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250 miles an hour! Fire it up!
...Can really stand firm in a force-five tornado.
I think I'm just gonna take my vehicle now and go home!
Then the Mythbusters get a second wind
and turn to invention.
That right there is a result.
Can you really build a personal tornado protector?
Firing at Adam.
Or will it be all hot air?
That's 180 miles per hour!
***
******
who are the mythbuuters?
Adam savage...
How much damage could I sustain from this?
...And Jamie Hyneman.
Bye-bye!
Between them, more than 30 years of special-effects experience.
Joining them... Kari Byron...
Crunching metal! It's awesome.
...Tory belleci...
Is this thing gonna burn? Oh, yeah, it is.
...And Grant Imahara. I'm free!
They don't just tell the myths.
They put them to the test.
***
get ready, because it's time to do the twister.
You know, I sense more than just hot air
coming out of this episode.
And you would be right.
We've got a whole hour coming up
solely about the power of tornadoes.
And to do this episode, we're bringing in two amazing experts,
Sean Casey and Reed timmer, a.K.A.He storm chasers, to help us.
Oh, you mean those guys
that have those cars they've specially reinforced,
and they drive them right into the middle of tornadoes.
Exactly.
Take a look now at these clouds
as they are forming in the distance.
When a tornado is forecast...
Can you swing around and get that, please?
...The sane response
is to either leave town or at least duck into a ditch.
Oh, my God! Whoa!
But storm chasers Reed timmer...
Tornado touching down! There it is! Here it comes!
...And Sean Casey...
Here it comes, right at us!
...Are anything but sane.
Holy
instead, these Maverick meteorologists
lay their lives on the line for storm science.
Oh, I wish we had the radar!
All the while, they're supposedly fully protected
by their souped-up s.U.V.S.
Come on. We got to get out of here.
Or are they?
I'm bleeding.
Yeah, my eyes are bleeding.
What's the plan?
Well, the storm chasers want us to test
their tornado-proof vehicles under tornado-like conditions.
Don't they do that all the time?
They drive near tornadoes all the time, it's true.
But this season specifically, they're expecting to encounter
higher winds than they've ever found before,
and they want us to help them determine
just how tornado-proof their vehicles really are.
Can we break them?
No one has yet told me that we can't.
Well, if first impressions are anything to go by,
this one looks kind of unbreakable.
This is a tornado-intercept vehicle, or "tiv" for short.
Specifically, this is the tiv2.
It's built on a modified truck chassis
and it has 10,000 pounds of composite armor.
Its 2 1/4 inch-thick skin is composed of layers
of aluminum, kevlar, aluminum, steel, rubber,
polycarbonate, rubber, and aluminum.
Its windows are made
of about an inch of glass and polycarbonate.
In addition to its regular armor,
it's also got four hydraulic panels
which can be lowered all the way to the ground
to prevent high-speed winds
from getting underneath the vehicle and creating lift.
It has a couple of 40-inch-long spikes
that anchor it to the ground.
And it all adds up to the state of the art
in tornado preparedness and research.
And to top all that,
today it comes complete with two experts par excellence...
the tiv2's owner, Sean Casey,
and the dominator's Reed timmer.
But believe it or not, the storm chasers are worried
that both their cars' tank-like traits aren't enough.
Nice ride. What can we do for you?
Well, tornado season's coming up really soon,
and it's an el nino year, so we expect
some of the strongest tornadoes on record.
Well, where do we come in?
Well, this vehicle has withstood winds
up to 145 miles per hour
but we'd like to know what the outer limits are.
So can you guys make us a tornado
to test both of our vehicles?
Sure. Absolutely.
Well, the Mythbusters sure know how to brew up a storm.
After all, they've built a perilous pea shooter...
That's pretty serious.
...They've survived a round of " man versus fan"...
I'm still good, but my suit's starting to come apart.
...And they joked around with Hollywood jets.
That's a hot car.
Holy
but to best simulate a full-on twister
when it's not storm-chasing season,
there's only one place to go.
I can't believe they let us back after tearing up their runway.
We're the Mythbusters.
You can't expect us to show up
without something getting destroyed.
Kalitta air's 747, in deepest snowy Michigan,
is the perfect tool to test
if the storm chaser chariots are really tornado-proof.
And here's how.
When it comes to making tornadoes,
there's really not a whole lot out there
that has enough power to do the job.
This is our tornado.
Oh, it may look like a 747 to you.
But to us, it's the perfect experimental platform.
All we got to do is push on this lever...
And this engine spins up,
putting out 45,150 pounds of thrust.
And out comes a tornado.
Simple, really, and what's more,
it comes with the storm chasers' seal of approval.
There are three parts to the winds inside a tornado...
the rotational...
Those intense updrafts...
And just the pure, raw wind speed.
And for our vehicles,
it's that raw wind speed that we're most interested in,
and that's why a 747 engine is the perfect tornado simulator.
The 747, with its massive thrust,
is the perfect storm for this experiment.
It'll unleash its tornado-like power
directly onto the storm chasers' chariots,
to see if they can hold firm or flip out.
But the Mythbusters aren't going to unleash the beast
on the chasers' vehicles just yet.
I'm standing 175 feet from the engine of this airplane,
which right here will give us
160 miles per hour of tornado-force winds.
Instead, they're starting with a regular car,
to see how that can weather the weather.
So, Reed, right about here,
it's gonna be going 160 miles an hour
when they fire that jet up.
Can you put that in context what that means?
Yeah, that's about a mid-range ef-3 tornado for us,
and that's the enhanced fujita scale,
and that's a strong tornado,
and it would cause serious damage to a house,
likely lifting the roof off.
Let's see what it does to the car.
And with the team relocated to the runway,
it's all systems go.
This is what we call a "co ntrol," or a lack thereof.
All right, let's fire up those engines.
Okay. Turning number three.
The pilot flips the switch marked " unleash hell."
And a couple of seconds later, that's exactly what happens.
Whoa!
The car is, quite literally, a pushover.
And that's got Sean a little torn.
Oh!
It'll be okay, Sean.
I think I'm just gonna take my vehicle now and go home!
All right?
Actually, Sean, sorry, buddy,
but it's too late to back out now.
Our fake tornado blew the car about 50 feet,
and it blew the hood off the car,
which is now about a quarter mile away from where it started.
Now, if you'd been in that car, you would have survived,
but the brown-pants factor - sky high.
All right, so, 160 miles an hour
blew that car's hood right off and moved it 50 feet.
You guys ready to put the tiv2
and the dominator to the test?
Definitely. Yeah, let's do it.
All right. Let's do it.
Undeterred by test one,
it's full steam ahead.
All right, Sean. Bring in the tiv2.
Watching the tiv2 come towards here,
I feel like I'm living out my fantasy
of being in a post-apocalyptic thriller film.
But the tiv2 is just part of the storm chaser arsenal.
Beautiful!
Reed's weapon of choice is the dominator.
So, this is the dominator. Tell me about it.
It has bomb-proof coating atop 16-gauge steel,
polycarbonate windows, and hydraulics
that allow the vehicle to drop to the ground
so no wind can get underneath.
So, what's the top wind speed it's been in?
We measured 155.2 miles per hour
at a tornado in Wyoming last year.
Well, we're gonna do it at 160. What do you think?
I think it could definitely handle it.
Both Reed and Sean are confident there'll be no carnage.
And when their awesome autos
initiate their storm-proof features...
You can see why.
One plane, two engines, and two tornado-proof cars
being exposed to 160 miles per hour of tornado-force winds.
Let's see how they're gonna do.
Okay, well, let's do it.
All right. Fire up those engines.
Come on, baby. Oh, stick in there.
Oh, dear. Here we go. Okay, baby, hold in there.
Be brave! Stiff upper lip!
Remember, they've chosen 160 miles per hour
because it's faster than the fastest wind speed
either car has ever endured.
At first, it seems like it's plain sailing,
but then...
Oh! My door! My door!
...The tiv's door gets ripped open.
But luckily for Sean, nothing else moves a micron.
That would have been a wild ride!
Thank you! That was awesome!
We made it.
So it's job done.
Other than a flawed door, the vehicles held firm.
I think the test went very well, except for one thing...
I forgot to lock the driver's-side door.
So, something to definitely remember in the future.
The dominator handled the 160-mile-per-hour wind
like a champ, and that's the strongest one
we've ever experienced with this vehicle,
and it was totally fine, didn't even budge.
But remember - you're watching Mythbusters.
And the fat lady's not even close.
Well, they survived 160.
Yeah they did, but...
...That's not all we're gonna give 'em, are we?
No.
Let's ramp it up.
Coming right up,
the storm chasers feel the force of a force-five tornado.
All right! We're good!
With tornado season approaching,
the storm chasers have asked the Mythbusters to find out
if their souped-up s.U.V. S are really tornado-proof.
Fire up those engines!
And because they survived a snowy test one,
it's time to ramp things up.
These vehicles were purpose-built
to be able to withstand tornadoes.
But so far, they've only seen about half what one can put out.
This time we're gonna dial it all the way up
to 250-mile-an-hour winds,
which is the equivalent of an ef-5 tornado,
the highest rating there is.
That kind of wind will strip a house clean off
right down to its foundation,
and we're gonna see what it does to this car.
It's such a fearsome wind speed
that the guys are doing a trial run with a regular car first.
What's gonna happen?
Well, this car's gonna spin end-over-end.
What's gonna happen
is the last thing that's ever gonna happen to this car.
It's gonna blow away down the field.
All right. Let's do it.
Okay. Regular car, 250 miles an hour.
Fire it up!
That's it! Whoa!
From zero to hero,
the jet soon reaches full throttle...
...Whereupon the car tumbles like a toy.
Stop!
That was great.
It's a case of "now you see it...
Now you don't,"
since just 2 seconds after takeoff,
the car is 250 feet away.
Oh, it picked that car right up
and took it quite a ways.
It did. You think your cars will fare a little better?
Definitely. You ready to put them in the position?
Certainly. Then let's do it.
But as their cars are secured
in the full-on firing line,
the storm chasers' mojo goes awol.
250 miles per hour is insanely fast.
I'm hoping the dominator will be okay, because this is my baby.
Yeah, the final test
where this vehicle encounters 250-mile-per-hour winds...
this has never happened to this vehicle before.
And of course something you've spent your life working on,
that being damaged, in front of you and in front of everybody,
it's horrifying.
It's the moment of truth. You ready?
As I'll ever be.
All right! Let's fire it up!
Sean, did you lock the door this time?
Check.
Once again, the source of the force is fired up,
and a moment later,
a 250-mile-per-hour wind storms through.
At first, the vehicles hold firm.
The tiv, with its anchor points, barely moves.
But then, suddenly,
the dominator starts to lose its footing.
All right! We're good!
It slides in the force five.
Oh, my God!
But thanks to its lower chassis,
the wind can't get underneath it to lift it up or topple it over.
It, too, survives.
Nicely done!
Thank you for not destroying my vehicle! It's okay!
Beautiful!
Hey, good job.
Well that's great.
Even though it went sideways, it stayed firmly on the ground.
It never got under it.
Yeah, I think there was always
some downward force there, which was good.
That was a great test.
Sure was.
The high-speed shows the strain both vehicles were under.
And although one did move,
this 250-mile-per-hour test was clearly survivable.
And that's what counts.
The tiv pretty much sat there like a rock.
It didn't slide, it didn't vibrate,
it didn't budge an inch.
The dominator, on the other hand,
started to move around from the very get-go,
and eventually, it came broadside to the wind
and really started to pick up speed.
But it never lost its balance, it never lost its stance.
The bottom line is,
with both of these vehicles and that kind of wind,
you would have been safe.
Thank God it's okay!
Despite its wild slide,
Reed's once-over reveals
the dominator only suffered a bent license plate.
But it's the tiv that really testifies to the test's power.
Oh, my gosh. Look at that.
Yeah, they're bowing.
The hydraulic piston,
that anchor that goes in the ground...
it's bent.
The force of that wind
actually bent something that was rated to 9,500 pounds.
Wow.
In the fury of the force five,
the tiv's anchor points bent under pressure.
But even so, the occupants would have survived.
And that means
it's "mission accomplished" for the Mythbusters.
The storm chaser chariots are indeed tornado-proof.
Later, Jamie puts his life on the line
for tornado protection.
***
this is what a man looks like!
The storm chaser vehicles
survived a 747's most powerful tornado.
Thank you for not destroying my vehicle! It's okay!
And that means
that both cars can get the Mythbusters seal of approval.
But Adam and Jamie are the gift that keeps on giving.
Well, gentlemen, I officially pronounce your vehicles
both Mythbusters-tested to 250 miles per hour.
Nice.
Well, we know that these cars are safe in a tornado,
but what if you're not in the car?
Well, you're out of luck. Big problems.
You know, I think we may be able to come up with
a solution for you on that front.
That'd be quite a challenge.
Give us a few days, and we'll see what we can come up with.
When a tornado hits,
being in a Mythbusters-approved armored vehicle is one thing.
But if you're outside with nowhere to run or hide,
then surely you're toast.
Well, not if the Mythbusters can somehow build
a personal tornado-protection device.
If Adam and Jamie want to build us something,
this is what it's got to do...
it has to be portable, it has to protect us from flying debris
and have winds of at least ef-3 intensity,
which is stronger than 135 miles per hour.
Well, back at m5, it's the calm before the storm
as the guys nut out the problem, starting with Adam.
All right, let me walk you through this.
As far as I'm thinking it through,
I think this personal-protection device has to do three things...
it has to keep you from blowing away
'cause that would hurt and suck,
it has to protect you from flying debris
'cause that would hurt and suck,
and it has to adapt very quickly to changing wind directions,
one of the most, I think, nefarious things
that happens in a tornado.
And this is my solution.
It's basically some kind of armored bowl.
I'm thinking that shape is ideal
for allowing the wind to slip over it...
a low coefficient of drag on the ground.
But that's not enough.
I'm also thinking a wing shape on top,
pushing the person and his personal-protection device
into the ground, keeping him where he is.
That's the theory, at least. It's time to prototype.
Adam's got two builds to contend with.
First, his prototype, and then a wind tunnel,
which, courtesy of four leaf blowers...
...Should provide a decent draft to run the tests in.
And, thanks to the wonders of editing,
both are ready just about now.
So I put together a whole collection
of funnels, cones, and bowls,
both with and without downforce winds,
and I'm gonna place each one of these
in my simulated tornado's path
and see which one locks itself best to the ground.
That's the plan, but it's not a good start,
as none of the metal bowls is what you'd call stable.
The addition of a downforce wing may be good in theory,
but it's not so good in practice.
A final pit stop
sees Adam minimize the surface area exposed to the wind.
And that gives cause for some hope...
...Until that one, too, bites the dust.
Well, little dude, I've tried every combination
of bowl and cone and wing that I can imagine,
and as far as I can see, every one I'm using
makes such a high profile
they all just blow away in the wind even worse than nothing.
I think we got to Chuck this one.
If you agree with me, don't do anything.
I think he agrees with me.
So, our question is,
how are you gonna keep yourself from getting blown away
in a strong wind?
Obviously, if you're standing upright,
it's easy to knock you over.
You could start lying prone,
and this way you would present less surface area to the wind,
and that's a good thing.
But what if the ground is smooth and hard?
You don't really have any way
of digging into the ground or putting a statake on it,
and that starts me thinking
that maybe we can use the wind itself to give you traction.
Playing his cards close to his chest...
Jamie runs a series of traction tests
that don't mean much to anyone but him.
That, right there, was a result.
But judging by the giggling...
...It seems to be going well.
Kind of like a wing shape.
After a whole afternoon of dialing in the testing,
Jamie's finally ready to reveal all.
After a lot of fussing around, this is what I've come up with.
This thing is made of several segments.
It has a wind vane on the back,
and it has a pivot point and spike that grabs on the ground.
Now, how this works is this...
as the wind comes over it, this wedge-shaped design
allows the wind to press this spike into the ground
and gives us traction.
It also allows that spike to serve as a pivot point
that he can shift with, thanks to this wind vane.
Also, because of this wedge-shaped device,
we have good debris deflection.
And, last but not least,
this whole thing is extremely portable
because it folds up like so...
And can attach to his back,
and he can walk around with it.
The man's a miracle.
Each of the three criteria
addressed successfully in half an afternoon,
at least in small scale.
Well, dude, I think we've got a winner there.
Time to go full-scale, huh?
Absolutely.
But, as the storm chasers will testify,
full-scale will be full-on.
Stay down.
It's gonna be intense, you guys. Hang on.
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Twisters can be seriously dangerous.
No, not those twisters.
Those twisters.
But to reduce that danger, at the storm chasers' request,
Jamie's prototyped a personal tornado protector,
and it's time to go full-scale,
where their shopping list includes...
polyethylene, check...
Duct tape, check...
1/8-inch aluminum, check...
Some ballistic nylon, check...
And a Hyneman, check.
The plan is this.
I'm gonna be making what amounts to a low-slung...
That's my baby.
...Streamlined, and very heavily armored tent.
Oh, yeah.
Just like a tent that you would go backpacking with,
this will fold up into a neat package,
and then, when you're ready to use it, you unfold it.
Now it's starting to look serious.
It's got armored panels, it's got aluminum tent poles...
Okay, everyone, be quiet. It's Jamie's nap time now.
...It's got heavy-duty fabric.
You crawl inside, and you're safe.
And with the addition of a spiked base
that will secure it into the ground...
That is what says I'm not going anywhere
in a few-hundred- miles-an-hour wind.
That works.
...It's ready for some testing.
It's all done.
Let's pack it up and see how debris-proof it actually is.
Okay.
And that's portability passed.
Nice.
Here we go.
I love it.
Our tornado-protection device needs to do three things here.
It needs to keep you from blowing away,
it needs to protect you from debris,
and it needs to be able to face the wind
and change its direction.
Today, we're testing protection from debris.
Our debris will be
this soda-can-sized piece of wood right here,
which will be fired at our device
by this, Jamie's little pop gun.
That's right.
Jamie's pop gun last popped out soda cans
at 250 miles an hour...
...With frightening results.
You killed him.
You tripped all the shock-watch stickers in his chest.
But this time, it's got wood.
Why are we firing these wood cylinders at our shield?
Well, first off, we're fresh out of cows,
and, secondly, wood debris is the most likely thing
that you're gonna find in a tornado,
and so that's what this is representing.
And representing the person in the prototype
is Buster...
...Who, for once, may not need to be nervous.
It's beautiful.
He's ready to try 'em out?
I think so.
Well, as we prepare to fire some not-insignificant debris
at our tornado shield,
I have to say I've got high hopes
for its ability to withstand what we're gonna throw at it.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
Dr. Hyneman, are you ready?
I'm ready.
Okay, debris test in three, two, one.
Oh, yeah!
Did it hit it? Oh, yeah.
It hit it and glanced off,
and it's about 600 feet that way.
Geezum crow!
The wood plug,
travelling at an f-4 tornado's 200 miles per hour
was a direct hit.
And the shield hardly shifted.
That handled it really well.
I didn't even see it move.
So, for test two, it's out with Buster...
...And in with an altogether more valuable Guinea pig.
Based on our test, Adam should be okay.
But just in case, he's wearing a helmet
and we also have EMT sanjay.
Do I think this will work?
I'd better be pretty confident it'll work.
I'm about to get inside of it.
Am I a little scared? Yes, I am.
Do I always answer my own questions?
No, I do not.
With Adam in the tent, it's time to vent.
Okay, debris test firing at Adam
in three, two, one.
Once again, it's a direct hit that's deflected with ease.
I feel great. That was nothing.
It was like a little tap.
Cool. Awesome!
Well, as we hoped, as we expected, and as we saw,
the tornado shield
effectively protects its user from flying debris,
even debris flying at tornado-like speeds.
Now all we need is a big tornado to test out the rest of it.
It's pretty simple, really, but sometimes the best ideas are.
And the fact is, it worked.
Now all we need to do is find a tornado.
That shouldn't be that hard.
If more is what you want, more is what we've got.
Log on to discovery. Com/mythbusters.
Tornado touching down! There it is! Here it comes!
As Reed timmer and Sean Casey will tell,
with winds reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles an hour,
tornadoes are no laughing matter...
Hold on! Seatbelts! We're in the middle e of it!
...Which is why the Mythbusters are here to help.
Let's recap.
The storm chasers have these amazing vehicles
to protect them from tornadoes,
but nothing if they get caught outside the vehicles.
Jamie and I have designed
what we think is a viable tornado shield
to protect a human outside of one of these vehicles,
and we've come back to kalitta air
to fire up their 747 and test it out.
So, you ready to see the tornado shield?
For sure.
You transport it with a backpack, too.
That's incredible.
So, you're going on a hike with your backpack.
You see a tornado coming.
You can't get out of the way, so you deploy this.
That's exactly right. And that's pretty much it.
Well, it sure looks cool.
So far, storm chasers Reed and Sean are impressed.
And they should be, because the rig's two for zero,
but now comes the ultimate test.
Well, not quite now.
Before we test our tornado shield,
we need something to compare it to.
That's called a control,
and that control is called... Adam savage.
I'm going to stand here, directly in the wind stream,
until I can't "stands" no more, and that will be
the point at which we test the tornado shield.
In other words, to be a viable system,
Jamie in the shield
has to withstand more wind than a person without a shield.
I am ready!
And to find that level,
Adam's staring down the barrel.
Ah, how am I feeling?
I have to admit, I'm a little nervous.
I know the safety system we have in place,
but it's not every day you stand behind...
A freaking jet!
However, I can step out of the wind stream
of the jet's engine at any time, and they can cut it
in a moment's notice - or a second's notice...
so I guess there's nothing to do but proceed.
Adam is clipped into a safety harness,
and he has established some hand signals with Jamie.
So, I put one hand up p ad that means " increase the power."
Exactly.
Waving around means " get me the hell out of here."
Exactly. Awesome.
But even so, this is downright dangerous.
It's time for Adam to go into the tornado.
He's a brave man.
Okay. Fire that puppy up.
For safety,
the pilot starts the thrust at just 20%,
which allows Adam to heave himself to his start point.
Once there, the pilot ramps up the thrust.
30% is 100 miles per hour for our fearless mythbuster.
40%... 110.
50%... 120, and he's still holding.
But when the wind hits 130...
...He gets a knockdown blow.
Like a feather in front of a fan, Adam stood no chance.
How you doing? I'm good.
That was awesome!
There were a lot of things to worry about in that one,
chief among them, debris flying towards me.
But I found, being able to see where the wind was coming from,
that I could actually dodge things that were heading towards me.
That was crazy, crazy, crazy fun.
I want to do it again. I really do.
But I don't think we need me to do it again.
Afraid not, Adam, because we've got the data.
130 miles an hour, and you're flying without wings.
Without any protection,
Adam lost control at about 130 miles an hour.
Now it's time to test the tornado shield.
I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm going for 180.
I'm standing on the spot where I withstood
winds of 130 miles per hour before I got blown away.
The question is, will the tornado shield
allow Jamie to stay here at a higher wind speed?
We have the ability
to make the wind speed here up to 180 miles per hour.
It's the perfect place to test.
And Jamie, as usual, seems somewhat nonchalant,
despite the very real danger.
The thing about going behind airplanes,
like this, in prototypes - it's dangerous.
We don't know what this is gonna do.
I believe I'm gonna be all right.
Just the very fact
that I'm down on the ground low and I've got some protection,
I think it'll be good.
And remarkably,
that's confidence that the storm chasers agree with.
I'm really impressed by this.
It's low to the ground, it's aerodynamic,
no wind will go underneath.
I give it a 100%-percent chance of survival.
I have two predictions as to how this test is gonna go.
I think, absolutely, that the tornado shield
will allow Jamie to stay here at wind speeds higher than 130.
I'm guessing maybe 150, actually,
which is a pretty significant difference.
I'm also predicting
that jamieakes the thing home to take naps in.
Look at how comfortable he is in it.
I'm in.
Well, there's no time like the present to find out.
All right. Here's the first test of the human tornado shield.
Go ahead and start the engines.
***
******
like last time, the pilot ups the thrust in increments.
***
yeah, now he feels it.
One design flaw of the shield
is that Jamie cannot see out of it.
You can only imagine how terrifying it must be
as the pilot ups the ante.
***
******
***
the shield holds up well as the wind creeps beyond 130.
But suddenly, things take a turn for the worse.
The suit tears away, and Jamie is left vulnerably exposed.
***
the pilot cuts the engine almost immediately,
but like some sort of cyborg, Jamie survived intact.
How you doing?!
I was fine! The tornado shield wasn't!
It just, like...
As the wind hit 135, the suit went awol,
but the pilot cut the engines before any real harm was done.
The weird thing is that you're in there in the dark.
That, right there, is enough to freak you out.
Once the wind started going, I was fine.
The problem comes when things start to flap a lot.
And at that point, it started to kind of move around
to where it actually moved away from me.
But once Jamie collects the shield
from the other end of the airport...
It's still all there. Looks like a pin fell out.
...It seems all is not lost.
Moments ago, behind me, what happened
was the tornado shield's top separated from its bottom,
effectively delaminated,
exposing the creamy center that is James Hyneman.
Jamie's gonna make some modifications.
He's gonna get right back on that horse
and get in front of that jet!
That's the spirit!
I'm standing in the main deck of the 747 cargo plane,
not for anything to do with the story
but just because... It's so fricking cool!
This is one of my favorite parts about this job,
is getting to look around the corners
and see some of this stuff while we're working on other things.
All right. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
It's getting stronger!
Being outside during a tornado
is a potentially lethal idea,
something Jamie's just confirmed.
His tornado shield was looking promising
until, at just over 130 miles per hour, it blew it.
Cut it. Cut it.
But Jamie's not giving up without a fight.
This was the problem.
These things right here I made pivot
so that the whole thing could fold up neatly.
They're what actually holds the whole thing to the ground.
Because they pivoted, they were allowed to move
and they let go of the actual shield.
So we're gonna actually bolt them in place
and bolt them to the shield.
They won't let go this time, and I think I'll stay in place.
All right. There it is. Good luck.
There he goes, one of God's own prototypes.
Once more, Jamie suits up
directly behind the warming-up engines of the 747.
Are you all right?
Okay, I'm good.
Okay!
All right, ladies and gentlemen.
Back by popular demand,
it's Jamie Hyneman in "tornado shield 2...
the back to the drawing board" tour.
Jamie, take it away.
***
all right. Start those engines.
Jamie sounds really impatient in there.
He's like, "I'm still standing by,"
as if we've, like, forgotten about him.
Okay! Here it is!
***
******
at 110 miles an hour, Jamie's finding it a breeze.
***
******
so, the wind speed's increased to 130.
***
******
he's now experiencing 130!
***
******
***
with the suit holding up, the pilot
puts the pedal to the metal, increasing the speed to 180.
***
Jamie and the suit are clinging on for dear life,
but that seems to be working.
***
******
***
******
***
that's 180 miles per hour!
I'm cutting it!
All right, cut it.
Incredibly, Jamie and his suit
successfully survived an f-4 tornado.
It's absolutely " mission accomplished."
You did it!
***
he withstood 180 miles per hour!
What was he saying? Was it pretty loud in there?
I could barely hear him.
He's like, "oh, this is intense! Oh, I'm feeling it now!"
Let's go talk to him.
That was 180 miles an hour!
Yeah, baby! 180!
It was like...
That was just flat-out terrifying.
There's absolutely nothing you can do
with that kind of power
except hold on and hope that the rig holds.
And by golly, it hold.
It held! It held:
I was waiting for the claw - "what's gonna let go?"
But nothing did.
I was getting beaten by the surface of this thing.
Wow!
It's like being spanked.
Okay. Nice work.
The high-speed shows just how intense that was.
With ice chunks hitting and a 180-mile-an-hour wind,
the prototype rocked.
I got to say,
when we first started talking about the tornado shield,
we went through a lot of design ideas,
but I didn't think that any of them
would have withstood what I saw here.
Nothing prepared me for how devastating that wind was.
And our tornado shield, with only one modification,
held its ground in 180-mile-per-hour winds
with nothing holding it down
except some spikes keeping it from sliding.
That is amazing.
Jamie did great.
The first test he did, oh, he failed miserably.
But he did alterations.
And in the end, he came through with flying colors.
I don't know that everybody in the tornado belt
is gonna want to carry one of these things around,
but we saw what happened to an unprotected person.
We saw what happened to a car, and the simple fact
is that if you had one of these and you got in it in a tornado,
you'd be safe.
Well, you guys wanted a tornado, and we brought a tornado.
And you've got a new piece of hardware for your kit.
Man, I can't believe you did that.
It's gonna be a great tornado season.
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