Air Date: November 8, 2006
A glider can be made out of concrete.
plausible
Adam’s glider made a flight of over 34 feet from a high of 9 feet. Jamie’s took a nose dive. Also, an expert noted that making a glider out of concrete is possible and that the Germans experimented with the idea during World War II. After the test, the MythBusters decided that making a concrete glider is possible, but highly dangerous and impractical since the brittle concrete would shatter once it hits the ground.
The vortex from a passing train can suck a person onto the tracks.
busted
Although small scale testing with model trains in a wind tunnel showed a vortex, the more dominant force when running the full size train was the air turbulence running alongside and away from the train. The force caused Ted, a dummy made of ballistics gel, to simply fall down where he stood rather than be drawn into the train’s wake, and also violently pushed around an empty stroller tethered onto the platform alongside. Despite the lack of suction, the MythBusters agreed that the turbulence was powerful enough in its own right to make standing that close to the train as it passes very dangerous.
[...] of concrete is possible and that the Germans experimented with the idea during World War II." (MythBusters Episode 66: "Concrete Glider") I tried finding evidence or documentation of such experiments and couldn’t find anything. Can [...]
October 24, 2007 at 12:40 PM
re: concrete glider … I recall the University of Washington developing ultra lightweight concrete which wasn’t brittle at all. They also do a “concrete canoe” competition (which appears to have grown substantially) … http://concretecanoe.org/
June 23, 2007 at 2:29 AMI used to test concrete. I hope they didnt add too much water when they built the concrete canoe. (Yeah, yeah, a sick sense of humour.)
June 26, 2007 at 10:29 AMI remembered back in my uni days that the civil engineering department at University of Sydney, Australia made a concrete hang glides and I gather it was tested. Prof Wheen (r.wheen@civil.su.oz.au) would know more. It was mention in the Uni’s 2006 prospectus. http://www.usyd.edu.au/about/publication/pub/ugprospectus/2006/prospectus06_engineering.pdf
July 10, 2007 at 10:26 PMThat concrete canoe website in the link is the most poorly designed website this side of 1995
July 19, 2007 at 2:12 PMi think that the climax of the myth is to make a glider completely out of concrete but from what I saw they used a carbon fiber mesh as the base
August 5, 2007 at 7:40 AMIf you watch the launch of Adam glider, he clearly compromises the flight with the string that is attached. If you watch closely, the string Adam is running with becomes tight after the launch pulling the glidder toward him. I think Jamies would have flown better if he wouldn’t have mage the last minute “nose” weight adjustment.
August 25, 2007 at 5:07 PMThe concept will definitely work if more study in the aerodynamics of a high aspect ratio wing or foil were carried out, as well as researching additives to the concrete to make it lighter and stronger. Maybe this could be revissited?
August 26, 2007 at 12:12 PMI know how that dummy felt, I was walking along the side of a fairly busy road and almost got pulled into it by a passing semi. I agree that it wasn’t suction towards the road, but if you get caught off guard, you could definately have an accident.
September 1, 2007 at 12:37 AMAs Andy wrote in July 07, Prof Rob Wheen from Uni of Sydney did make a concrete hang glider in September 1987 and it was test flown by Phil Mathewson at Kurnell sand dunes in Sydney. I have the write up and pictures of the event. Leave an email address if you want any more information.
September 23, 2007 at 11:24 PMWith Jamies glider, it worked well when he through it in the shop. When he was testing the mith, he added a rope. It would work better if Jamie through his glider like Adam did. Then It would go alot farther than it did.
October 9, 2007 at 1:43 PMThis episode saved a mans life. In the above news article a 14 year old boy recalled the train episode and managed to save a mans life. Well done mythbusters.
November 8, 2007 at 12:55 AMDuring WWII Geoffrey Pyke proposed the use of a incredibly strong form of ice dubbed “pykrete” for the construction of aircraft carriers. Pykrete was a mixture of wood pulp and ice and it was believed that a ship constructed from it would be unsinkable, given its incredible strength. According to Strange Brains and Genius by Clifford Pickover a one inch column of pykrete can support an automobile. This is a WWII myth I would love to see put to the test.
December 20, 2007 at 12:28 AMI know I’m posting this a long time after the original air date so I should probably also post this suggestion again somewhere else if I want it to be seen BUT…
May 1, 2008 at 1:31 AMI saw the subway vortex myth for the first time a few weeks ago, and it immediately reminded me of a myth I grew up with. As a child living near a shipping lane, I was told that the vortex behind large ships (freighter or cruise ship size) can suck a person into the propellers. My father loved scaring me with stories about swimming in the Panama Canal and fighting the suction whenever a cargo ship passed nearby. This myth is actually the reason for a phobia I have of boat propellers. Since water has such a different density than air and boats are a bit different than subway trains I’d LOVE to see this myth actually tested (and find out if my dad was just pulling my leg).