A bus on Mythbusters TV show

[belfert]

The Mythbusters TV show last night did a myth about rolling a bus doing a hard right turn at 50 MPH.  The myth was that passengers had to move to one side to keep the bus from rolling over.  They did it once with the "passengers" on one side and again with the "passengers" on both sides.  In neither case did the bus roll, but it was pretty spectacular!  I sure as heck wouldn't do a hard right at 50 MPH especially after seeing what happened to them.

The bus was I believe a GM New Look Transit.  The funny thing is the animations never showed the correct bus.  One of the animations had an Eagle front end.  The other animations had what looked like the fron end of a MCI 5 grafted to some sort of bus body.

They did finally manage to roll the bus after they added radio control, added 4,000 lbs to the roof, and deflated the air bags on one side.

[Sean]

Brian,

You beat me to the punch.  I was just typing this up to post it.

It was, indeed, a New Look, because the myth was from Speed (the movie), and that's the bus used in the movie as well.

At one point during the second turn (NOT the one where the bus rolled), there was daylight under the duals on the inside.

I noted that, even when they got the bus to roll, damage was minimal.  Even most of the windshield remained intact.  I was going to totle my post "Good news for Fishbowl owners"!

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[BG6]

I noted that, even when they got the bus to roll, damage was minimal.  Even most of the windshield remained intact.  I was going to totle my post "Good news for Fishbowl owners"!

Tootle it what you like, I often have a problem with Mythbusters' methodology.  More than once they have "busted a myth" that has been proved true in the real world.  We know that a bus will roll at lower speeds, to the question becomes what they did that wasn't like normal in these cases.

Anyone who has ever had an All Terrain Cycle knows about putting weight on the inside in a turn to prevent rollover (and this is why the Feds outlawed three-wheelers).

[Jeremy]

Buses have always had to meet quite tough tilt standards before being approved for sale, although this static tilt of course and nothing to do with cornering performance







Jeremy

[Tenor]

Does everyone remember the Jamacain double decker that is rammed into the bridge in James Bond "Live and Let Die"?  It does a flat spin earlier in the shot and almost doesn't even come off of level.  The ground was wet to allow slide.  In the bonus material on the dvd, the stunt driver claimes that no extra work was done to the vehicle to keep it from flipping and that they were just built that good.

Glenn

[Len Silva]

Here I go back into my childhood again.  Years ago on a TV show, "You Asked For It", they showed London bus drivers being trained on a skid pad, doing donuts with double deckers.  Sure would like to see that again.

[Dallas]

Wow, I'll bet those tires ride good!

[Jeremy]

Here I go back into my childhood again.  Years ago on a TV show, "You Asked For It", they showed London bus drivers being trained on a skid pad, doing donuts with double deckers.  Sure would like to see that again.

There's a number of bus skid pan videos on YouTube - not only British double deckers but one featuring Neoplan coaches too

Jeremy

[Charles Seaton]

Not a scientic fact, but I would bet it's a lot easier to flip a MC-9 than it is a fishbowl.  The fishbowl's lower center of gravity probably has a lot to do with it.  Interestingly, the bowl on Mythbusters was an ex New York New Jersey Port Authority airport bus.  Very few GM new look transit's were built with wide doors and sightseeing windows but they had a small fleet of them.

[Sean]

There's a number of bus skid pan videos on YouTube - not only British double deckers but one featuring Neoplan coaches too

From our blog archives:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/01/another-u-turn-option.html

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[Sean]

...  Interestingly, the bowl on Mythbusters was an ex New York New Jersey Port Authority airport bus. ...

That seems unlikely, since the show was filmed in Alameda, California.  I thought it was an east bay transit district coach.  I can't find any photos on line now to check.

That said, when I lived in New Jersey a million years ago, I rode a fishbowl to work in NYC every day, operated by one of the predecessors to NJ Transit.  A full hour, each way.  And that seemed normal to me.

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[Paso One]

The Bus was owned by Scott at Regional transit Services in Riverside Ca. www.rts-regionaltransitservice.com  He has a fleet of buses that he rents to the movie makers.

He has buses from all over the country but also paints any bus the colors of the city that the bus is suppose to be operating in the movie.

Scott regularily posts on the GM fishbowl at th yahoo group.

He has been very tight lipped regarding the up coming Mythbusters show however has been providing lots of details and behind the scenes pictures for months now.

They operated the bus by remote control and a regular drill was used to steer the fishbowl.

If I remmeber correctly they had to put metal weights on the roof of the bus to actual make it roll over.

I had a 77  Fishbowl parts bus that I layed it over on its side to remove "stuff" easier underneath,  It was amazing how far over I had to lift the one side before it layed over on its own.

Another interesting fact was when I set it back on its wheels there was no major damage.

I will dig up some pictures and post them.

[Van]

Ahhh,they just roll over cause they want their bellies rubbed LOL

[Hartley]

The Mythbusters crew and writers live on the verge of idiocy with little regard
to actual facts or knowledge. Some of their experts are anything but...

It's totally "entertainment" driven. Once ever so often they do use logic.

Sorry..

The only one show that was pretty good was Crash Lab when they tried to stop
an RTS with foamed concrete only to have the bus fly right across it and off course
with little effect or damage.. That was COOOOOLLL

Dave....

[Dreadnought]

Been digging through old files and receipts for my MCI bus. I recall the previous owner claimed that it was my very bus that was used in that 2009 episode of Mythbusters. He enclosed pictures. The bus in the pictures has different livery and I'm not sure how he identified it as my very bus. When I did a search some of the pictures showed a GM fishbowl.
Then I came across this thread which seems to explain some.
Couldn't find that episode on youtube. Apparently it was season 7 ep 1. As long as the MC5 didn't role over!