All language subtitles for Mythbusters.S15E03.The.A.Team.Special.1080p.AMZN.WEBRip.DD2.0.x264-CasStudio_track3_[eng]

[ Gavel bangs ]

I find the defendants...

guilty!

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

In 2002, a crack science duo
was sent to prison

for a crime they didn't commit.

These men promptly escaped
from a maximum-security stockade

to the San Francisco
underground.

Today, masked with
their new identities,

they survive
as soldiers of science.

If you have a problem,

if no one else can help,

and if you can find them,

maybe you can hire
the mythbusters.

[ Laughs ] You ready
for the a-team special?

I was born ready, fool.

Outstanding.

[ Rock music plays ]

Captions by vitac...
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

Jamie, did you ever watch
that show, "the a-team"?

Sure.
All right.

Which character
from "the a-team"

do you think
i most closely resemble?

Which one was that guy
that keeps ending up

in the mental institution?

Murdock.
That's murdock.

That's the one.

[ Inhales deeply ]
All right.

Well, we have an entire
episode devoted to

the '80s cult classic
"the a-team."

What's on the docket?

Well, later, we will be
trying to disable a car

with a manhole courtesy
of a sewer explosion.

But first up,

we have what is really
a classic "a-team" trope.

See, in almost every episode,
the guys are stranded somewhere,

and they have to build a weapon

with only the materials they
have at their disposal, right?

Right.

Okay, so in this one,

the a-team is stranded
in a lumberyard.

The bad guys
are on their way back,

and the a-team builds
a Cannon out of a log

that shoots 2x4s

with a controlled
propane explosion

to defeat the bad guys.

Sounds dubious.

Well, i think we
should test it out,

and if it doesn't work,
maybe you and i could do better.

Maybe.

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

Adam: [ Grunts ]

Don't touch me.

Okay.

Uh, so, shall we gather

all the materials
we saw in the clip?

Are you gonna keep that thing
in your mouth the whole time?

As long as i can stand it.

[ Sighs ]
All right.

So... Solenoids.

That looks almost
exactly the same.

On the show, the a-team guys
built their wood Cannon

in a general-purpose shop that
was attached to a lumberyard.

Now, they had a log,

and they drilled a hole
down the middle of it

to make a Cannon barrel.

Beautiful.

They're using
half-2x4s as ammo,

and we did see
a tank of propane.

So that appears to be
the propellant.

That's what we've
got to work with.

So we're gonna use that
equipment to build

our wood Cannon.

Awesome.

Narrator: Having
cross-referenced the clip,

the guys collate all of the
a-team's Cannon components...

Ammo for bad guys.

Before Adam rolls out
the barrel, literally.

There i am.

Now, in the clip,

they drill the hole in the log
using a drill bit like this,

called an auger bit.

It's gonna take a while.

But, frankly,

we could not find one
in the size that we needed.

We're using a different kind of
drill bit called a forstner bit.

[ Drill whirring ]

One of my single favorite
drill bits of all time.

Adam uses the forstner.

[ Drill whirs ]

I feel like the villain
in some kind of movie.

But even so, it's a tough task.

I know. It seems
strange to me, too,

to keep having to
sharpen this bit

when all I'm doing
is drilling into wood.

But the fact is that
the molecules that make up wood

are incredibly dulling
to metal blades,

so you got to sharpen it
all the time.

In fact, it takes
40 minutes of hard labor...

[ Grunting ]

before Adam's barrel
is fully bored.

There i go.

Now that's a hole.

So next, it's over to Jamie...

[ Laughs ]

who inserts a hose to fill
the barrel with propane...

Look at that.
Perfect fit.

Before prepping
the Cannon's ignition system.

Jamie:
So how are we gonna

ignite the propane
in our Cannon?

Well, the easiest way
is with a spark,

and the easiest way
for us to get one of those

is just to plug a couple wires
into the wall socket.

But that's only gonna
make a small spark,

and we need a big one
for reliable ignition

of the propane.

And for that, we're gonna
use our favorite device

for generating large sparks,
and that's the neon transformer.

And there it is.

And once wired in,

their Cannon
is the perfect copycat.

It's got
a 40-inch-long log barrel,

propane as fuel,
a sparking ignition system,

and planks as projectiles.

Plus, the whole thing's
mounted on a forklift,

just like "the a-team."

But the question is,
will it work?

All right.

[ Knocks plank on Cannon ]

Loading the device.

There we go.

Okay.
Device is loaded.

For test one...

Jamie:
1-1,000, 2-1,000, 3-1,000.

They're giving it some gas...
Five seconds' worth of propane.

Ignition in...

3, 2,

1. Go.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Give it another five seconds.

Putting a cigar in

just makes everything you say
sound a little more...

Authoritative.

Get those trucks out of there!

Move those people over there!

I'll put those oranges
in my summer house.

Stuff like that.

Jamie: 3, 2, 1.

Nothing.

Nothing?

Well, that's weird.

I would expect
at least something.

Figuring the sparker
may have failed,

Adam goes in for a closer look.

Okay.
Sparking now.

[ Flame pops ]

Whoa!

That actually blew my hand.

Hmm.

So there was enough
residual gas.

That tells me we need
very, very, very little gas.

Okay.

All right, we started out
by adding way, way,

way too much propane to this.

Now, you might think,

"oh, the more propane,
the better,"

but it's not that way.

Propane isn't flammable
in and of itself.

It's flammable when it's
mixed with air or oxygen.

And you have to get the correct
mix, or stoichiometry,

in order to to get
that ignition or that pop

that's actually gonna send
this out towards the bad guys.

So for test two,

the guys use
just one second of gas.

And...

Jamie:
3, 2, 1. Fire.

Hey!

That was a pop!

It was.

Ammo did not move

even the tiniest bit,
not even remotely.

Well, there was
fire in the hole,

but so far,
a viable weapon, this ain't.

I got to say,
it's not looking so good.

I mean, we've replicated

everything that we saw
in the clip,

and we are getting ignition.

It's just not as energetic
as it showed in the clip.

We're gonna have to
do something else.

With the guys stumped...

Hmm.

This a-team is gonna
need a plan "b."

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

So, forklift fire is all
about improvised weaponry

taking out the bad guys,

but the a-team were also very
adept at making their escape,

and that is the next thing
we're gonna tackle.

Go on.

In one of my favorite escapes,

they take a bundle of dynamite
and put it in a sewer,

just under a manhole cover.

Then, they wait until
the bad guy's driving over

that manhole cover.

They detonate the dynamite.

Boom! The manhole cover takes
the car completely out.

So the car is a write-off,
but the dudes inside are okay?

Exactly. No one ever
gets hurt by the a-team.

Well, explosive escapes.
I like it.

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

The myth is that
by placing the dynamite

just inside the drain,

the a-team could
evade the villains

without injuring them.

But is that really possible?

This is perfect!

So there's a plan, right?

Of course there's a plan!

[ Laughs ]

For some reason,
urban areas don't like it

when you use explosives
in their sewers.

So in lieu of that,

we've come to our favorite place
in California,

where we can blow
large things up

and even dig holes
in the ground...

Ione, California.

Thanks to its remote location,

ione is the perfect place
for some manhole mayhem.

But the digging will come later?

Now, obviously,
since the a-team

placed their sticks of dynamite
inside the sewer,

we are going to do
the exact same thing.

Perfect!

Nice ride.

But it raises the question,

why would they
go to the trouble?

I mean, what's the difference
between it on the ground

and in the sewer?

And this leads to
the a-team's m.O.,

which is they don't ever
want to kill the bad guys.

They just want to
neutralize them as a threat.

So in order to test
whether or not

their method is truly nonlethal,

we're going to need a control...

That is nine sticks of dynamite,
just like the clip,

placed on the ground,

with this car placed
right on top of it.

Find out what happens
to the driver of the car

when we blow that up.

My prediction,
it's not gonna be pretty.

So with the car from the clip,

the guys are green-lighting
a control test.

What's next?
Buster.

Will a dynamite detonation
outside a sewer...

[ Laughs ]

cause casualties where
an internal one would not?

We want to find out

whether our driver would
have survived this blast,

and if so, whether he was
injured or not and how badly.

To do that, we're gonna be
putting sensors on his head...

There we go.

On his waist, and near his feet.

And these sensors
can record events

down to the microsecond,

which will tell us
exactly what went on.

Buster may be wired
in the hot seat...

Just remember, little buddy,

this is gonna hurt you
a lot more than it hurts me.

But he's not
the only data device.

Now, another reason

the a-team might have
placed their explosives

inside the manhole cover
is to protect

any innocent bystanders
standing around.

And that is a reasonable
assumption

that we would like to test,

and that's what
these figures are for.

We've placed these
two ½-inch plywood cutouts

at 15 feet and 10 feet
from the blast

to see how much damage
they've sustained

in the control versus
the actual experiment.

And, of course, on mythbusters,

"innocent bystander"
is just another term

for "shrapnel catcher."

With the plan coming together...

[ Chuckles ]
It's okay, little buddy.

Next up is the explosive.

For accuracy,

we're using nine sticks of
nitroglycerine-based dynamite,

because that's what they
used on "the a-team."

Now, this is the first time
we've used it,

because it's
relatively unstable.

It's shock-sensitive,
and that's bad.

So we're gonna take
every precaution,

and we're gonna be safe.

And, speaking of being safe,
that cigar... it's fake.

Yes.
Made of chocolate!

The guys are going
that extra mile...

Say when.

To make sure that everything
matches the clip...

Adam: Stop.

With two exceptions.

First, the control test
has no sewer.

And second...

Also in the clip,
the car is moving,

and we are not doing that
for two very good reasons.

Number one, it doesn't make
any difference to the physics.

But, two, and most importantly,

we want to be able to
compare our control blast

against the blast
when we dig the sewer

and put the dynamite in there.

And in order to compare
those two exactly,

we need the dynamite in
the same spot on both blasts.

And in order to guarantee that,

well, we're just
not moving the car.

That is our plan.

All right, sir.
You ready?

I'm ready.
Okay.

You mind if i take
the first plunge?

Knock yourself out.

[ Laughs ]

All right.
Here we go.

This is a-team dynamite test,
the control.

[ Laughs ]

I've always wanted to do this.

In 3, 2, 1.

Narrator: In the mythbusters
a-team special...

[ Cow moos ]

These things taste terrible.

The guys were wired up
to a countdown...

In 3, 2, 1.

That just got cut.

What happened to our countdown?

We'll get right back to it,
i promise.

I just wanted to remind
everybody

that what we are testing

is how lethal
nine sticks of dynamite

detonated on the ground
under a car

are to both the driver
of that car

and the innocent bystanders
on the street.

That is our control test.

Now back to our regularly
scheduled countdown.

This is a-team dynamite test,
the control.

In 3, 2, 1.

[ Laughs ]

I'm no munitions expert,

but i don't think
that car is gonna be there

when the smoke clears.

When the dust
eventually settles,

the car hasn't disappeared.

But it's not exactly
in one piece.

How are you doing there,
little buddy?

[ Laughs ]
Oh, man.

He actually looks almost
completely intact.

Oh, wait a second.
Hey, Adam, check this out.

Adam: Oh!

That's a hole clean through
to the underside of the car.

I am now going to
go out on a limb

and predict that buster
didn't survive that,

but only the numbers
will tell us for sure.

It didn't look good for buster.

[ Explosion ]

But what does the data say?

It looks pretty bad
in here, huh?

Like hell on earth.
But get this...

Buster actually survived
that blast.

I know!

Don't get me wrong,

he is not walking away
from this blast. No, no, no.

He's legless below the knees,
he has permanent hearing damage,

if not almost total hearing
loss, and permanent lung damage.

He is not walking away,
but he's not dead either.

Although buster may live
to see another day,

his injuries are way too awful
for "the a-team."

And he's not alone.

Upon careful looking again
and again at this, high-speed,

I'm noticing that
the blast pressure wave,

which normally would be
coming upward and outward

in a symmetrical bubble,
is not doing that.

Instead, it's starting out
as two bubbles

that are coming out underneath
and to the side of the car,

spreading out the energy coming
off of this blast to the side.

That energy to the side

spells bad news
for the bystanders.

At this point,
you might be wondering

how our bystanders
have been holding up,

and i can tell you.

Our bystanders withstood
a pressure wave of 90 psi... 90.

That's lethal.
They were dead.

With death and destruction
from shock wave and shrapnel,

the control blast
was catastrophic.

But will going underground,
as per the a-team's technique,

really make a difference?

Back at the shop,

Adam and Jamie's
a-team Cannon...

3, 2, 1.

Has so far flunked.

But Adam knows why.

What makes something
leave something,

like ammo leaving a barrel,
is pressure behind the ammo.

What we've got

is ammo where pressure
can't build up

because there's almost as much
space around the ammo

as there is ammo.

That means the gas
can get right by it.

This is the correct-sized hole
from the clip

and the correct-size ammo
from the clip,

but i don't think we're
gonna get anything out of this.

I think we need to build
a little bit of a barrier

behind this to create
some corked pressure in there.

So Adam's altering
the a-team's design...

There we go.

To up the pressure.

Now. See that?

Much less space.

But will this now
tight-fitting torpedo

go ballistic?

Firing in 3, 2, 1.

Yeah!

[ Laughs ]

Boy, I'm glad i wasn't standing
in front of that thing.

[ Laughs ]

It's another flat-out failure

that bears no resemblance
to the clip.

So to give the myth
another lifeline, here's Jamie.

Along with propane,
they had a tank of oxygen,

just like this one here.

Now, oxygen is
an aggressive oxidizer

that I'm betting would make

a far more energetic
sort of a burn.

So while we didn't
see them use it,

just for due diligence,
we're gonna try it.

Like Adam before him,
Jamie's going off-script.

[ Sniffs ]

Smells like oxygen.

No, it doesn't.
It doesn't smell like anything.

As this time,

he adds pure oxygen
to his propane party.

No.

And back goes the fuel line.

3, 2, 1.

Oops.

Jamie: Wow. Well, that wasn't
exactly what i had in mind.

I mean, i knew the introduction
of pure oxygen in there

would make
a more energetic reaction,

but i didn't think it was gonna
blow up the whole barrel.

I mean, that was kind of scary.

But it does make me think

that if i dial back the oxygen
to just the right amount,

i should be able
to find a sweet spot

that shoots that wooden ammo out
as pretty as you please.

Narrator: So, with some
running repairs on their log...

Better than new.

And some

better-late-than-never
safety shields...

There we go.

That makes me feel safer.

It's all systems go

to find out if there is
a propane and oxygen mixture

that will fire their projectile,
but won't destroy their Cannon.

Okay, I'm fueling.

3, 2, 1.

Adam: Hey!
It moved about a foot.

For each test...

So, going to four seconds.

The guys are altering

the relative amounts
of the two gases.

Firing in 3, 2, 1.

We got it out!
Whoo-hoo!

Give me a high five.

But after some
early encouragement...

3, 2, 1.

It's not long before
a familiar pattern emerges.

This one's for the money.

Firing in 3, 2, 1.

[ Chuckles ]

That was by far
the most vigorous bang yet,

and our projectile
didn't move at all.

Indeed... after two dozen
concentration combinations,

including a repeat
of Jamie's big bang...

3, 2, 1.

It's clear that no gas
mixture has the pushing power

to weaponize their wood.

Our plan was good, great even.

We methodically experimented
with different air/fuel mixtures

of propane and air,

and then we added pure oxygen.

We added a barrel block
to the back of our projectiles.

We got breached cannons.
We got loud cracks.

We got bangs.
We got fire.

Still, one thing we did not get

was any projectiles

leaving the barrel and traveling
towards their opponents.

[ Explosion ]

We have scientifically busted
this device completely.

But here's the thing.

I have to imagine

that if you put Jamie and i
in an abandoned lumberyard,

that we would be able
to come up with something

that was effective.

Let's call it.

Yeah.

Let's figure out another way
to hurl wood at our opponents.

Adam: Welcome back.
Here's the scene.

The a-team is stranded
in a lumberyard.

The bad guys have gone away,
but they'll be back in an hour.

Now, instead of wanting
to escape or run away,

the a-team builds
an elaborate device

to punish the bad guys
when they return.

Now, Jamie and i have
already tested the method

that they used in the show.

3, 2, 1.

And it totally didn't work.

[ Laughs ]

Adam: But we've stranded
ourselves in a lumberyard,

and we are going to attempt
to build our own device

to punish the "bad guys"
when they return.

Should be a pretty good show.

Narrator:
The goal is simple.

With one hour on the clock,

can Adam and Jamie,
using only the stuff they find,

build a weapon that can take out
the bad guys by firing planks

as projectiles?

Well, first up,
they need a plan.

So, shooting these as ammo.

Yeah, i had some thoughts

about an easier and more
reliable way of doing this.

I'm thinking something
like a pitching machine

where we get wheels spinning,

and we just feed our ammo
into the wheel,

and it kicks it out.

We got one on the...

There's a trailer over there.

The trailer is beautiful.

And so somehow,
we spin that out, right?

That's gonna be terrifying if
we get that up to a nice speed.

What do you think?

Should we use a motor off
of, like, the compressor?

Well, i saw this wrench
over here.

[ Laughs ]

Dude!

[ Laughs ]

I think these suckers go like
5,000 rpm or something scary,

which, you know
[Chuckles] i mean...

[ chuckles ] When you smile,
it makes me nervous.

[ Laughs ]
All right.

So, i guess the first thing
is to make sure that

that thing can actually power
that wheel at a speed we like.

Then, we'll figure out a way

to make that structure
aimable and shootable.

Yeah.
All right.

I love this plan.
Let's do it.

It's a promising plan

that gets better
when the torque wrench

does fit the wheel hub.

But will it spin it up to speed?

Okay, you ready?

I'm ready.
Go for it.

[ Torque wrench whirring ]

Yeah!

And that's just the start
they were hoping for.

[ Laughs ]

I don't know how fast
that was going, but...

That seems... I'm gonna
call that fast enough.

Being able to spin
their wheel of misfortune fast

is vital to launching
their lumber.

[ Saw buzzing ]

But will the rest of the plan
come together so smoothly?

In theory, this is like
a pitching machine,

but remember, we're
doing this with lumber.

We're using various tools

that were not made
for this kind of thing.

And there are a lot
of moving parts here.

That's a lot of stuff
that we have to integrate

if it's gonna
actually work smoothly,

which is
the whole point of this.

While Jamie gets on
with integrating the flywheel...

That ought to do it.

Adam's taking aim at the ammo...

where he's trying to
outgun the a-team

by going semiauto.

[ Chuckles maniacally ]
This is gonna be awesome.

I absolutely love and adore
working like this...

Seat of the pants, on the fly,

figuring stuff out
with what's in front of you.

The solutions you come up with

are weirdly elegant
when those conditions arise.

Yeah, baby!

Want to know how this works?

The wheels sits
right about here,

spinning very crazy fast
in that direction.

This ammo box sits
right about here.

When Jamie pulls the trigger...

That's this lever...

It feeds a piece of wood out
until that piece of wood

contacts the spinning wheel.

The moment it does,

the wheel grabs that piece
of wood and hurls it...

[ Plank clatters ]

at one of our bad guys.

Then, Jamie pulls this back...

You see all the ammo
drops down...

And he's ready for another one.

Bang!

I think we could fire
like 15 shots

in maybe 5 or 6 seconds
with this thing.

Rat-tat-tat-tat
tat-tat-tat.

Like Adam "Hannibal" savage,

"howling mad" hyneman
is also making progress.

There we go.

He's aligned the wheel
with the torque wrench...

[ Laughs ]

and added some safety shielding.

Angular momentum is enough
at certain speeds

to actually make
this tire explode.

That's why i built
this structure this way,

so as I'm behind it, firing it,

I'll be protected by stuff
in the event

this actually takes off.

This is gonna work killer.
[ Laughing ] I hope so.

With the bad guys
less than 20 minutes away,

there's no rest for the wicked.

Adam: After building
the firing mechanism,

the next task for me is
to build the aiming mechanism.

And this is nontrivial,

because it's quite easy
just to take a spinning disk

and feed a piece
of wood into it.

It's another thing entirely

to be able to aim that both
side to side and up and down.

That's great.

I kind of have to build
essentially a wooden swing

with a pivot in the middle of it

to hold this entire
like 60-, 70-pound device

that we're building.

This should work beautifully.

As a sidenote,
I'd like to point out

that we're putting
all this together

with some really
quite basic tools...

Love making stuff like this!

You know, wood saws,
some drills,

and screws and glue.

[ Laughs ]

Basically, we're using far less
than what they showed

in the actual
"a-team" episode.

With time running out...

That's it.

Okay.

The mythbusters attach
the wheel to the aimer...

Looking pretty good.
[ Laughs ]

then the magazine to the wheel.

Dude, it's almost
perfectly balanced.

[ Laughs ]

Almost like we knew
what we were doing.

Almost like we knew
what we were doing.

And before the bad guys arrive,

they can fire off
one quick test.

[ Torque wrench whirring ]

It's terrifying to stand here!

Firing! 3, 2, 1!

That's what I'm talking about!

Hey!

I hit the camera.

That is awesome.

Adam: Our machine
is working beautifully.

It's a wonder to behold.
It is terrifying to be behind.

When it starts out, the wheel
is slightly unbalanced.

It's going like...
Daka-daka-daka-daka-daka!

[Mimics wrench revving]
And it goes zz-zzt-mmoh

and it settles in.

And then you pull the lever
and lever, and, bang!

The piece of wood
shoots out like 60 feet!

I hit a camera.
It was beautiful.

3, 2, 1!

Shooting at
over 50 miles an hour...

[ Laughs ]
That is awesome.

Their forklift firer
is the real deal.

But next, the ultimate test.

Will it take down the bad guys
before it's too late?

Narrator: Adam and Jamie escaped
from a maximum-security stockade

to an abandoned quarry...

This is perfect!

Where their aboveground
control caused carnage.

Adam: He's legless
below the knees,

and if he didn't get help soon,

he could even drown
in his own blood.

All that's left for us
to do now is to dig a sewer

[laughs]
And try it again.

Yep. To put the a-team's
m.O. To the test,

next, the guys
need a city sewer...

Nothing like digging
a good trench.

To see if the same blast,

but just barely underground,

will be injury-free for all.

Next, we put trench plates
across here.

Yeah, you're,
uh, spot-on.

And we'll completely cover this

except for where
our manhole is gonna be,

and, boom, you got a sewer.

Believe it or not,

this is actually the first time

that we've ever used
a trench plate for a trench.

[ Laughs ]

This kind of operation,
it looks like fun, and it is.

It is also incredibly dangerous.

Any one of these plates
could shift just a half-inch

and take off one of Jamie's
fingers without even noticing.

Tilt up.

That's it!

And it is this kind of operation
that the two of us excel at

in working with each other,

because in order
to do it safely,

you not only have to move
carefully, but you really...

It's best if the two people
doing it's thoughts

are identical.

Like
a well-oiled machine.

And frankly, when Jamie and i
are doing something like this,

our brains are running on
totally parallel tracks,

and it's a sheer pleasure
to do it.

That looks beautiful.

Yeah.

It's fabulous.
[ Grunts ]

I love it when
a plan comes together.

Oh, shut up.

With the trench plates in place,

the guys next
man up their manhole.

Hello!

And after a quick
sewer survey...

Aw, yeah!

It looks great down here,
man, like a real sewer.

And it's nice and cool.
We should have lunch down there.

That's a fabulous idea.

The great backfill can begin...

And that right there...
That's a man in the zone.

As Jamie buries most,

but not all,
of their sewer system.

Adam:
At this point in the episode,

you've probably entertained
a few thoughts,

among them things like,

"wow, Jamie's pretty good
with the excavator.

I wonder if he had help."

Yes, he did.

But among your comments
might be,

"why are you guys

leaving one hole under
your sewer system open?"

And it involves replicating
the circumstances of the myth.

See, we're testing
an explosion of dynamite

in a sewer system,
keyword "system."

Sewers are part of
a long set of catacombs

running underneath the city.

There's a lot of places
for the expanding gases

of the explosion to go,

and that is why
we're leaving ours open.

Narrator:
With one end open,

one end closed,

and the top
soon to be sealed shut...

That'd do it.

Their drain in a day is done.

That just leaves
the rest of the experiment,

starting with driver and car.

Who drives with
their legs crossed?

Only buster.
[ Laughs ]

Next come the all important
pcb sensors.

Adam:
We're using these sensors

to determine whether or not
buster lives or dies

in these explosive tests,

but it's worth talking a little
bit about how they work,

because it's pretty cool.

Inside this sensor is a type
of crystal called piezo.

When you flex it or press on it,

it generates a tiny amount
of electricity

that is very consistent.

You can expose it to
a blast pressure wave.

It will generate
a little amount of electricity

that we can equate to the amount
of pressure it received.

That directly tells us

whether or not buster
could live or die.

Excuse me, buster.
[ Groans ]

Pardon me, excuse me.

Thank you.
Pardon me, pardon me.

Oh! Thank you,
sir. Oh!

Thanks for the ride.
[ Groans ]

[ Sighs ] I'll call you
when it's time to pick me up.

After that comes the dynamite,

positioned millimeters
below the manhole

at the very uppermost point
of their drain.

So, this is exactly what we
see them do in the clip...

Nine sticks of dynamite
off to the side a bit

with the manhole cover
on top of it.

All right.
Here we go.

3, 2, 1.

The final piece of the puzzle

is to position the car
exactly as it was

in the control test.

Keep coming.
And a little more.

Perfect.

All that leaves is a prediction.

Now, my impression is that
the sewer is gonna allow

some of the blast pressure
to escape down into that cavity.

But, then, on the other hand,
we have that manhole cover,

which is most likely gonna
turn into fragments,

because it's cast-iron,
and that's brittle.

And that may well hold onto
the energy somewhat

and direct it upward
into the car.

Where that puts buster?
It's anybody's guess.

That's what we're
gonna find out.

Are you ready?

Yeah.

All right.
I'm gonna hook it up.

There's one.
There's two.

[ Cranking ]

[ Laughs ]

Count it down.

All right.

Explosives
in the manhole cover...

In 3, 2, 1.

That did it.

Wow!
That was awesome!

When the dust settles this time,

it's clear that the car
hasn't been torn apart.

Adam: We have yet
to crunch the data.

We have yet to look
at high-speed.

But on the face
of what i witnessed

and what i can see here...

[ Laughs ]

That held together better
than i thought i would,

that's for sure.

I feel like that was a fantastic
comparative set of explosions.

The second explosion,
the dynamite in the sewer,

just as we saw
on "the a-team,"

dented the oil pan of this car,

but did not break through.

It looks like it didn't
actually penetrate, though.

Wow!

My prediction post-explosion,
pre-data crunch

is that our dude
is totally fine.

But we got to check all
that stuff out first.

Yep, while initial
impressions are good,

it's all down to the data.

Jamie: I've analyzed the data
from the sewer-based explosion,

and it's pretty interesting,

because the prior blast
exposed buster to 26 p.S.I.

This time, with the sewer,
he only experienced 9 p.S.I.

That's less than half.

And that means that,

as opposed to ending up
in the hospital

with some serious injuries,

this time,
he would have walked away.

A little unhappy
and with some bruises,

but he would have walked away.

So buster's only bruised.
How about the bystanders?

Last time,
a lethal 90 p.S.I.

This time?

11 p.S.I.

That's right!
Isn't that cool?!

Not only is the blast survivable
for the guy inside the car,

it's also for the bystanders
by the side of the road.

I'm no doctor,

but you might want to have
that shoulder looked at.

It's kind of weird.

It's an astounding result.

Simply by placing the dynamite
millimeters below their manhole,

the shock wave takes out
the car and the car alone.

This is really cool.

95% of the time,

what you see in movies
and television

has no bearing
on actual physics.

So it is very funny to me

to delve into
a cheesy 1980s action show

that i totally grew up on

and find that
their physics are sound.

That is, putting dynamite
inside a manhole

is a fine way of making
a nonlethal explosion

that will take out a car.

So, how do you want
to call this one?

Well, i think the a-team's plan
was an excellent plan.

The difference between
the aboveground blast

and the sewer blast
is patently obvious.

That is a survivable explosion.

This one, less so.

I'd say it's plausible.

Isn't that thing kind of
getting disgusting by now?

It's totally disgusting.

It's like chewing on
a little tobacco-soaked sock.

It's gross.

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

All right. Let's
get out of here.

Where to, colonel?

Back to the lumberyard!

Yeah! [ Laughs ]

Firing! 3, 2, 1!

Adam: Now, if Jamie and i
are going to embark

on building our own log shooter,

we should really test it against
some bad guys, don't you think?

Good enough.

So i want to make a bad guy

that pops up like one of those
ducks at the amusement park.

[ Gunshots, duck quacks ]

And I'm gonna cut it
out of this foam board.

Absolutely badass.

That guy is gonna be
our first bad guy.

Let's try it out.

That's its stable state.
Whoop!

Pshoo! Pshoo!
[ Exhales sharply ]

I think that'll work.

Narrator:
In an abandoned lumberyard,

it's time to play ball.

[ Laughs maniacally ]

because the mythbusters'
air-powered pitching machine...

3, 2, 1!

Is firing on all cylinders.

That is awesome.

Isn't it?

Whoo! [ Laughs ]

Well, our Cannon is ready,
and by our best estimates,

this thing ought to fire
these chunks of wood

at something between
50 and 75 miles per hour.

That is significant
and dangerous.

And i want to point out

that this is a purely improvised
build by me and Jamie,

so all of this design was here
on-site, a sheer pleasure.

This is a classic
"mythbusters" build.

Narrator:
Like the a-team,

the guys improvised their weapon
in just one hour.

But will it be able
to hurt the henchmen?

Last one.

Locked and loaded.

Time to find out.

What exactly are we testing?

Well, in the clip,

the guys spend about
1 minute and 10 seconds

firing their wood weapon at
the bad guys to drive them off.

Hit it!

Yep. Let's do it.

For us,

given that we busted the tree
Cannon approach entirely,

we intend to test out
our own firing mechanism,

both in terms of accuracy,
quickness to fire,

and the time it takes
to take out the bad guys.

Outside the double doors,
there are seven bad guys,

each ready to pop up just where
they did in the a-team's scene.

It's showtime!

But can Jamie take them down
in just 70 seconds?

It's a perfect start...

[ Laughs ]

as Jamie takes out
pop-ups one and two

with shots straight to the head.

Yeah! [ Laughs ]

And from there, well,
let's roll an "a-team" montage.

[ "The a-team theme" plays ]

Jamie: Yeah!
[ Laughs ]

Yeah!

[ Laughs ]

Oh! So close!

Oh!

Yes!

One more! Looks like
you got one last one!

Yeah!

Whoo-hoo! [ Laughs ]

[ Laughs ]
One minute, five seconds.

That was awesome!

I love it when a plan
comes together!

[ Jamie laughs ]

We had our targets rigged
so that when i hit one,

another one would
pop up in its place.

I was able to get them
one after the other

until i had to get
the farthest guy out.

The thing is,

the further the range,

the more that these sticks
start to tumble

and do unpredictable things.

But even though it took
every stick of ammo i had...

Adam: Yeah!

In the end,
i got every single guy.

The rig worked like a charm.

Yeah! [ Laughs ]

Our task was pretty
straightforward...

Replicate a clip
from "the a-team"

"mythbusters" style.

Same ammo, completely
new construction.

We used a spinning wheel
this time and an air wrench.

Yeah!

And guess what?
It worked magnificently.

It worked exactly like
we saw in the clip.

It was awesome.

Firing at 60 miles an hour
with near perfect pitch,

their rig was the real deal.

[ Laughs ]

And, having scratch-built it
in under an hour

using junk lying around
the lumberyard,

you might say that
the mythbusters

have out a-team'd the a-team.

Hey, a-team,

if you need our help again,
you know where to find us.