop: "You guys keep bringing in more crap into the shop!"

Hollywood Rear Axel

The Myth: Comes from the movie "American Graffiti" made in 1973, set in the 1950’s.  In the movie, one of the characters takes a cable, loops it around the rear axel of a police car and wraps the other around a pole.  He speeds off in a car in front of the police officer. When the officer goes to chase him, he quickly reaches the end of the cable and the axle is ripped out of the car.

Expert: Dr. Heather Joseph-Witham, Folklorist: Myth is a reminder of simpler times, the reason people like it now.  No one gets hurt, it’s clean, and funny.  It reminds us of a time when we could do things and not worry about the consequences.

Best Quote from the Narrator:
"Aside from the mustaches, these two haven’t changed much since elementary school."

Actions/Results:
The guys get a cop car copy, used in the movies. Jamie rigs it to drive remotely. They practice with it at an empty dockyard, having some trouble, nearly hitting their equipment table. Adam attaches a 5/16ths cable to car and telephone pole, they put Buster in a police uniform in the front seat and the 1st test begins, with the guys operating from a near rooftop to avoid danger from the cable snapping. Car drives away, the cable comes unhooked from the pole, takes out the high speed camera, and the car, hidden by the building’s corner, heads for another pole.  Jamie saves the day by stopping the car blind only inches from a crash.  They bind the cable with binding wire onto the axle and pole for the 2nd test...and break the cable.  Myth Busted!

Now for duplicating the results. Adam works himself to "the 8th door of dirty" by cutting 75-90% thru the control arms holding the axle on the car with an oxy torch and attaches a 5/8ths cable to the right end of the axle.  Jamie starts the car, the cable pulls on the axle...axle becomes mostly unattached, but can’t release because of the wheel wells and trunk in the way.  The cable, rated for 10x the weight of the car, snaps again. The guys conclude they may have used a ramp to guide the axle out and possibly explosives in the movie.

Quotable Moments: Including the best quote of all time!

The boys run the second test, in which the cable breaks without damage to the car.
Adam: "So, I was off on my percentages. I gave what happened here a 30% chance of happening."
Off camera, associate producer Claire corrects him: "20% in fact."
Adam: "That wasn’t me, that was somebody else.  I said 50%, 40%,10%."
"What? No you didn’t!" After a bit of bantering between the two, we hear;
Adam: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

Jamie: After doing donuts in the police car, Adam tells him it’s his turn. "What?! You think I’m getting’ outta this thing? NOT!"    Watching Adam drive the police car, "He’s not as good at it as I am."

Adam: "I’ve an empty car doing donuts and a police car with it’s lights flashing... naw, I checked. There’s nothing more fun than that."

Jamie: As he gets into the back seat of the police car like he’s handcuffed. "Now I know what it’ll be like when I finally get arrested."

Frog Giggin’

The Myth: Couple of  "good ole boys" are diving home in their pickup after a night of frog hunting when the headlights go out. They fix their blown fuse by using a 22 caliber bullet and continue home.  20 miles later the bullet has heated enough to fire and it hits the driver "in some very private parts." He loses control of the truck and hits a tree. Both survive, but the driver needed surgery.

Expert: Dr. Heather Joseph-Witham, Folklorist:   Appeared on the internet in 1996, falsely stating it was from an article from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette entitled "Real Life Redneck Tales".  Naming a source like a newspaper gives a myth credibility.

Actions/Results:
The guys go to the junkyard to find an old style glass fusebox that would be pointing at the driver. They use Jamie’s old pickup truck (now without rear wheels!) for the experiment; setting up the power from the battery, to the lights, through the fusebox, and running wires to turn on the lights remotely.  Buster, in redneck gear, is set in the truck. They discover the bullet fits and works perfectly, but will not heat up enough to fire in this situation where the wiring is sound. They create a short, which instantly fries the wires, but does nothing to the bullet fuse.  They surmise there may be some funky wiring going on in some folks pickups and run the short using the heaviest wiring used in cars.  When tried, this instantly sets off the bullet. They (gleefully, on Adam’s part) set off 10 bullets and note the camera sees several bullets and casings fly towards the dummy. Jamie examines Buster, and finds at least 3 holes in his pants, but no damage. He concludes a person would have some nasty little bruises, but not more. Myth Busted...for now, but given the "state of some people’s pickups, still out there waiting to happen!"

Quotable Moments:

Adam: "Can I set off the bullet, Jamie? Huh, can I, can I, I’d really like to try?"
Jamie: "Shutup, ‘en set off the bullet."

Adam: While holding the remote wires to set off the bullet; "You grab one, I’ll grab the other, we’ll do like a Wonder Twins one."

Jamie: Pulls Buster out of the truck and dumps him in a heap on the floor, laughing at the result; "I laugh every time I do that."

- episode description by mattfn