TedY is one of our more senior members here at Trollhattan Saab. As such he’s a steady rock to lean on, a fountain of wisdom to draw upon – and a great source for hooning stories from when he was a young fella!!!
In case you missed it, I’m going to re-publish one of Ted’s stories here. He shared it in comments a few weeks ago and it really was rather extraordinary on a number of fronts – 1) that he survived it, and 2) that his car survived it.
Read on and you’ll know what I mean.
Following the big story is an extra bonus breakdown of the ride that Ted sent me via email, explaining the physics of the whole thing. Now, it should be said that I have the same grasp of physics that Paris Hilton has on public modesty, but it still reads as rather impressive to me. Much more so than Paris, at least.
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…..let me tell you about my “Big Yump”.
I was young and foolish, with a heavy foot. Fortunately though, the little 2-stroke engine would only top out at about 85 mph, which is how I always drove her.
Returning home late one night on a narrow, 2-lane road in a heavily wooded area, I was cruising my usual 85 mph. As I came out of a right hand bend, I noticed huge chuck holes, and the road was dirt instead of the asphalt I expected. I thought, “No problem, I can have fun weaving around them”, which I did.
Then I realized that it wasn’t good to have paid so much attention to the chuck holes because a narrow bridge spanning a small stream was no longer there. The often-flooded bridge had been replaced by a much larger and longer bridge, but approximately six feet higher than the original. They hadn’t elevated the roadway on either end of the bridge yet, but they had put in temporary ramps for access, but with an incline of approximately 30 degrees.
It’s funny how a 6 foot high, 30 degree incline, mimicks a wall when coming at you at 85 mph.
Having no time to brake, I planted both hands on the wheel and braced myself. The whump was so hard that I was slammed into the 3-point seat belt and my head pitched down so far that I saw the famous Saab horn button logo in front of my nose. After my head stopped bobbing around, I noticed an eerie silence, and as I looked out the windshield, I saw nothing but blackness.
Confused, I looked out the side window, and saw the shiny new stainless steel handrails of the new bridge at least 8 feet below me, receding into the background as I flew over. Looking through the windshield again, I realized the reason for the blackness was that the headlights had been aimed skyward with nothing to illuminate. But now they were starting to illuminate the roadway beneath me as the car started turning nose down while still very high in the air.
As I approached the roadway, well past the bridge and opposite ramp, I remembered watching old movies where passengers of a crashing airplane screamed as the ground came up at them. As I descended, I thought to myself “So this is how I’ll die, in an airplane crash!” Upon impact, I got another look at the famous Saab horn button logo, and when my head stopped bobbing again, I realized that I had lived through the ordeal, and amazingly, the Saab was still on the road, at about 45 mph now, but steering a little funny.
I continued slowly home where I examined the car. I had apparently stretched the upper wishbone mounting bolts on both sides because the alignment shims had fallen out, but they were conveniently laying on the unique Saab engine area floor pan. So I stuck them back in and tightened the bolts. An alignment check thereafter revealed still-perfect alignment!
The only other problems were a major amount of undercoating scraped off the bottom of the car because it had bellied clear down to the road surface, and the shock absorber mounting studs were now curved because of over compressing the shocks on impact.
These cars were absolutely brilliant and safe, ahead of their time. I think I may have been a fatality in any other car of the time. I’m sure, at least, that it would have been fatal to any other car.
I am hooked, and I will always love the Saab marque through thick and thin.
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And now – the physics of the whole thing according to Ted (who as you’ll see, is well-qualified to break it down). Rather amazing, really!
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Swade,
I got to thinking about that jump I took in my Saab 96 when I was about 24 years old and came up with some figures that scare me today. I’m not sure anyone believes that story, maybe not even you, but I was actually being conservative when I said I saw the bridge at least 8 feet below.
I have a masters degree in physics and know how to calculate trajectories and such, and I got to thinking “How far did that Saab jump, and how high?” I only needed two numbers to figure that, and I know both numbers with a fair degree of accuracy. I calculated a low estimate, and a more probable higher estimate based on these numbers.
First, I know after I landed that I saw 45 mph on the speedo, so my horizontal velocity was at least 45 mph while in the air, but probably higher because I scrubbed speed on landing and while in the air. I used 40 mph for my low estimate, and 45 mph for my higher estimate (very conservative).
Second, the only other variable I needed was hang time. I remember this like yesterday, and I mentally re-enacted the events and timed the impact-to-impact time on the clock. I am very sure it was about 7 seconds, but could not possibly have been less than 5 seconds. I spent at least 2 seconds wondering why it was so black outside, and at least 2 more looking below for the bridge, and 2 more watching the road come up at me faster and faster. But, I used 5 seconds for the low estimate, and only 6 for the higher estimate (still very conservative).
If I were to figure aerodynamic losses in the air, I would have to use a higher average horizontal speed, resulting in even higher numbers, so these are really conservative.
And the results are:
Low estimate jump length = 290 ft (88 M), height = 100 ft (30 M), initial vertical velocity = 54.5 mph.
High estimate jump length = 396 ft (120 M), height = 144 ft (44 M), initial vertical velocity 65.5 mph.
As a reality check, I computed the energy equivalent of the sum of the horizontal and initial vertical velocity energies (equivalent total energy) to make sure it was an energy equivalent to a velocity less than the 85 mph I saw on the speedo before impact.
The low estimate energy equivalent only comes up to 67.4 mph, and the high estimate comes to 79.4 mph, both less than 85. Considering losses due to scrubbing speed on impact, and aerodynamic losses, both estimates are within reason.
Also, as another reality check, my wife and I were in a head-on collision once with a much larger 1971 Chrysler New Yorker, where we were at about 45 mph on impact, and the New Yorker at about 15 mph (turned in front of us when I was going about 60, with a braking distance of about 30 ft), and that impact felt less severe. Our 82 Pontiac Grand Am was crushed to the base of the windshield.
But just using the lower estimate, I can’t believe that car was 100 ft in the air and either I or the car survived. But I have checked, checked, and triple checked, and verified my equations on various Internet sites, and I believe the numbers to be reasonably accurate (even low). I know for sure that I was well above the tree tops because I could see nothing until I stuck my head out and looked down.
I think maybe I’m really dead or in a coma and I’m just dreaming this life. Maybe I’m still in the Saab and they haven’t found me yet. 
Sorry for the long email, but I just had to share, and I don’t think anyone else would come close to believing me.
But I’ll bet old-time Saabers will.
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Truly Extraordinary!!!
Thanks Ted. I wish you’d had one of those 8mm cameras on board or something. Or Abraham Zapruder. Either would have done
I’m kinda surprised to see this posted here.
But I would like to go a little more conservative with an explanation. I believe I was really in the air for 5 to 6 seconds because I can’t realistically recount the events faster than that, but I can’t believe the numbers either. I get more reasonable numbers if I assume 4 seconds due to the ballistic trajectory, and another sec or two due to aerodynamic gliding. This would put the height at around 64 feet (19 M), and an initial vertical velocity of 43.6 mph. I am very sure I was above the tree tops because there was nothing to be seen anywhere out the side or front windows until I stuck my head out and looked down.
It’s funny how fast you can think during an event like that though. When I first noticed the silence, and total darkness, I immediately thought that I had crashed into the forest, smashed the headlights, and had just come to from unconsciousness without remembering the crash. I then got very scared, thinking I might be lodged high in a tree, and thought to myself, “How am I going to get down safely, should I climb and risk the car falling on me, or should I wait for help? But, if I wait, might the car fall anyway, possibly killing me?” It was then that I stuck my head out the window and looked down to see if I was on the ground, expecting to see either the ground or a tree limb if there was enough light. It was after seeing the bridge far below and behind me that I looked back to the front and found myself high among the trees with the road approaching with increasing speed from below. Before thinking that I would die in an airplane crash, I first thought “I wish there was some way to stop!” But brakes don’t work in the air.
PS: Nobody ever really believes me when I tell this story. I’m thinking of writing Top Gear and asking them to set up a ramp experiment and prove the old Saab 96 stroke could do this, and still drive away. They could also test a few other notable marques and watch them get so smashed that all the kings men couldn’t put them together again. I’ll even write up all the technical advice I can think of. What do you think?
Another PS: As another reality check, I estimated the deceleration distance for the car with the wheels fully extended until it bottomed out, and added another foot of travel for my head which traveled down to the horn button. I come up with g figures for my head of around 26g for the landing after the drop from 64 feet. That’s an easily survivable instantaneous g force.
Truly extraordinary story, Ted! And I for one do believe you.
Perhaps you should send your story to the MythBusters?
We should all be thankful you lived to tell such an almost tragic tale in such an amusing manner.
Great read
Remember kids “Don’t try this at home!”
I sure do believe you, Ted.
Amazing.
You need to talk to Guinness World Records! According to this MythBusters link (couldn’t find much else on the net) the longest car jump in history was 272 feet!
http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/09/special_megamovie_myths.html
Now that’s when the voice over should chime in with “Pilots wanted” … that would be a great BFJ piece!
A terrible example of self-applied physics with a happy end. For me it`s an astonishing fact to register the velocity of the car on the speedometer in such moments of confusion during the seconds after the accident.
Perhaps Mr. Eric Carlsson “on the roof” could be asked if he can tell of similar impressive events in his long career of rally-sport and if he could confirm such heights and lenghts of involuntary flights with a Saab 96 and if it may be possible on the basis of his own experience or estimations by Saab.
bizhaoqi: I find that mythbusters link intriguing.
I should have mentioned that the 2-stroke Saab 96 was uniquely suited to long jumps, and sustaining minimum damage on impact.
First, it has the well-known strong monocoque shell with a very flat underside, and
Second, it has very light components inside: light 2-cycle motor, light transmission/differential assembly in aluminum housing, very light basic seats, no extras, no power anything, etc.
This combination makes it like a ping-pong ball. Today’s cars, and cars with bigger engines/transmissions, would have all that extra associated momentum trying to distort the car on impact.
I wish I had the means to set up a remote control experiment. I certainly wouldn’t do that again voluntarily.
saabaudi: The only reason I checked the speed was basically a result of the confusion. I first realized I was alive, then I realized the car was still moving and on the road, and then I checked the speed when I decided to just keep going at a low speed and saw I was already down to 40-45mph.
The only part of the story that I question is the subjective measurement of time. As you point out, subjectively speaking time passes slower when you are in the midst of a crisis like this. Adrenalin will likely also magnify certain perceptions – so your perception of being higher than the trees/handrails may be somewhat exaggerated (perhaps an adrenalin-fueled “tunnel vision” effect).
You may have perceived yourself having a whole sequence of coherent thoughts (“Am I caught in a tree?” etc.) in far less time than you think.
When I was 18, I remember very vividly driving a VW Vanagon in icy conditions on an interstate highway, and ending up spinning around three complete revolutions at highway speed, until coming to a complete stop – facing the correct direction – in the median.
For me, time slowed during those spins. I could have written novels as I was watching the spins. But in actuality it all happened very quickly.
Which is just the verbose way of saying that subjective perceptions of time are not reliable.
It would be interesting to go back to the spot where the event occurred and take some measurements, to see if they coincide with your current calculations.
Greg: I agree about the subjective time estimation. I remember time in slow motion during the head-on with our Pontiac. However, it took physical time for the head snapping, sticking my head out the window and looking down, etc. I can’t imagine less than 4 seconds, even speeding up the thinking to near zero time. But, I am very sure about seeing an empty world out there on all sides, i.e., above the trees. That’s not subjective.
I think I’ve located the spot on Google maps, but I’m not 100% sure. I don’t remember the name of the road, and things sure change after 40 years. But the distance of the bridge from the curve fits. I guess about 2 seconds of dodging chuck holes (234 ft at 80 mph), and that would put me near the bridge coming out of the turn. This may not be the spot but it’s the only likely spot visible now. They may have even removed the bridge and improved and straightened the road after all these years. I don’t know. But here’s the likely spot.
Here’s the old farm house I rented at the time (building nearest south side of road, west of Duck Creek). Sometimes, when I got home in the winter, I would drive down the driveway if there was snow in the big field to the south (was grass then), and drive circles as fast as I could go. Fun times!
A quick kinematics calculation based on the map you gave (whether it’s the place or not):
Estimated curve radius: 1200*pi
(based on the scale given on the map)
Your indicated speed: 80 MPH = 117 ft/sec
a= acceleration = v^2/r = (117)^2/(1200*pi)
a= 36 ft/sec^2 = 1.11g
No street-legal production car can reach 1.11g’s on sticky tarmac, not to mention chuck-holed gravel/dirt. Also, I’d assume that any changes made to the roads have increased turn radii, as you suggested.
Additionally, a vertical impact speed of 44 mph (per your 4-second estimate, not to mention the 65 mph “high” estimate) would do a lot more damage to the car than loosen the shims and stretch bolts.
I’m with Greg on this one. I remember ski crashes or mountain bike crashes as though they took forever. When I go back and look at where they took place, it’s impossible that they took even a fraction of the time I thought they did.
Great story though, and I have no doubt that car was very much air-born. When you die, ask God for the DVD.
~P
When you die, ask God for the DVD.
Comment of the week!
I think we’re clearly going to have to get Mythbusters to load a Saab 96 onto an aircraft carrier to test this whole thing out. I assume that once propelled from the take-off position on the carrier, that there’ll be enough space to land on the same carrier. Other wise we might need two carriers – and that might be pushing it a little
I, for one, think Ted is the original Duke of Hazard – yeeeeeeha!
He’d probably have it on blu-ray…
In spite of the healthy dose of skepticism, I appreciate all of the comments.
PGAero: That’s likely not the spot. I think it has been improved out of existence, so much has changed. The memory of the event is burned in my mind, but not the location or even the road. In my haste, I found the first spot that looked similar, and didn’t consider the forces. I come up with estimates even higher, so that can’t be the spot because I really was going close to 85 indicated (more like 80 real). The road was asphalt, not dirt by the way. The dirt was unexpected after the exit from the turn.
If only I had thought to go back the next day and measure the distance to the mark that I surely left, but I was just glad to be alive. In days of late, I’ve been reminiscing about so many events brought on by my youthful stupidity that I somehow survived, I wonder how I made it through the minefield to survive till today. I can only offer thanks to the Saab engineers that designed such a safe car. I think I owe them my life.
I really can’t imagine less than 4 seconds so I’m sticking to that, but even at 3, that would be 36 ft high and quite a feat for the car. Again, some of the time may have been due to gliding when the car’s nose was turned upward, so the height may have been lower than my estimate, but still near the tree tops. Anyway, I never expected anyone to believe the story, so I’m not upset about the skepticism. I’m just thankful to the Saab engineers that I can even tell the story.
PS: I’m still laughing about the DVD comment. Heck, maybe somewhere there’s someone telling a story about the car that flew over them while they were out for an evening walk.
What a hoot! Great story Ted.
I’ll quickly relate my experience with “time dilation” from my early cycling days at age 14.
I was doubleheading with a friend on a 50cc trail bike down a long grade of paved road at full throttle. Top speed of that machine was about 65mph down hill. At the bottom of the grade was the entrance to an auto breaker yard guarded by several “junkyard dogs”. As we passed by the yard at full speed, one of the 120 pound German shepherds jumped squarely in front of the bike. I was on the back and was instantaneously launched over the driver into the air as the bike “pole vaulted” on its front axle. Time seemed to stop. I distinctly remember debating with myself about the best way to land on the pavement. I watched the pavement sliding slowly beneath me and witnessed ditches and fence posts tracking sideways in my peripheral vision. It was wintertime and I was determined to land on my back, trusting my heavy coat to absorb some of the impact. Somehow, in what must have been less than 2 seconds I managed to double over, flail arms and legs and land flat on my back – still traveling headfirst probably 30 yards from the point of impact. This was pre-helmet-law Tennessee, and being the dumb kid I was my sans-helmet condition resulted in a good bump on the back of the head. But the heavy clothing protected the rest of my skin. I bounced up and ran back to the point of impact to find a large dog folded neatly in half beside the bike with collapsed front rim and fork folded into the front of the engine. The bike was lying on top of my unconscious buddy with the muffler making sizzling noises on the flesh of his leg. He had stayed with the bike, never releasing his grip on the handlebars. Some motorists had stopped and helped me get the bike off my buddy. Someone called an ambulance. My friend was beginning to wake up and as I stood over him I noticed a stream of blood dripping from my own chin onto the ground. That head bump was a nasty scalp wound. Somebody gave me a handkerchief to hold pressure on the wound.
The owner of the junkyard came out, spit and said “I wouldn’t take a hundred dollars for that dog”. The same motorist that had given me the cloth punched the guy square in the nose and told him to shut up about his dog.
My friend recovered completely from a mild concussion but to this day cannot remember the accident. I guess that’s a different kind of “time dilation”.
Needless to say, neither of us ever rode a motorcycle again without leathers and a decent helmet.
No matter what the real story was, it will be one we remember and tell for a long time. I sent it on to several car buddies and they enjoyed it. One of the brainier ones said the math was off a bit and pointed to the mythbusters link posted above. Oh well.