DanLog the ramblings of Daniel Pettit

I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but it just drives me to the brink of insanity every time I see this in a movie.

Basic water fire sprinklers are dumb, they do not communicate with their fire sprinkler friends. They are activated by heat. Think of a sprinkler head as a champagne bottle with a cork and a wire cage only in this case the wire cage is the only thing keeping the cork in. The cage is made of a soft metal with a low melting point. When sufficient heat or flame is applied to the cage it will melt, thus releasing the cork. Now when was the last time you opened a champagne bottle and the rest of the case spontaneously opened themselves simultaneously. This process must happen at each and every sprinkler head that goes off so obviously there is no way to remotely activate them.

Well there are more movie myths were that came from, so I’ll add them as I find them elsewhere or notice them myself.

The loss of cabin pressure caused by a bullet hole is a myth that should be debunked. An aircraft cabin is not like a balloon, which will explode when punctured by a pin. There is a very large hole in the airframe that is vented to the atmosphere. This hole contains a valve that regulates the cabin pressure and removes the stale passenger air. Even multiple shots from a .45-caliber handgun punching a hole through the skin wouldn’t affect the pressurization to any degree, as the valve would adjust and compensate for the insignificant amount of pressure loss. ~ David Barlin - Marlboro, N.J.

Here is an interesting article on this matter.