I just watched the episode about the worker who was supposed to have been blown off a building while holding a piece of plywood. Supposedly he returns to the building safely.
I watched your show with great interest but feel your attempt to bust this myth was WAY off base.
Where was the wind?
The story is about how WIND carried him off and back. You had no wind!
I am an avid flyer of model airplanes. One style of flying I enjoy is slope soaring. That is where wind hits the side of a hill and, having to go up to get over the hill, it creates a HUGE pressure zone.
Many times we have to add weight to our gliders in order to be able to control them in the tremendous lift we encounter.
If the builder was on top of, or on a high floor of a building that was mostly solid, or covered below him, he was encountering slope lift and that is what lifted him off the floor and that is what might have allowed him to return to the floor safely.
It would be difficult to control, but I believe that such a wind could definately lift a man holding a piece of plywood if a strong enough wind was blowing. How strong? I don't know, but I would think something, even a gust, in excess of 30 mph could get the job done.
If you want to bust the myth you have to test it as it occured. If you want to give it another shot, let me know. I would be happy to help.
2007-03-13 01:53:50 · 4 answers · asked by Parercut Faint 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
I will have to agree with you. I used to frame houses and had 2 crews for 5 years. If the wind was strong and gusty (Florida) we could not even hold on to the plywood. Well we probably could have but we would have been flying thru the air like a bird.
That first answer was extremely ignorant and must not realize that a sheet of plywood is wind resistant. lol What a moron. I would try in a wind tunnel and maybe they can get better results.
2007-03-13 11:53:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is not the Mythbusters fan site, nor is it related to the Mythbusters in anyway shape or form.
While you might have a point about the wind, it is unlikely to make a difference as the idea of a parachute is to generate air resistence, and from the episope i doutb that a sheet of plywood would do that, even in high winds.
2007-03-13 08:59:48 · answer #2 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you go to the mythbusters fansite, you can tell them all what you just told us. They often take fan ideas and retest myths based on them.
2007-03-13 10:47:25 · answer #3 · answered by taliswoman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My friends and I tried this during a hurricane off of my friends roof.yes it works....a little.....wow we were stupid.
2007-03-13 11:33:39 · answer #4 · answered by soulburner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋