From Mythbusters:GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:..now if I could just put them on a car......
The Myth:The Arizona Highway Patrol responded to a call about some smoldering wreckage on the side of a mountain near a highway. At first it was believed that an airplane had crashed, but further investigation revealed the true story. An Air Force sergeant managed to get a jet-assisted-take-off (JATO) bottle, which is used to supply additional thrust for heavy aircraft or aircraft on a short runway. The sergeant thought it would be fun to have the additional thrust on his car, a 1967 Chevy Impala. While on a straight, desolate stretch of road, he got up to 80 mph and fired the JATO, instantly bringing his speed to over 300 mph. The road had a slight upgrade and a curve with a mountain beyond. Noticing the curve, the sergeant tried to apply the brakes, leaving skid marks for 1.5 miles. He wasn’t able to stop, didn’t make the curve and became airborne, crashing into the mountain.
The Experts:
Heather Joseph-Witham, folklorist, helps explain the myth. She says that most good urban legends have details like names, places and dates.
Sgt. Bob Stein, Arizona Department of Public Safety, says he first heard about this story in 1994, while he was the department’s spokesperson. He thought that this could have happened because Arizona is the home of several air bases. After some research, he found that there never was a crash site like this in Arizona, not even something vaguely similar. The Arizona Department of Public Safety gets several inquiries about this and their official Web site even mentions the myth.
Andy Granatelli, auto racing legend, says that at high speeds wind resistance is a major factor. At 350 mph the roof would be blown off a car. The car would become airborne at around 200 mph as air goes under the car, which would cause it to flip over. In 1946 he placed 8 JATO units on an Indy racer. He estimates the car went about 180 mph. He says that it was unbelievable.
George Calloway, retired rocket scientist, says that in order for the test to be successful the rockets need to be dead straight. He was hoping it would worked and when was quite impressed when it was over. He thought Jamie did his homework.
Quotable Moments:
Adam: "This is so exciting...I’m going to have to have a grinectomy."
Action/Results: The first step is to acquire a JATO unit, but Jamie has his doubts that the military will just hand one over. He is informed that JATOs are expensive and it is an unusual request. A few days later the Air Force called to deny permission, then they called back to deny permission again. Each JATO produces 1,000 pounds of thrust for 12-15 seconds. To overcome the lack of a JATO, Adam and Jamie enlist the help of Erik and Dirk Gates, who have over 20 years of experience in model rocketry and are qualified operators. They decide to use model rocket engines instead of a JATO. The engines that they use have 1,500 pounds of thrust (3,000 horsepower), but only burn for 4 seconds. The solution is to fire three engines successively.
The next step was getting a 1967 Chevy Impala, cheap. After a long search they came up with a 1966 Impala with a hydraulics kit. This car breaks down after only 8.5 miles, 3 hours from Jamie’s shop. The problem was a clogged fuel filter. Once the car is towed to the shop, the roof is reinforced with a steel cage inside of the car and a mounting platform is made. Since the myth specifically states that the driver of the car died, Jamie makes the car remote-controlled. Due to the limited range of the radio control transmitter and the possible speed of the car, Jamie designs the controls to reset to a preset position in case radio contact is lost.
To test the myth, the car is taken to a dry lake bed. A chase helicopter is used to keep the remote control in range. A test run is done to make sure everything is working properly. They use the car’s hydraulic kit to lower the hood to control the wind effects. All systems go, but the car barely moves and the test is aborted. It turns out the fuel filter was never fixed. After a repair, a second attempt is made and when the car reaches about 80 mph the rockets are fired at 4-second intervals. Everything works perfectly. The car stays on the ground and the chase helicopter can’t keep up at 130 mph.
Several other people in the past have driven cars with JATOs attached. The most notable was in 1965 when Walt Arfons built the first rocket-powered land speed car, the Wingfoot Express II, originally designed to use 10 JATOs. It eventually was modified to take 25 JATOs and had an unofficial speed of 605 mph.
Jamie & Adam realized their jet engines on stands weren't powerful enough, and that they couldn't recreate the myth. Adam says, "Whatda we say here, that the Mythbusters are busted?".
