OT paper airplane over stove

It's probably easier to get the video to run in a smooth loop than it would be to get the paper plane to orbit the rising column of hot air indefinitely.

Eighty-odd takes until it worked does sound plausible, but a clock running next to the hot-plates would have made it even more credible.

Don't forget how an object will be 'kept' in the stream. Like the ping pong ball from the air stream of your vacuum cleaner.

It's a free flight airplane in a thermal. That's been a known and regularly exploited natural phenomenon since the 1920's.

A properly adjusted free flight model airplane, launched just right, will tend to fall into the proper spot in a thermal and stay there. It's how good free flight competitors win contests.

This is just a stronger than usual artificial thermal, a heavier airplane, and a tighter turn than usual.

So I find it believable. Maybe you should try it yourself, though?

A response beneath the video said this:

When turning the stove "ON", they move the dial from 1 to 0 (from low to OFF)... it's obviously a joke.?

Ed

I can't really disagree completely but I would use a different word. Maybe reenactment ? I have seen many and actually now have downloaded the video. It may be possible to tell if I can get one of my players to display a fram e count rather than a time index. I could then do screen captures and see i f there are identical frames. Identical frames would of course be practical ly impossible if it is for real.

It's possible the guy is an aerodynamics expert and spent months on tweakin g the "plane" design to make it do this, but I find it alot more likely ths t it would go round two or three times and then go off course somewhere. We could easily be watching two passes repeated over and over.

I am on guard for simulations, reenactments and all kinds of things, like w hen chromakey is used and stuff like that. I was in a quite healthy debate about one incident of suspected chromakey but I proved the image real due to a car headlight hitting a part of a person's (TV news anchorperson's) co at.

You know I haven't tried, but I wonder if any of my players would open up m ultiple instances. (VLC maybe ?, never tried...) If so it might make this i nvestigation easier.

Either way, I am still not dropping everything to do this..... Just a matte r of curiousity and a bit of that old "because I can" hahaha thing.

e reenactment ? I have seen many and actually now have downloaded the video . It may be possible to tell if I can get one of my players to display a fr ame count rather than a time index. I could then do screen captures and see if there are identical frames. Identical frames would of course be practic ally impossible if it is for real.

ing the "plane" design to make it do this, but I find it alot more likely t hst it would go round two or three times and then go off course somewhere. We could easily be watching two passes repeated over and over.

when chromakey is used and stuff like that. I was in a quite healthy debat e about one incident of suspected chromakey but I proved the image real du e to a car headlight hitting a part of a person's (TV news anchorperson's) coat.

multiple instances. (VLC maybe ?, never tried...) If so it might make this investigation easier.

ter of curiousity and a bit of that old "because I can" hahaha thing.

Thanks for all the comments, (Bill, Robert, Tim, Ed, Jurb..) As Bill pointed out there is a comment by the video poster that it took him 87 tries to get a good launch... which, if you believe him, makes it more believable.

But please don't waste any time in video analysis.. 'taint that important.

George H.