Unbelievable ?

[davhill]

Just finished watching 28 weeks later and was marvelling at the bit where the helicopter pilot goes zombie-munching.

I'm no aero expert but I immediatley thought, 'Never in a million years'. I expect that, even if a chopper could be flown with such accuracy, it's rotor blades would suffer from hitting bodies and it'd crash.

I know for a certain fact that the pilots of Bell Huey Cobras in Veet-narm regularly flew with the rotors hitting foliage. A branch no thicker than a finger would just be trimmed - this was the rule of thumb at the time.

In 28 weeks, there's a brief shot of a zombie with a horizontal 'copter blade slice out of the side of the torso. Funny, given the blades were at 30 degrees or more to the ground.

Only a film, I know but I'm intrigued.

[daddy cool]

Didn't you post this same thread this morning?

[marksx]

Questions the plausibility of helicopter rotors not sustaining damage while attacking zombies.

Doesn't question the plausibility of zombies.

[EarlOfHazard]

daddy cool said:

Didn't you post this same thread this morning?

Unbelievable

[davhill]

Yep, small hours. I thought that putting 'spoiler' in the title put folk off, hence no response.

The mods'll bin the empty original.

[r11co]

marksx said:

Questions the plausibility of helicopter rotors not sustaining damage while attacking zombies.

Doesn't question the plausibility of zombies.

But they are not zombies, are they!

[davhill]

r11co said:

But they are not zombies, are they!

I stand corrected. It's lucky the rage virus was so named. Funny how they behave just like zombies, innit?

[r11co]

davhill said:

I stand corrected. It's lucky the rage virus was so named. Funny how they behave just like zombies, innit?

Except that they don't.

• No flesh-eating
• No stumbling and staggering - quite the opposite in fact as they run everywhere
• No immunity to injury/being shot etc. as not 'undead'

The idea of a manufactured disease created in a military laboratory designed to disable a country by turning infected individuals into weapons indiscriminately targetting the rest of the populous is nothing like the concept of 'zombies', and not entirely incredible either.

The "24 xxxx Later" series of movies and animations are not zombie stories.

Edited by r11co on Wednesday 21st March 07:29

[ajprice]

For silliness with helicopters, I still rate the Mission Impossible helicopter/train/tunnel scene and the San Andreas 'tip the hat' move as top. Movie and TV helicopter and aeroplane blades are a lot stronger than real ones, they can liquidise people with no harm to the blade or engine, like the German mechanic in Raiders Of The Lost Ark .

[popeyewhite]

A helicopter will easily chop a man's head off without sustaining damage that would lead to a crash. Probably chop a man in half as well. Even if the rotor is slightly damaged the flight characteristics may not change that much. By 'damaged' I mean if it's chipped or some such. If it's broken in some way or bent then lift will be affected which as choppers are collective pitch will result in bigger problems. But it won't automatically crash.

[davhill]

OK, infected but not zombies... got it.

I had a damaged helicopter blade. A very rich friend of a friend started his Hughes 500 with the transit strut still attached and I was given the bent blade.

I know it was heavy enough to decapitate a man. However, I expect the 'checking force' imposed by especially a body strike would break something.

My blade hadn't hit anything but it had rippled badly at the root end. I reckon the rotor head bolts or the head itself would suffer crash worthy damage from a human strike.

See the US police 'copters in the Animated Gif thread.

By the way, the German mechanic in' Raiders' was played by Pat Roach, 'Bomber' from Auf Weidersehen Pet

[popeyewhite]

davhill said:

OK, infected but not zombies... got it.
However, I expect the 'checking force' imposed by especially a body strike would break something.

My blade hadn't hit anything but it had rippled badly at the root end. I reckon the rotor head bolts or the head itself would suffer crash worthy damage from a human strike.

Yep maybe the swash plate/rotor head or linkages would be damaged but more likely the rotor blades would absorb most hits. I don't know though...I still reckon an average sized heli would chop through a man with little damage... .

[C.A.R.]

If this intrigued you, never watch The Walking Dead series!

Some of the zombies are squishy like mashed potato

Others are really tough to kill

If anyone else hasn't seen it, a refreshingly different zombie/apocalyptic film is The Girl With All The Gifts

[davhill]

popeyewhite said:

Yep maybe the swash plate/rotor head or linkages would be damaged but more likely the rotor blades would absorb most hits. I don't know though...I still reckon an average sized heli would chop through a man with little damage... .

Fairy enough. It isn't a matter for experimentation!

After making epic flights in a Gipsy Moth seaplane, Sir Francis Chichester bought a Puss Moth.

His passenger got out and walked round the cockpit door too sharply and was hit by the prop. A silver cigarette case in his breast pocket was hit, making him stagger back. Two days later, he was sitting up in bed, demanding the prop for a souvenir. Lucky man.

[Gargamel]

Inevitably there is a website for this kind of question

Someone mentioned Mission Impossible as the stupidest Heli stunt, and I kind of agree, it is terrible

But then I think of Tomorrow Never Dies and the Heli chopping up the market to get to Bond.

http://rotaryaction.com/pages/tomnvdies.html

Good site !

[popeyewhite]

davhill said:

Lucky man.

[joshleb]

Love 28 Days Later, 28 weeks I'm neither here nor there.

I do like the taxi scene in Days, where they are driving over all the cars in the tunnel...