Science solves 'Italian Job' cliffhanger (in < 30 minutes)
source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/science-solves-italian-job-cliffhanger-1513419.html
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- smileymango
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It was probably the greatest cliff-hanger in cinema history, leaving fans of The Italian Job wondering how the mobster Charlie Croker could have extricated his gang – and the gold bullion – from a bus hanging precariously over the edge of a mountain road.
Now an IT specialist has come up with an ingenious solution, and won a competition organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. John Godwin, of Godalming in Surrey, breaks down the task – which must take no longer than 30 minutes – into three steps.
The first step involves punching out the third set of windows in the middle of the Bedford bus with the heel of Croker's shoe. This would relieve some weight from the back of the bus hanging over the cliff edge, but more importantly it would allow the crew to lean out and punch in the front windows, so the weight of the glass would not be lost from the front.
The next step is to lower one of the crew from the broken windows so that they can let down the front tyres, to reduce the vehicle's rocking motion and make the front end more stable.
The third stage is to open the access panel to the fuel tank, sited inside the bus halfway along its axis, and to drain the tank of its 36 gallons of petrol, weighing nearly 140kg, which is stored under the rear floor.
Once this fuel is drained, there should be enough weight in the front of the bus to allow one crew member to leave and bring back the necessary ballast to counter the effect of someone crawling along the floor to retrieve the gold bars, which could be piled up at the front end before being carefully removed, along with the crew.
Now an IT specialist has come up with an ingenious solution, and won a competition organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry. John Godwin, of Godalming in Surrey, breaks down the task – which must take no longer than 30 minutes – into three steps.
The first step involves punching out the third set of windows in the middle of the Bedford bus with the heel of Croker's shoe. This would relieve some weight from the back of the bus hanging over the cliff edge, but more importantly it would allow the crew to lean out and punch in the front windows, so the weight of the glass would not be lost from the front.
The next step is to lower one of the crew from the broken windows so that they can let down the front tyres, to reduce the vehicle's rocking motion and make the front end more stable.
The third stage is to open the access panel to the fuel tank, sited inside the bus halfway along its axis, and to drain the tank of its 36 gallons of petrol, weighing nearly 140kg, which is stored under the rear floor.
Once this fuel is drained, there should be enough weight in the front of the bus to allow one crew member to leave and bring back the necessary ballast to counter the effect of someone crawling along the floor to retrieve the gold bars, which could be piled up at the front end before being carefully removed, along with the crew.
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smileymango
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Plus, the bloke who thought of this won a holiday in Turin, the city where the film was made! What a result!
- 3 years ago
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smileymango
