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Episode: Son of a Gun Original Air Date: March 30, 2005 Myths: Son of a Gun, Phone in a Thunderstorm, Trailer Troubles
On the Phone in a Thunderstorm
The Myth: Should you stay off the phone or out of the shower during a thunderstorm?
The Experts:
Robert Malahowski (Pacific Gas and Electric) explains how much electricity they can generate at the facility.
Stevan Thomas: (Electrician) says that he has heard of the myth, but hasn't held the evidence of it in his hand. He also helps Adam solve the house's electrical problems!
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Adam: (as Igor) What are your plans, my master?
Jamie: We're going to take over the world!
Adam: (rubbing his hands in maniacal glee) Oh, yes, yes!
The Action/Results:
First, Adam, Christine, and Jamie have to build a house with a phone and a shower in it. So, they go to the Building Resource Center, to get some recycled house parts. After they get their "shotgun shack" (as Adam calls it) assembled, they cart it off to Pacific gas and Electric, where they have a facility for testing such things. This place really excites the guys because, as Adam says, "It's great to visit a place that looks exactly the way you think it should!". They rig the lightning generator to shoot 200,000 volts of electricity towards the house. Then they set up Chip, a ballistics gel dummy, with the phone strapped to his ear. Then it's time for the lightning! The first time the bolt discharges, nothing happens. The electricity goes through the ground wire, just like it is supposed to. So, Adam decides to "help it" a bit. He cuts the ground wire, and they reset. This time, the electromagnetic pulse of the charge is strong enough to throw the remote control camera out of focus, and the bolt goes right through the phone line, and into Chip! It actually shoots from the mouthpiece of the phone into his mouth, and it sets off the gunpowder charge that Jamie taped to the phone receiver. In fact, there was so much charge going through the poor dummy that it fried the voltmeter. They tried it again with an older phone. Even though the gunpowder charge didn't go off this time, the fuse in the meter got fried again. This is enough evidence for Adam to say, "Phones and lightning - bad, bad, bad!". This part of the myth is CONFIRMED.
In the shower, Chip is rigged to be grounded, just as a person would be if he or she was standing on the drain. When the electricity discharges, there are "arcs the size of boa constrictors" (Jamie's words) dancing all around Chip! The meter is fried again, and the camera loses focus again. The guys decide that this part of the myth is PLAUSIBLE.
Son of a Gun
The Myth: Let's just let Adam tell this one in his own words!
Adam: The story is about a young Civil War cavalryman who is shot by a musket ball. The bullet hits his tibia, ricochets off his tibia, goes right through his "family jewels", and then pierces the womb of a woman standing on her porch watching the battle from 150 yards away. This bullet apparently still carried some viable genetic material because, as the story goes, she found herself, very embarrassingly, pregnant (Kari: NO! Adam: YES!). Either they fell in love and got married or he felt some sense of cosmic obligation because they had several children and, as the doctor stated, "none of them looked quite so much like the soldier as the first one"!
The Experts:
John Nevins (National Civil War Association) explains what kind of gun and bullet were used, and what stance the soldier may have been using.
David Hodge and Maya Collard (Civil War Fashion Experts) outfit Tory and Kari, and tell what the soldier and his wife-to-be would have been wearing.
Constance Smith-Golda (Civil War Medicine Expert) explains what kind of medical care was available.
Jim Mitchell (Civil War Expert and Marksman) shoots through the bag of "genetic legacy" and into the "womb" on the very first try!
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Jamie: Genetic legacy?? It's SPERM! Any kid in grade school knows that - helps make babies, y'know!
The Action/Results:
First, Kari, Tory, and Scottie go to the Civil War recreation at Kearney Park in Fresno to get some information. They find out what type of gun was used (an infield rifle musket) and what type of bullet it used (a mini ball). They also find out what the soldier and his wife-to-be would have been wearing at the time, and what kind of medical help was available to them. Then they get to work back at the shop.
Scottie makes a laser sight for the rifle, but it just doesn't work. So, they ask Jim Mitchell to shoot Buster in the leg the old-fashioned way! Buster's leg is made of ballistics gel and a real tibia and fibula. Jim shoots, and the bullet goes through fast enough that the high-speed camera can't measure it! Next, they up the stakes. They position a bag made of the same type of material that the soldier would have been wearing, 150 yards in front of a ballistics gel "womb" wrapped with material to simulate the petticoats and the dress that a lady of that time would have been wearing. Jim makes the shot perfectly! Scottie then takes scrapings of the entrance wound, and examines them under a microscope, but she can't find any trace of sperm. They try again, from 50 feet away, but still have no luck finding any "genetic legacy". For the final word on this myth, though, we have to go to Kari!
Kari: So, I think that this myth is pretty much (she picks up the rifle and fires it) BUSTED!
Trailer Troubles
The Myth: Can you really drive a boat with the trailer attached?
The Experts:
Jay Meiswinkel (Sea-Power Marine) has heard of this myth. He also helped out on the SCUBA Diver/Forest Fire myth.
Quotable/Memorable Moments:
Kari: I'm feeling really Miami Vice right now!
Scottie: Hey, if we throw the cameraman overboard, we'll be a little lighter - we'll go faster!
The Action/Results: First they test the Boston Whaler without the trailer attached. It cruises along at 23 miles per hour. Then they put the boat back on the trailer and strap it down, then put the whole thing back in the water. Amazingly, it floats! Then comes the big test - with Jamie going along for the ride. The boat does, in fact, go with the trailer attached, but it's top speed is only 4.8 miles per hour. Jay Meiswinkel CONFIRMS this myth when he says he has actually done it to get a trailer to a customer's house! |
Episode Descriptions 
