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Written by river95
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Thursday, 19 October 2006 |
Mega Movie Myths Special
Original Air Date: September 13, 2006
Episode Number: n/a
In this episode, which was a two-hour special, the team worked on six different movie myths.
#1 Awning Fall
The Myth: Can a person survive a fall from the top of a building if they fall through awnings, as Indiana Jones and Willie Scott did in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
The Expert: Michael Spear (owner, Zebra Awnings) makes 6 awnings for them to use.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
The “Mythbuster Keaton” sequence, in which Jamie is chasing Tory with a pickaxe!
Adam: Danger is my middle name.
The Action/Results: Kari, Tory and Grant started this one off by going out to an abandoned military base and finding a building to use. They drilled into the walls of the building to set up the awning mounts, and find out that the building was a fallout shelter and has reinforced walls! However, they persevered. Meanwhile, Adam and Jamie picked up the awnings at Zebra Awnings, and they found out that they were 100% acrylic and they weighed 9.75 ounces per square yard.
Once everyone was at the site, they put up the awnings and prepared Buster to play Indiana Jones. Kari attached the shock watch stickers to Buster’s head, chest, and limbs, while Adam rigged Buster’s harness with a quick release shackle. Then they hoisted him up to the top of the building with the boom lift, and prepared to drop him. Adam predicted “100% chance of Buster death”, and they were ready to go.
When they dropped Buster, he hit the first awning and spilled over onto the second one. When he hit the second awning, several parts of him fell off and hit the ground, but most of him stayed in the second awning, although he ripped a hole in it. Grant was sent up to cut Buster free. Buster then dropped onto the third awning, and spilled over the side of that awning onto the ground. When they checked his shock watch stickers, the 50g and 75g stickers were tripped, but the 100g sticker was not. Therefore, Buster survived, and the myth was PLAUSIBLE for him.
Next it was time for the “body on the line” test, and Adam wanted to take that fall. However, one call from the insurance company changed the plans. Tory suited up for the fall while Adam vented. The team cut an “x” into each of the new awnings, and then taped the awnings back together and put them on the side of the building. Tory was hoisted to the top of the building, and the stuntmen pulled the quick release. Tory fell through the three awnings in short order, and landed safely on an air bag. So, for a person, doing this under the supervision of stuntmen, this myth is PLAUSIBLE.
#2 Cutting a Sword
The Myth: Is it possible to cut a sword in half with another sword?
The Experts:
Richard Hill (sword expert) brings some authentic swords for the build team to see.
Michael Esmaikadef (Tameshigiri expert) says that he uses the same type of sword when he practices that the build team uses for their experiments.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Tory (after discussing the specifics of the myth): That sounds dangerous!
Adam: And yet…
Jamie: FUN!
Adam: It’s time to build a sword-whacking robot, man!
Grant: All right! I accept your challenge!
The Action/Results: The build team started this one with the simplest approach first – they simply clamped a sword to a stand and started swinging. Grant and Tory both gave it their best shots, and, even though they dented the target sword, they could not cut it in half. So, Adam challenged them to make a “sword-whacking robot” which would swing the sword with all the force of a real swordsman. To that end, they brought in several real swordsmen-practitioners of tameshigiri. They filmed these gentlemen cutting through mats, and found that Grant’s robot would have to swing at 48 miles per hour. After a first set of tests with a drum and a cable, Grant made a robot that used a pneumatic actuator and a drum to match the velocity needed. They also tested the amount of force generated by the robot by having it cut through a block of ballistics gel. The sword swung by the robot cut just as deeply as the sword swung by the experts.
The first test was a battle-ready katana against a stainless steel katana. The stainless steel version was chopped in half by the hardened-metal sword. Then they tried two battle-ready katanas against each other, the edge of one striking the flat blade of the other. The target blade bent, and both blades were nicked, but neither one broke. The third katana test involved having the blades meet edge to edge. The target sword did break, but it snapped in a different place, not where the swinging sword cut it. So, with katanas only, this myth is BUSTED.
However, the build team wanted to be thorough, so they tested some other blades as well. When they tested a European rapier against a katana, the rapier snapped in two. When a Scottish claymore did the swinging, and the katana was the target, the katana bent, but it did not snap. And finally, when the team tested the two biggest swords in their arsenal (the Scottish claymore vs. the Viking sword) neither one broke. So, in the end, this myth is BUSTED.
#3 Ejection Seat
The Myth: Is it possible to make a working ejection seat in a car and have it not be noticeable?
The Experts: none
Memorable/Quotable Moment:
When they do the first incremental test of the ejection seat, and the chair goes up, over, down the back of the car and out the door!!
The Action/Results: At first, the guys decided that they wanted to make this ejection seat in a truly “spy-like” car, so they sent Mythtern Jess Nelson off to look at some old Studebakers. Unfortunately, what she found was that these cars are narrow and the windshield usually goes up over the driver’s head. So, they opted for a boxy-looking Toyota instead.
Next, they cut a passageway between the trunk and the front passenger seat. They put a tank for compressed air in the trunk, and they ran pipes to the back of the passenger seat. Then they machined some tubes for the air to flow through on the back of the passenger seat, and a second set of tubes to fit over the first set. This second set of tubes was the back of the passenger seat. Adam sewed a cover for this second set of tubes, and then put the whole thing gently over the first set of tubes. They added a seat cushion, and cut a hole in the top of the car.
For the first test, at 10 psi, they tried it in the shop. The chair flew up, slid down the back windshield, off the back bumper, and out the door of the shop! The next test, at 70% of capacity, was done in a vacant lot. Again, the ejection seat shot straight up, fell behind the car, and worked perfectly! Finally it was almost time for the real test.
The guys had also decided that the ejection seat needed to be undetectable. The first person they asked was Bob, the tow truck driver. He figured it out right away. The next person was Dontel, one of Jamie’s interns. She didn’t suspect anything. Finally, they asked John Walker, from Area 51 Productions. He knew something wasn’t right about the car, but wasn’t sure what it was. So, the seat was reasonably undetectable.
Finally, it was time to test the seat. Adam started driving down the runway. He hit the button. Simulaid Jane and the seat flew up in the air, and then landed in a heap on the tarmac. This myth is PLAUSIBLE.
#4 Shootin’ Locks
The Myth: Can you open a lock by shooting it?
The Experts:
Sergeant Alan Normandy (south SFPD) was there to make sure that the gang was safe.
Justin C. Jacobs (locksmith) said that the caliber and the quality of the locks would make a difference when seeing if you could open a lock by shooting at it.
Memorable/Quotable Moment:
Tory: The deer slug seems to be the winner of the day!
The Action/Results: First, Grant went to the locksmith to get the locks, while Tory went to get the doors. They put a row of padlocks and hasps all the way down one door, and a row of deadbolts down the other door. Then, Tory made a shield with a piece of bulletproof glass and two strips of metal. This shield kept the shooters safe from ricochets and shrapnel. Sergeant Normandy met them at the Chabot Gun Club, and they started to set up the tests.
First, Kari fired a 9mm handgun at the padlock. She tried 3 times, but the lock did not break. Then she tried the .357 Magnum. Again, nothing happened. They switched the doors so that she could shoot at the deadbolts, but to no avail. For handguns, this myth is BUSTED.
Then, Grant tried some larger guns. He fired the 12-gauge shotgun at the padlock, and it looked like it stayed together, but it fell apart when Tory yanked on it. The M-1 Garand was the same story – it shredded the lock. When Grant fired at the deadbolts, these two weapons shot the locks right out of the doors! So, for bigger guns, this myth was declared PLAUSIBLE!
#5 Jumpin’ a Gorge
The Myth: Can you jump a car over a long distance and drive away, as they do in The Dukes of Hazzard?
The Experts: none
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Jamie: Nothing like a good hump is what I always say!
The Action/Results: Jamie rigged the car from the Rough Road Driving myth for remote control, while Adam calculated the distance and speed that the General Lee was traveling in the movie version of The Dukes of Hazzard. He determined that the car flew 175 feet, and was traveling at 70 miles per hour when it left the ramp. He also calculated that the angle of the ramp was about 30 degrees. Jamie decided that it was doable, and they headed out to the test site.
Once there, they took delivery of a pile of dirt, and they compacted the dirt with a steamroller. Then it was time to practice with the RC car, this time with a small “Jamie-cam” mounted to the hood. This small camera gave Jamie a car’s eye view of exactly where it was headed. After a few small problems and one flattened fence, everyone was ready. Jamie was seated in the passenger side of the van, and Adam was driving. They got the car up to 70 miles per hour, and sent it flying off the end of the ramp. It landed nose first exactly 172 feet later. The car could indeed fly that far, but it could not drive away after such a landing. This myth is BUSTED.
#6 Ballistic Breakthrough
The Myth: Can you shoot a circle through a floor and drop through (as Kate Beckinsdale did in Underworld)?
The Expert: Sergeant Normandy says that he would not try this myth unless he was a cartoon character.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Sergeant Normandy: (after discussing crime fighting in stiletto heels) If you’re ever gonna bust that myth, give me a call!
The Action/Results: Tory started this myth by building a shooter’s deck that had a one-inch wide channel around it. The plan was for Tory to stand on the shooter’s deck and fire down at another deck, and shoot holes through that one. There were sandbags on the second deck, to simulate the weight of a person. If the myth was true, Tory should have been able to shoot a circle around the sandbags and they would fall to the ground.
Tory picked up the MP-5 and started shooting. He fired 360 rounds, and even got Grant to come and help by firing the shotgun where the support beams were. However, the only way they could get the target deck to break was to stomp on it repeatedly. This myth is BUSTED!
Final Memorable/Quotable Moment:
Tory: (stomping off) You guys really know how to ruin a movie!
Adam: (while eating popcorn) That’s confirmed!
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Episode Descriptions 
