Episode: Shredded Plane

Original Air Date 1/18/06

Myths: Shredded Plane, Fire Without Matches

The Myth:

Jamie explains that there is an image circulating by email of a plane neatly sliced like a loaf of bread. One explanation is that an ex-wife took a chain saw to the plane. Another explanation is that another plane sliced the first plane with its propeller.

The Experts:

Josh Smith (General Manager, West Valley Flying Club) explains that the only reason you would ever hand start a plane is if the electrical system isn’t working.  He also states that the typical idle speed of the engine is 600 RPM, and a hand starting speed is about 1200 RPM.

Joe Rakow (Aerospace Specialist) warns that pieces from the collision of the two planes could fly for miles.

Memorable/Quotable Moments:

“Out of the fire and into the flying plan” – Robert

“Dude, give me some skin!” - Adam

Action/Results:

Adam finds some plane fuselages, which take a forklift to move. These airplane parts are pretty beat up, but even so, they aren’t cheap! Adam cuts off and buys pieces of the planes for half price. Back at the shop, Jamie starts the chain saw and cuts right through the plane, but the edges are pretty rough. The idea that a chainsaw could cut through a fuselage is true, but the edges are too jagged to replicate the clean cuts seen in the picture. Busted.

Another variation of the myth claims an unmanned idling airplane rolled into the stationary plane and chopped it up with its propeller. This means the pilot hand starts the propeller from outside the cockpit. After multiple tries, Adam demonstrates that it is possible to hand start a small plane, but the only reason to do so would be if all the electronics failed.

Rob Lee explains that a pilotless plane could reach 30 miles per hour on the runway. Adam builds a scale scene by enlarging some diagrams of similar planes to measure the exact distance of the cuts. From that he is able to mathematically calculate how fast the propeller was going. Meanwhile, Jamie buys a 380 horsepower, 6 cylinder engine from Ohio. Adam calculates that the punctures in the stationary plane are 7 inches apart. The math shows that the unmanned plane would need to be rolling 29.8 miles per hour, which is totally reasonable. The engine that Jamie bought doesn’t work very well so mechanics Earl Hibler and Ryan Sullivan are brought in to fix it.

The stationary fuselage half is welded into a steel frame to resemble a real plane. The guys add dumbbells to get a realistic weight of 2500 pounds. They anchor the stationary fuselage at one end of the large naval yard. Adam finds a nice long length of abandoned train track to guide the engine and propeller and a service cart (“shred sled”) to weld the engine and plane to. Grant installs a remote cut off switch in the engine, while 10,000 pounds of sand ensure the resulting mass won’t go anywhere. They line everything up and anchor the target plane. Since there is only time enough for one run, they do a test run first. Jamie is not happy with the bumps in the track, but gives his consent. In this rehearsal they keep the engine on a long leash, but they don’t have much to worry about, because a short in the kill switch circuit shows itself. With that problem fixed, the engine works, but leaks at every possible place. They counter by opening the throttle more before the second and actual test. The experiment works and the engine and propeller reach the speed needed and hit the stationary plane successfully. The engine performs perfectly, and the propeller slices the fuselage nicely. Adam is so excited he can’t talk right because the results look so similar to the photograph. Confirmed.

The Myth: Fire without Matches

The Build Team has to figure out how to make fire without matches.

The Experts: After some questioning by Tory, Jamie admits that he has made fire without matches before, by using a bow and a stick, but admits that it isn’t easy.

Memorable/Quotable Moments: “We find ways of making easy things hard.” - Tory

Action/Results:

Method 1: Kari is doubtful of this classic technique of rubbing two sticks together, but she puts her muscle into it while saying it is just as much fun as it looks. Tory produces smoke but no embers. Grant adds string and gets a bow structure moving, but it takes lots of coordination. Kari finally gets frustrated and uses a power drill to turn the stick faster, but that only makes more smoke and black wood. Rob Lee declares them to be a bunch of fire retardants. They keep cheating by adding some gun powder and finally get a small blast and some embers that way. Confirmed.

Method 2: Tory explains that you’re supposed to be able to pull a bullet out of its casing, empty the gun powder inside, put the bullet back together, and ignite the gun powder by shooting at it. In the blast chamber, they take 9 shots at the powder with no indications of fire. They decide the cap needs compression, so they stuff it and a wad of cloth into a rifle to suppress the cap. Still nothing. Tory supposes the old fashioned black powder is more flammable than the current powder. Finally, they use a musket, some black powder, a wad of cloth stuffed in the cartridge, and a firing cap to set the whole thing off.  At last, there is fire! Confirmed.

Method 3: Grant explains that rubbing chocolate on the bottom of a cola can is supposed to act as an abrasive to polish the concave surface of the can. This surface will focus the Sun’s rays just like a magnifying glass would. After the guys polish the cans for 6 hours, Grant’s can isn’t quite shiny enough, but Tory’s is!. They can’t hold the leaf still long enough for it to heat up, so Tory ties the leaf to the can with a wire and some glue. The leaf soon burns, and they set the tinder on fire. Confirmed.

Method 4: Supposedly a battery and steel wool will produce fire as seen on TV with Ron Hood. All of the team struggles with this one, and they produce a lot of smoke, but they do eventually catch the tinder on fire. Confirmed.

Method 5: Another myth states you can produce fire from ice. Tory plans to take a block of ice rub it into the shape of a lens, and focus the Sun through it like you would a regular lens. They go to an expert ice sculptor who says the myth sounds good in principle. The clear ice blocks used for ice sculptures are needed because the myth relies on refraction. Refraction is the same principle that allows people to fry ants with magnifying glasses. The experts make the ice clear by agitating water with air pressure and allowing it to freeze from the outside in. The Build Team takes some of the discarded ice blocks which Kari sculpts into a lens. The cutting instruments aren’t very precise, and the ice melts quickly. Grant sculpts his lens from another block with just a rock. The sun coming through is certainly “hot, bright and melty” as Rob says, but as the lens melts, the hot spots weaken. Tory and Grant make their own ice the next time by freezing water into a silicone mold of a lens. They agitate the ice with an electric massager, but their lens turns out so cloudy that Grant calls it a “light blocking device”. Kari makes a perfect football looking sphere and “is smoking” along. Eventually the myth is Confirmed.