- #1
xeed
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Me and a friend are having a dispute after watching the movie Underworld : Evolution.
There's a scene in the movie where a character literally pulls a helicopter out of the air by pulling its fast rope straight down. Now I know it's Hollywood, but I started laughing at the reality of such an act.
The friends I was watching it with got defensive about the reality of such an event occurring. So, movie magic notwithstanding, could it happen, provided the character was strong enough?
Conditions:
Helicopter generates enourmous thrust - say ~30,000 pounds downward
Superhuman character isn't using any 'extra' or 'supernatural' powers - straight physics
Character weighs around 200 pounds
Character is not anchored to the ground in any way
Character is enourmously strong - could lift the helicopter off the ground if he wanted to
Character is not pulling suddenly, so no aerodynamic or airflow issues to deal with
My thought is that anyone pulling on a rope in this situation would simply pull themselves up the line, since the helicopter is generating far more thrust than the actual tug that they could exert due to their physical weight.
My friends believe that if the character had enough strength, he could pull it down regardless.
Who's right?
There's a scene in the movie where a character literally pulls a helicopter out of the air by pulling its fast rope straight down. Now I know it's Hollywood, but I started laughing at the reality of such an act.
The friends I was watching it with got defensive about the reality of such an event occurring. So, movie magic notwithstanding, could it happen, provided the character was strong enough?
Conditions:
Helicopter generates enourmous thrust - say ~30,000 pounds downward
Superhuman character isn't using any 'extra' or 'supernatural' powers - straight physics
Character weighs around 200 pounds
Character is not anchored to the ground in any way
Character is enourmously strong - could lift the helicopter off the ground if he wanted to
Character is not pulling suddenly, so no aerodynamic or airflow issues to deal with
My thought is that anyone pulling on a rope in this situation would simply pull themselves up the line, since the helicopter is generating far more thrust than the actual tug that they could exert due to their physical weight.
My friends believe that if the character had enough strength, he could pull it down regardless.
Who's right?