I have a 1988 Full Size Bronco...and I want to jump it from the mainland to Hawaii (hypothetically). The way I've pictured it for the longest time was something in ramp form. How big does this ramp have to be? What is needed to propel that truck?

I've wondered this for a couple of years after me and a few buddies hung out one night (read: got drunk and came up with ridiculous ideas), but I never knew how to figure out the physics behind it. Everyone's been tearing up these physics threads, so I thought I'd throw it out there to see what we came up with.

And when we figure it out, I'll try and talk the Big Bronco Forums into giving out rides.

 

I don't know... you should call someone in Hawaii and ask how their car got there. Maybe someone has already constructed the ramp for you!

Regardless of the length or angle of the ramp, and regardless of your propulsion, the only way I see it ever getting over there is if you have to:

A.) Jump through some sort of flaming hoop either at the beginning, end, or middle (or maybe think of the Simpsons "Over the dog-doo stick!")

B.) Jump over a shark, ala Happy Days.

If you don't have those two, you simply won't make it. I believe that's Evel Knievel's second and third laws of jumpin' stuff for no real reason

 

There comes a day in every man's life where he will have to jump something. When that day comes, you will wish you had prepared.

 

to maximize distance and height, ramp angle should be 45 deg

 

Exactly, the sheer stupidity of such an undertaking makes it that much more fun to find out what it would really take.

Hawaii is 2,390 miles away from California.
The Beast is what? About 5,100 lbs?
Not exactly aerodynamic, no matter how much wax I use.

 

You might be right but I seem to remember reading in a reloading manual about ballistics that the angle for optamum range was 30*. I think it had to do with energy lost lifting the weight higher rather than propelling it farther.. Flight time is the same but distance changes. ....... It's been a while ......

 

technically theoretically:

your Bronco
a beach
a ramp
a barge
a crane
some cable
the HUGE ship I saw on a Discovery Channel program that transports ships worldwide in its weirdly set up sinking/refloating hull
a helicopter
a really good friend
walkie-talkies

you set up the ramp on a beach, you attach the cable from the crane on the barge to your Bronco. you get in, speed for the ramp, take flight and swing around on the end of the cable for 10-15 minutes. you float the barge that is holding the crane that is dangling your Bronco into to the Transport ship with the slick sinking/refloating hull.
you climb out of your Bronco, shimmy up the cable, climb down the crane, get off the barge, wait two weeks for the Transport ship to get to Hawaii, get on a plane for Hawaii, float the barge with the crane still dangling into the water near to a beach, build a new ramp, hire a helicopter. have the 'copter land on the beach, hook up a breakaway cable to the 'copter and your Bronco, you climb up the crane, shimmy down the cable, climb into your Bronco, walkie-talkie your really good friend in the helicopter to take off and pull on the cable attatched to the front of your truck to get it swinging, tell your friend to disconnect the cable. When you feel you have the correct swing, walkie-talkie the crane operator to let loose the cable that is dangling your truck so that you can fly through the air to land on your newly built ramp on a Hawaiin beach

technically you just jumped off the mainland and landed on Hawaii
theoretically it is possible

 

this is easy, 0* ramp 2389.9999 miles long, and you can go what ever speed you want. just bring alot of gas

 

Actually the ramp would have to arc, since the Earth is a sphere, or has that changed recently? Otherwise you would take off into space...

 

Getting up near the edge of the atmosphere would help, since your headed the opposite way of the Earths rotation. But, getting to that point would probably be harder than getting to Hawaii.

So are you wondering how much you'd have to overbore your motor to get enough horsepower? I guess were talking gear ratios also, to get enough speed.

 

It's like a ballistics problem.
For a 45 degree ramp, (which is the best angle):
Launch velocity=sq.rt.(g*range)
For Hawaii, the launch speed would need to be around 13,752mph. Put wind resistance in the mix and that # would be alot higher. So what mods do you need to get a Bronco to go that fast?

 

If the ramp is "level" on the earth's surface, it will arc, as "level" follows the curvature of the earth. It shouldn't arc, it has to go "straight", as the earrth will curve away from under it. As to escaping into space, NOT- at least untill he exceeds 25000 MPH. Classic artillery shell ballistics problem .... and 45 deg is the angle. If I remember correctly, the USS MIssouri hurled volkswagen sized shell something like 26 Miles???

 

you would need to approach escape velocity (I think over 18200 mph) to jump it, other wise you would need a ramp long and high enough to basically free fall from the ramp to the Arizona. However the flamming hoop idea holds merrit.

 

Well, you would have to head over to the NASA junkyard, find yourself an old Titan multistage, and skewer the Bronco through the rear window with the capsule tip. Raise rocket to firing position, fill with solid propellent, and off you go!

 

Actually, if you factor in wind resistance, the optimum release angle for maximum distance is about 42 degrees. In a vacuum, 45 degrees would be optimum.

The Bronco sure wouldn't make it, at least not without some major heat protection. At roughly 2500 miles from the continental U.S., you'd have to get that Bronco pretty high for it to coast down to the ground. To get it high enough off that ramp, you'd need a LOT of speed, probably more than enough to vaporize a normal Bronco. Most planes won't glide for more than a few miles, and they have wings helping to keep them in the air. Your other problem is that winds are typically from west to east over the Pacific ocean, so once you got that Bronco in the air, the wind would be pushing it back towards the mainland.

But, in theory, anything will fly if you just get it moving fast enough...

Jason