tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post1601110442887352713..comments2024-03-29T13:53:48.075+00:00Comments on Exploding Helicopter: Angels & DemonsExploding Helicopterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16045345937871417288noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-70405206511539411412019-10-07T13:16:33.593+01:002019-10-07T13:16:33.593+01:00I know. Sad, isn't it?I know. Sad, isn't it?Kieranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764362734917283067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-18327593709392132602019-10-06T11:28:42.256+01:002019-10-06T11:28:42.256+01:00Kieran, you've probably thought about Angels &...Kieran, you've probably thought about Angels & Demons more than anyone who was actually involved in making the film.Exploding Helicopterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16045345937871417288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-89681965164626091242019-09-23T13:54:23.228+01:002019-09-23T13:54:23.228+01:00I stumbled across this page while trying to google...I stumbled across this page while trying to google the make of the helicopter in the film. It seems a good place to rant because my wife and I watched the film for the first time last night and this scene has been irking the hell out of me ever since.<br /><br />Ok, to start, the whole scene is roughly two minutes from takeoff to detonation - taking into account that about the first 15-20 seconds is just getting off the ground. If the copter is, as noted above, supposed to be a Bell 430, then its max climb rate is 1350 feet/minute. Yet at the roughly 50 second mark, we see the priest glance at the altimeter and he's already passed 7000 feet. Right. He went up like a rocket.<br /><br />Now, the detonation. Early in the film, the scientist says that much antimatter exploding would generate the equivalent force of a 4-5 kiloton nuclear device. (leaving aside the fact that CERN says it would take one billion years for its collider to produce that much antimatter).<br /><br />At any rate, using Nukemap (https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/) I charted the blast radius of a 5 kt nuke airburst centered on St. Peter's Square.<br /><br />If the helicopter had reached the impossible film altitude of probably around 10,000 feet, then the blast effects shown in the film would probably have been accurate. The people in the square would have been within the outer shockwave bubble of around 1psi overpressure. They'd have been thrown around as shown, However, they definitely would *NOT* have immediately got back up again. They'd all have been on the ground screaming in pain from multiple fractures, bleeding from the ears from burst eardrums.<br /><br />HOWEVER, if the helicopter had reached a realistic maximum altitude of 2600 feet based on max climb rate and time (and even that is generous, because the chopper would not have been at max climb rate the full two minutes), then the ground would still have been within the primary blast range. The entirety of St. Peter's Square would have been a crater 20 meters deep. Everyone in it obliterated. The entire Vatican City, and the surrounding area of Rome out to a distance of 1.2 km, would have been within the 5psi overpressure zone - buildings flattened, massive casualties.Kieranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764362734917283067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-88672657590078611362017-12-19T10:45:13.503+00:002017-12-19T10:45:13.503+00:00Thanks Bob, for what is probably my favourite ever...Thanks Bob, for what is probably my favourite ever comment on the website :)Exploding Helicopterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16045345937871417288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-42664406914664958682017-12-10T19:21:38.123+00:002017-12-10T19:21:38.123+00:00You no they went to a fair bit of detail trying to...You no they went to a fair bit of detail trying to match the helicopter (from the time the book was out, in 2000) and the helicopter reference would point to a local Bell 430 UT helicopter registered as I-FREG back in 2000. By the time they shot the movie in 2008/2009 that helicopter was gone, so they actually got a Bell 222 and gave it the I-FREG registration number from the Bell 430 UT that would have been in service when he wrote the book.. now that's attention to detail :DTheWraith517https://www.blogger.com/profile/18393435542857420647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-16354611139194431562014-11-02T14:46:08.462+00:002014-11-02T14:46:08.462+00:00Logic is definitely not this film's strong sui...Logic is definitely not this film's strong suit. Exploding Helicopterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16045345937871417288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-88729595955278814492014-10-29T23:59:42.798+00:002014-10-29T23:59:42.798+00:00....and anyone who jumps in a helicopter and pulls.......and anyone who jumps in a helicopter and pulls back on the stick in an attempt to go up is most likely going to end up in a big firey messAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282768023983893032.post-28947208110237988292013-03-26T23:20:40.585+00:002013-03-26T23:20:40.585+00:00Haha! Great review. Saw this on DVD and I couldn&#...Haha! Great review. Saw this on DVD and I couldn't believe how bad this was. Love the stuff about Hanks' hair.Deanohttp://fhdfhdj.comnoreply@blogger.com