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Boeing 747 Makes Mincemeat Out of a Couple of Cars

gizmodo.com — Next time you decide to take a little joyride behind a Boeing 747 with its engines at full throttle cranking out 58,000 lb. of thrust each, think of this video from the Brit car series Top Gear. Forget how small electronics fare in a blender. We want to see how large machinery stands up to a 747!

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 12, 2007

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  • diulei, on 10/12/2007, -4/+44Direct link to video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvJ1hLS4Dfc

    Guess no one complains blogspam when it's Engadget or Gizmodo.
  • Falldog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Nah, they weren’t able to get clearance (lawyers) to send their car behind the jet. Afterwards they did display news of a South American (?) Taxi which had meet the mythical fate behind a 747.
  • bobbrown, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Did anyone else think that "makes mincemeat our of a couple cars" meant they were going to feed a car through the jet engine?
  • pilot3033, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Remember also, they only used TWO of the four engines.
    You can see in the cockpit shots that the engineers only use 2 of the thrust levers, and the EICAS confirms this.
  • Hellmark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10They ended up having to settle for smaller engines, which didn't turn over the car, just tearing the hell out of it. Thats why they showed the news footage. Its great that someone was able to confirm or bust this myth, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
  • ZachRetox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Late pass... I love Top Gear, but I'm sorry, this is old.
  • LaueOfficer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Are you volunteering? I'd pay to watch that.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's so funny that this video is COVERED in watermarks. Any decent person would not add one - did the BBC use a graphic? NO. Why do all these rubbish video sites feel the need to overlap each others' then?
  • kitwaites, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7If a 747 lands in front of you on the freeway, for the love of God don't tailgate it.
  • devilbody, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLGsEErWJY
  • spyda45, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10I love it!

    Best quote: "Big engine... light weight hippie car."
  • Aeaus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8It's a pretty old video, but still amazing.

    There's a new GE engine that by itself can fly an entire 747, I'd like to see that one in action :)
  • joeydoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6..That's what she said..
    ba.. dum.. cha
  • meatmcguffin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6What are the odds of a person with multiple personalities having a digg account for each?
  • skatingrox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I believe the prerequisite question is, "Will it fit?"
  • Falldog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I feel bad for the video, from blog to blog, and apparently on its third video hosting site. Village bicycle indeed.
  • vizerei, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I guess they don't mind that it's a duplicate from a few days ago when it's on engadget or Gizmodo either.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Are they using music from The Lord of the Rings? I could have sworn that I heard the theme from Helm's Deep or something.
  • taybay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Dugg for LOTR music and "Blimey!" XD
  • InfinitySnatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'd do it with a bear suit.
  • LaueOfficer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6*Looks down at the bag of TB in my lap*


    *Cries*
  • aeiou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3and he's never seen top gear before, either... great show
  • InfinitySnatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Someone should ride a bicycle through that.
  • eam52guy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The 747 would take off.
  • Velirno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, so that one scene in Casino Royale wasn't as improbable as I'd thought.
  • tatltat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah, that was lord of the rings.
  • LaueOfficer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The first two were some random dude/s. I just wanted to be cool.
  • DeskFlyer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Pfft. I can do that after one trip to Taco Bell.
  • gr3i, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Did you not just watch the video? This new evidence may prove conclusive.....
  • 6ixed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It'd be on the next *Jackass*.
  • manmademark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well that blew.
  • bewing77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The fuel wouldn't win either because it would burn. In the end, only chaos would reign supreme...
  • maledin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yep, definitely Helm's Deep.
  • sammyc53, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was sooo hoping for that!
  • LaueOfficer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yeah, I thought that for a split second. But it really confused me because... 1) Those engines are not very cheap 2) The engine would loose that battle.

    So did I expect so see that happen? Hell no. But did I wonder about it for a minuscule thought process? Sure, I won't lie.
  • bewing77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Luckily they dind't drive in front of the plane... that would have sucked....
  • meatmcguffin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh holy hell, you don't really think "blimey" is actually "blind me", right?

    edit : hang about, the part of my brain in charge of useless info thinks it's a contraction of "god blind me". Apologies squire.

  • wiirdo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Let's try a Ferrari Enzo. Maybe Eddie Griffin can give the thrust in the 747.
  • joeydoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2A 747 doesn't usually have the brakes on when it's engines are up like that.... I don't have a "major in aviation" but maybe it's got something to do with 'heat'. I hear that melts stuff.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the advantages of filming your show on a airfield :-)
    and being able to phone up richard branson and ask him a favour :-)
  • hoovcluck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Funny how that didn't happen to any of the cars on the beltway when the plane flew right over them and then crashed into the pentagon...
  • themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ meatmcguffin
    That was mind bottling. You know. How your thoughts get trapped like they're in a bottle or something...
  • VeryBoredNow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 "big engine versus lightweight hippie car... this should be fun"


    sii ese
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2that was pretty awesome, i wouldn't want to be standing behind one of those ***** when they rev up the engines.
  • 91degrees, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They tried. They couldn't get insurance for the plane though. (Not quite sure how a car being blown away from the thing would damage it). they tried with a smaller jet but didn't succeed, but thast was hardly conclusive.
  • joeydoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1As has been said above.. They weren't allowed.
    Virgin is a cool Airline though. The BBC probably got on the blower to Ricky Branson and hooked it up for this little bit of fun.
  • ulvanp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0did you guys notice how they tried to blur the plane's company logo and forgot to do it when the cars were rolling up. you could clearly see the word, "Virgin" on the rudder. i bet someone got scolded...or fired. lol
  • Forkboy2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just a guess, but a 747 with all 4 engines at full throttle and brakes on might start to drag the plane across the runway. I could see that doing some damage.
  • buffermaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ulvanp
    No blurring on the original as broadcast - perhaps the crappy video compression?
  • Modiga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Didn't they cover this question in the comment section already?
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