Mythbusters Top 10 - Birds in a Truck

" The question is a fan-site favorite. If the birds in the truck take flight, is the truck lighter than when the birds are at rest? To answer, Adam and Jamie have weight on their minds. To get airborne, you'd push down on the air beneath you hard enough to lift your own weight. And because the principle works for birds and helicopters alike, Jamie and Adam have an idea. So, to run the bench test, Adam has built this rig. Adam has measured the weight difference of the container with and without the chopper. When the helicopter takes off, will the chamber get lighter?"

" We gotta lift off. Look at that."

" The scale is not changing."

" But that's not the whole story. This myth is about birds. So, it's full-scale ahead."

" Okay. So, if calibrated, all of our load cells which are the sensors that are gonna tell us if there are any changes in the weight of the truck. Those are going into a computer. Computer is gonna record all the information along with video in real time. So, we can see if when the birds fly up, if there are any changes in the weight."

" And with the pigeons in position and not flying, the team has starting weight."

" Just in 3, 2, 1, go!"

" The question is, does the trailer get lighter?"

" So, there's no difference when they were in the air."

" No, but you can see minor fluctuations happening very quick, but----"

" But what I see is the fluctuations have about the exact same amplitude both above and below zero point."

" Uh huh."

" I mean, it's a noisy signal, but here, it is clear there's no difference."

" Yeah, that's great."

" Dude, that is beautiful."