♪♪
Narrator:
AFTER STARTING WITH A SLINKY,
ALLIE, CANNAN AND JESSE
ARE STILL ON TRACK
TO CONFIRM THE MYTH THAT A CAR
CAN BE BRIEFLY INDUCED TO HOVER.
LOOK. IT LEVITATED.
Allie: OH.
IT STAYED IN THE AIR.
BUT IT'S ONE HECK OF A STRETCH
FROM A 12-POUND BOWLING BALL
TO A 3,000-POUND AUTOMOBILE.
♪♪
Jesse: TODAY IS A CRAZY DAY.
WE'RE LITERALLY DROPPING
A CAR FROM A CRANE.
I'M EXCITED.
I CAN'T WAIT.
[ LAUGHS ]
Narrator: SCALING WAY UP
FROM THOSE ELASTOMER STRIPES,
THEY'VE SOURCED A GIANT BUNGEE
CUSTOM-MADE
FROM MULTIPLE STRIPS
OF RAW RUBBER.
GIVEN THAT THIS RUBBER
HAS THE CAPACITY
TO STRETCH 400 PERCENT...
IT JUST KEEPS GOING.
...THEY'VE DECIDED
THAT SUSPENDING THE CAR
FROM THE CRANE 10 FEET OFF
THE GROUND
REQUIRES A 12-FOOT-LONG BUNGEE.
♪♪
Narrator:
WITH PREPARATIONS COMPLETE...
-YOU GUYS READY?
-YES.
-HERE WE'RE GO. WE'RE DRIVING.
-OKAY.
Narrator: ...THE FIRST STEP
IS TO CAREFULLY FIT THE CAR...
PERFECT.
RIGHT THERE.
...INTO A HEFTY SLING
FOR HOISTING.
Tamara:
WE'LL GIVE IT A SLIGHT LIFT
SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT
THE CENTER OF GRAVITY,
BUT THEN IT'S GOING TO BE TIME
TO ATTACH THE BUNGEE,
AND THAT'S WHEN
IT'S GOING TO GET EPIC.
-NICE.
-WE BRING YOU THE SINE WAVE.
[ LAUGHS ]
Narrator: THIS IS A SERIOUSLY
BIG-SCALE EXPERIMENT,
SO ADAM HAS UNEARTHED
SOME HARD-CORE HARDWARE.
THIS RIGHT HERE IS THE FAMOUS
MYTHBUSTERS' 10,000-POUND
QUICK RELEASE.
WE'VE BEEN USING THIS THING
FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS.
IT IS ACTIVATED BY
THIS PNEUMATIC CYLINDER,
WHICH GETS ITS AIR
FROM THIS PNEUMATIC TANK,
SETTING OFF THIS QUICK RELEASE
AND LETTING THIS CAR,
SUPPOSEDLY, HOVER IN MIDAIR
FOR A FEW HUNDRED MILLISECONDS.
Narrator:
BUT FIRST, THEY HAVE TO
GET IT OFF THE GROUND.
THE MASSIVE BUNGEE
STRETCHES AND STRETCHES.
IT'S STILL GOING.
FOR A WHILE,
THERE'S SERIOUS DOUBT
IT WILL ACTUALLY LIFT THE CAR.
-WE HAVE LIFTOFF.
-OH, MY GOODNESS.
THAT'S CRAZY.
Cannan:
I THOUGHT WE WERE IN TROUBLE
THERE FOR A SECOND,
BUT WE'RE FINE.
THAT'S A LOT OF STRETCH
ON THAT THING.
FINALLY, THEY'RE READY
TO TEST IF A CAR
WITHOUT ADDED WEIGHT
CAN DEFY GRAVITY.
CANNAN, ARM IT.
THE RIG IS ARMED.
ALL RIGHT, JESSE.
Jesse: GRAVITY-DEFYING CAR
WITH BUNGEE IN THREE, TWO, ONE.
-THAT WAS PRETTY COOL.
-THAT WAS AWESOME.
-WHOA.
-OH, MY GOODNESS.
Narrator: BUT...
I DON'T THINK
THAT LEVITATED.
YOU DON'T THINK AT ALL?
WE'LL HAVE TO LOOK
AT THE HIGH-SPEED, I GUESS,
BUT I DIDN'T REALLY SEE
ANYTHING THE FIRST TIME.
I COULDN'T SEE
A DARN THING EITHER.
Narrator:
THE CARS IS A WRITE-OFF,
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MYTH?
WELL, THE HIGH-SPEED
HAS THE ANSWER.
THEY'VE DONE IT.
Cannan: THAT'S 476 FRAMES,
WHICH IS 95.2 MILLISECONDS.
THAT'S NOT VERY LONG,
BUT THAT'S STILL PRETTY COOL.
Narrator:
AND THERE'S EVERY CHANCE
THERE'S SOMETHING COOLER TO COME
BECAUSE THIS IS
A TWO-PART GRAND FINALE.
YOU KNOW WHAT'S BETTER
THAN DROPPING A CAR,
DROPPING A CAR TWICE,
WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE ABOUT TO DO.
IN ALL OF THE SCALE TESTING,
THE MYTHBUSTERS KEPT DETERMINING
THAT THE HOVER TIME
COULD BE INCREASED
BY PUTTING AN EQUIVALENT WEIGHT
TO THE PAYLOAD AT THE TOP
OF THE STRETCHY MEDIUM
THEY WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH,
AND THAT IS EXACTLY
WHAT I'M SITTING ON,
A VESSEL OF WATER EQUIVALENT IN
WEIGHT TO THE CAR BEHIND ME.
WE'RE GOING TO PUT THIS
AT THE TOP OF THE BUNGEE
WITH THE CAR AT THE BOTTOM
AND SEE IF WE CAN INCREASE
THE GRAVITY-DEFYING
PROPERTIES OF THAT CAR.
STOP.
ALL RIGHT.
THIS IS THE FINAL HOOKUP.
YOU CAN START TO GO UP, NICK.
Narrator:
AGAIN, THE DELICATE LIFT
PROCEEDS AT A SNAIL'S PACE
TO HOPEFULLY AVOID
SNAPPING THE BUNGEE.
Cannan: THIS IS WHAT FLYING CARS
WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE.
[ LAUGHTER ]
Narrator: AND THE TEAM HAS
STRETCHED AN UNLIKELY PHYSICS
PHENOMENON TO THE LIMIT,
AND WHETHER IT HOVERS OR NOT,
THEY'RE ALL KEYED UP
FOR A SMASHING FINALE.
THIS IS FOR THE GLORY.
IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN LAST TIME.
Allie:
CAR BUNGEE TEST WITH WEIGHT
FINAL TEST IN THREE, TWO, ONE.
♪♪
DID IT WORK?
-NO.
Cannan:
UH, THAT'S AWKWARD.
WHAT DID I DO?
Narrator:
THAT'S 6 TONS DANGLING MIDAIR
AND A VERY REAL CHANCE
IT COULD ALL COME
CRASHING DOWN AT ANY SECOND.
WHAT WE FOUND IS WE THINK
THAT THE SAFETY,
THE SAFETY PIN
DIDN'T FULLY COME OUT,
OR THE ELECTRONICS
AT THE TOP HAVEN'T BEEN WORKING.
EITHER WAY, WE'LL FIGURE
SOMETHING OUT TO GET THIS DOWN,
I HOPE.
Adam:
THIS STILL HAS NO SAFETY ON IT.
Narrator:
THE CAR AND TANK ARE LOWERED
INCH BY PRECARIOUS INCH
UNTIL ADAM CAN
SAFELY ASSESS AND REPAIR.
STOP.
WE HAD A FAILURE
OF THE RIG IN MIDAIR,
WHICH WAS PRETTY SCARY
BECAUSE THIS WEIGHS
SEVERAL THOUSAND POUNDS
AND SO DOES THAT.
WE ISOLATED THE PROBLEM
TO AN AIR LEAK,
WHICH NO LONGER EXISTS,
AND WE SHOULD BE ABLE
TO DROP A CAR SOON.
Narrator: WITH THE FAULT
FOUND AND RECTIFIED...
ALL RIGHT, NICK.
UP JUST A LITTLE BIT.
Narrator:
...THE DOUBLE LOAD IS ONCE
AGAIN LIFTED INTO POSITION.
Adam: THAT LOOKS LOVELY.
ALL RIGHT, GUYS.
ARE YOU READY?
-YES.
-READY.
ALL RIGHT, CANNAN.
ARMED.
COMMENCE PRIMARY IGNITION.
ALLIE, CALL IT IN.
Allie:
BUNGEE TEST WITH TWO WEIGHTS
FINAL TEST
IN THREE, TWO, ONE.
[ LAUGHTER ]
-[ LAUGHS ]
-THAT WAS AMAZING.
THAT WAS A HUGE EXPLOSION,
AND IT JUST COMPLETELY
CHOPPED THE CAR IN HALF.
OH, YEAH.
THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
YOU COULD JUST SEE, LIKE,
A CASCADE OF THE WATER
JUST FLOWING OUT.
Narrator:
BUT THE NAKED EYE CAN'T TELL
IF THE CAR AND TANK HOVERED.
♪♪
SO IT'S OFF TO THE HIGH-SPEED.
-THAT CAR IS DEFINITELY --
-THE CAR IS STILL LEVITATING.
THAT'S DEFINITELY
LEVITATING.
Jesse: THIS CAR IS DEFINITELY
DEFYING GRAVITY RIGHT NOW.
Narrator:
QUESTION IS, DID IT HOVER ANY
LONGER THAN THE CAR BY ITSELF?
THE SECOND DROP WAS 732 FRAMES,
SO THAT'S 146.4 MILLISECONDS.
THAT'S A LOT BETTER
THAN THE LAST ONE.
Narrator: IT SURE IS.
THE CAR ALONE RESISTED THE PULL
OF GRAVITY FOR 95 MILLISECONDS,
AND THE CAR WITH ITS
EQUIVALENT WEIGHT IN WATER,
146 MILLISECONDS.
IT'S AN ALL-AROUND SUCCESS.
THEY'VE PROVED AGAIN THAT ADDING
AND DISTRIBUTING WEIGHT
ACTUALLY AMOUNTS
TO MORE HOVER TIME.
I'M NOT REALLY GOOD WITH MATH,
BUT WE JUST CRUSHED A CAR SO...
[ LAUGHTER ]
WE TOTALLY
JUST CRUSHED A CAR.
♪♪
