[Dean Speir]

On Discovery Channel:

Jamie and Adam shoot a bullet hole into the shell of an aircraft to see if that single shot will cause explosive decompression and destroy the aircraft. Find out if two hunters could use a loaded .22 gun cartridge as a car ignition fuse.

This was shown twice yesterday to great acclaim as it thoroughly validates Mark Moritz' and my post-11 September Debunking "The Goldfinger Myth"

• Tuesday, 20 January -- 2200 hours.[/*:m:1rg39vad]
• Wednesday, 21 January -- 0100 hours.[/*:m:1rg39vad]
• Sunday, 25 January -- 1200 hours. [/*:m:1rg39vad]
• Monday, 26 January -- 0200 hours.[/*:m:1rg39vad]

They determined to see if planes really decompress explosively if a handgun is fired through the fuselage skin or a cabin window, a derelict airliner and pumped the internal pressure to 18psi. Then they rigged a Sig 9 X 19mm pistol to fire remotely through the fuselage and through a cabin window. Neither caused explosive decompression.

 

[Charlie Petty]

I saw that. Those guys do a pretty good job with their science.

They also had a piece where they tried the story about the ******* who used a 22 cartridge for a fuse in the truck. It allegedly fired and hurt the dude.

In their test the cartridge would not pop under normal electric concitions but when they straight wired it to the battery it did. The result was shown on high speed video and the bullet did penetrate clothing but not the skin of a test dummy.

 

[Sleuth]

I could have saved them the time. Back in 1970 I was detailed from my Federal Investigator job to be a "sky marshall". Part of our briefing was that 707's & 747's had cabin exhaust valves 6" in diameter. Blow out a window, and if the person right next to it was not wearing a seat belt, they might have a problem. But no explosive decompression.

And no secret data here - just look at the diagrams of aircraft veltilation systems.

 

[LIProgun]

And here I thought that "The Goldfinger Myth" was that a woman who looked like Honor Blackman could actually get through life with a name like "Pu$$y Galore."

But seriously, there is another "Goldfinger Myth" out there, to wit: "Covering a person with paint will cause death because the body 'breathes' through the skin." As the good folks at the Urban Legends Reference Page point out, "Although it was still widely believed at the time Goldfinger was made (1964) that we 'breathe' through our skin and that closing off all the pores in one's body would result in a quick death, we now know this to be false."

See here for more on the latter.