The real reason they stopped this was because you had to wait until all of the planes were in California before they could turn the arrows around and send everyone back. It was terribly inconvenient.
After spotting a farmhand working in a field below, a lost pilot descends to ask his location."Where am I?" he asks then circles around to hear the reply."You're in an airplane, you damn fool."
The pilot responds, "You must be a mathematician" The farmer replies "Yes, how did you know?" The pilot says, "Your answer was totally correct and completely useless"
This happened to me when working in the Isle of Dogs on the Skyline units. A helicopter landed on the waste-ground across the Marsh Wall road. At the time I really liked helicopters so walked across the road and saw the pilot looking at map. He saw me, met me halfway and asked where he was. I showed him on the map and he thanked me then walked back to his helicopter and flew off towards the City of London. I went back to the building site and my foreman asked 'What the fuck did he want?'
@@dongiovanni4331 and the farmer responded: you most be in the management? Pilot: how did you know? Farmer: you have a problem, ask me the wrong questions and after getting the answer to your questions I'm the one getting the blame for your problems
Bradshawing it was called WWII, The Maltese Crosses on the ground in Arizona were for Corona Spy satellites to set the focus for their cameras. They would the drop the exposed film in canesters to waiting planes to catch midair.
Air & Space Magazine had a fascinating photo series of some of the surviving arrows a few years back. Most of them are (if not removed) seriously overgrown with vegetation, but others are still quite visible.
@@nepdisc3722 The concrete canoes actually weighed less than the Aluminum canoes at the University boathouse. (You do know that canoes are designed to be carried?) Note the Aluminum canoes have foam pads for buoyancy so canoe is not lost when capsized. Both kinds of canoes would float upside down at the surface, providing a float to the swimmer. "Aircrete" has lower density than most wood (duh not balsa) and has higher load bearing capacity than same density wood.
an entire generation of male standup comedians made their careers based solely on "my wife is so fucking annoying" but jo brand drags her husband now and again and everyone is shitting themselves. shes on QI, youre in the yt comments, so whos really laughing?
@@marycanary86 yeah, that material sucks when it's delivered by a man too. It's boring and pedestrian; you or I can do it. Jo has actually lived a life with some remarkable and poignant experiences. I know she has deeper material to riff with than just her husband. I feel she needs to sit with a friend or by herself and workshop the craft if she wants to be effective as a comedian. She seems happy to be a snide commentator on QI, and I think that's why she bothers viewers.
On top of the Green Shield Building in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, there was a large Green Shield emblem, pointing at Hurn Airport. There was also an arrow cut into the hill outside Ringwood. Hurn was an RAF base during WW2.
Planes don't run on helium, they run on magic. 😊 There are still lots of letters on the sides of mountains and hills that show planes where they are. And small children how close they are to grandma and grandpa's house.
The radio network that was set up was really neat too - they used antennas that were fairly directional, and one side would transmit a morse code 'a', the other a morse code 'n'. The letters were timed so if you were right on the edge of the two sectors, you would hear a constant tone. Drift a little to one side and you hear one of the two letters - and know which way to turn to get back on line.
0:49 "There have never been any flying vehicles built of concrete." Well, I'm not sure about vehicles, but the German Blohm & Voss BV 246 glide bomb had a concrete structure covering a steel skeleton.
Steven says that the US ‘was expanding faster than any country’s economy had ever expanded’. I was under the impression that this was actually Japan during the Meji Restoration era. They had just come out of 200 or so years of almost complete isolation and modernised extremely quickly to pose themselves an a powerful nation to the rest of the world. I could be mistaken and in fact it was that they had the fastest expanse of economy at the time... Any one have any knowledge on this?
Let me correct you he said *perhaps* the fastest expansion. According to the World Bank, China has experienced the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history (www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview), but I'm sure he had his sources to get that trivia bit. The Meiji Restoration was perhaps the fastest modernization in history, but I don't believe that it was the fastest economic expansion. Although Japan quickly Westernized at the national level, the country was still mostly primarily agricultural by the end of this period despite radical changes to economic, military, and political policies. (P.S., sorry for the late reply...UA-cam thought this was relevant a year later.)
I know they were joking in the start...but all I could think of was that "There wouldn't be much conversation going on in a plane filled with helium. It would be a coffin filled with helium."
@Ordinary Sessel Downside? You mean in the filling of a closed space with helium that leads to that space having no oxygen and people within it suffocating...
@Ordinary Sessel well the downside would be that those people would have families and loved ones, and maybe you'd be a passenger. Subsequently there would be lawsuits to the airport and the like.
There is a guy in Milwaukee near the airport who painted “Welcome to Cleveland” on his roof. archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/15-minutes-of-fame-for-welcome-to-cleveland-sign-lasts-37-years-b99627742z1-360471381.html
In the mountains surrounding the communities of San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Redlands, as well as the mountain communities of Rim of the World, there are HUGE letters carved into the hilltops. In Moreno Valley, the 'M' is lit in various colors, depending on the holiday. There are several airports in close proximity in the area. Ontario, Redlands municipal, San Bernardino International (once an AF base, Norton) and the Air Force Reserve base (March). I've never been told why those letters are carved into the hills; I suspect it is to orient the planes and low-flying jets to exactly which airport is nearby.
Hitler loved Paris though, he said it was his dream to see Paris in person, so I doubt he would have had anything to do with its destruction. The time he went to Paris was a thrill for him. Something he was ecstatic to see and over joyed to have gotten to see. He said it was his dream so I don’t know what else he really wanted to do in this world. I believe he was insane and wanted to take over the world for his own joy, but part of me wonders if he did accept that he might not win anymore and simple milked it for what it was, to see Paris was a thrill and most likely a realistic way to see one of the things he wanted to all of his life, to use his power when he still had it and play around more to keep up the war but really he was prolly sad deep down and accepting slowly that his sadness would be too much after losing his safety to keep living.
"Hitler loved Paris though, he said it was his dream to see Paris in person, so I doubt he would have had anything to do with its destruction" They were talking about WW1, not WW2.
In 1944 Hitler issued an order for Paris to be razed. It did not happen because General von Choltitz, then in charge of the occupied city, defied direct orders and surrendered to the Free French instead.
Nah. He was psychopath who almost to the end believed in being right and anyone who opposed him should perish. Including Paris and Germany itself. He wanted Germany to be bombed as well by their own soldiers as punishment for failing him. And when he realized that it's over and he will be captured, he chickened out,,
That’s so cute haha. I heard a similar thing about Germans using inflatable ships to make it look like their Navy was bigger than it was but the British realized it and dropped an inflatable bomb on one!
There is a whole class of similar stories. Most versions, the wooden bomb, or whatever, is dropped by another squadron. So what does the story do? It reminds your pilots that decoys exist, and suggests that they can be recognised.
What Alan should have said is that the density of concrete would make a plane impossible to take off. Weight in a jumbo jet is a delicate balance, and it's very carefully calibrated for maximum efficiency.
I don't think Jumbo jets can fly. Also, it would be very dangerous to built a big flying object out of any hard material, because it could crack the firmament when it flies a bit too high.
They used to trim the jumbo with depleted uranium counterweights too. Imagine how many people flew having no idea they were sat only a few meters away from half a ton of depleted uranium?! Lol It's tungsten they use these days where required iirc
That's exactly what I was thinking but if your bearings are off at the start or at any point you could end up way off course, maybe if there's a storm or something and I guess this method is pretty foolproof.
I question the source of information British seem to have. At least thats the impression I have after someone spouts off "facts" on this show. Consider this, "Who has the control of written history?" Man is a corrupt and egotistic being that will prefer to lie rather than admit to almost any mistake that has been made as well as to avoid discomfort. With that said, "A concrete shaped arrow that is useless as a real navigation tool for aviation" I highly doubt was ever used for flight navigation across the united states (Except as a dull idea someone thought was a national aviation flight director)
>With that said, "A concrete shaped arrow that is useless as a real navigation tool for aviation" I highly doubt was ever used for flight navigation across the united states (Except as a dull idea someone thought was a national aviation flight director) And quick fact checking shows that they absolutely were used in very early aviation, specifically for air mail.
This show and these clips always make me happy.
The real reason they stopped this was because you had to wait until all of the planes were in California before they could turn the arrows around and send everyone back. It was terribly inconvenient.
david mitchell's hair looks good styled like that, like a soft quiff, makes him look more elegant that the fringe he usually styles his hair in
After spotting a farmhand working in a field below, a lost pilot descends to ask his location."Where am I?" he asks then circles around to hear the reply."You're in an airplane, you damn fool."
It's almost a philosophical challenge that one, isn't it? Some maniac swooping down from the heavens to torment you with obvious questions
The pilot responds, "You must be a mathematician"
The farmer replies "Yes, how did you know?"
The pilot says, "Your answer was totally correct and completely useless"
This happened to me when working in the Isle of Dogs on the Skyline units. A helicopter landed on the waste-ground across the Marsh Wall road. At the time I really liked helicopters so walked across the road and saw the pilot looking at map. He saw me, met me halfway and asked where he was. I showed him on the map and he thanked me then walked back to his helicopter and flew off towards the City of London.
I went back to the building site and my foreman asked 'What the fuck did he want?'
@@dongiovanni4331 and the farmer responded: you most be in the management? Pilot: how did you know? Farmer: you have a problem, ask me the wrong questions and after getting the answer to your questions I'm the one getting the blame for your problems
Dizzyland
Sometimes pilots would fly low over train stations to look at station names to see where they were, no joke.
“Is this the Piccadilly line?”
I use the roads and Google maps when in my censa to know where I am
That almost sounds too ridiculous to be true!
@@iDk-dp1bi Gg
Bradshawing it was called WWII, The Maltese Crosses on the ground in Arizona were for Corona Spy satellites to set the focus for their cameras. They would the drop the exposed film in canesters to waiting planes to catch midair.
Air & Space Magazine had a fascinating photo series of some of the surviving arrows a few years back. Most of them are (if not removed) seriously overgrown with vegetation, but others are still quite visible.
"we may not be able to win this war... but at least we can make the germans look like complete FOOLS AHAHAHA HAHAAHHAHA, oh the war is over...."
...and reading this in David Mitchell's voice
HON HON HON HON HON!!!*
you misspelled the french laugh
@@diegoveloso3rd You beat me to it
Loving the learning with the humor.
Concrete canoes (made in our engineering class) with pumice or straw as filler, instead of rock, were lighter than Aluminum canoes.
not lighter, more buoyant
@@nepdisc3722 The concrete canoes actually weighed less than the Aluminum canoes at the University boathouse. (You do know that canoes are designed to be carried?) Note the Aluminum canoes have foam pads for buoyancy so canoe is not lost when capsized. Both kinds of canoes would float upside down at the surface, providing a float to the swimmer.
"Aircrete" has lower density than most wood (duh not balsa) and has higher load bearing capacity than same density wood.
BIG BAGUETTE
ERRRRRRR BIG GUILLOTINE
Surprised Jo couldn't find a way to fit her husband in that joke.
an entire generation of male standup comedians made their careers based solely on "my wife is so fucking annoying" but jo brand drags her husband now and again and everyone is shitting themselves. shes on QI, youre in the yt comments, so whos really laughing?
mary canary absolutely, definitely not me!!
Wait, uh...
@@marycanary86
Who were they then?
@@marycanary86 yeah, that material sucks when it's delivered by a man too. It's boring and pedestrian; you or I can do it. Jo has actually lived a life with some remarkable and poignant experiences. I know she has deeper material to riff with than just her husband. I feel she needs to sit with a friend or by herself and workshop the craft if she wants to be effective as a comedian. She seems happy to be a snide commentator on QI, and I think that's why she bothers viewers.
Water towers will also typically have a city's name painted on.
On top of the Green Shield Building in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, there was a large Green Shield emblem, pointing at Hurn Airport. There was also an arrow cut into the hill outside Ringwood. Hurn was an RAF base during WW2.
That little retort by steph. So perfect.
Planes don't run on helium, they run on magic. 😊 There are still lots of letters on the sides of mountains and hills that show planes where they are. And small children how close they are to grandma and grandpa's house.
Funny, electricity works by magic, too. That's why electric cars don't pollute magic is green.
Ooh! I actually knew this one before the ads we're done! Yay CAP back in the day
".................................................good point". God love ya, Alan!
Thanks for watching, do you remember to...
I hear it every time
David really is a funny man
The radio network that was set up was really neat too - they used antennas that were fairly directional, and one side would transmit a morse code 'a', the other a morse code 'n'. The letters were timed so if you were right on the edge of the two sectors, you would hear a constant tone. Drift a little to one side and you hear one of the two letters - and know which way to turn to get back on line.
0:49 "There have never been any flying vehicles built of concrete."
Well, I'm not sure about vehicles, but the German Blohm & Voss BV 246 glide bomb had a concrete structure covering a steel skeleton.
@@telimon1 Also one would argue that a gliding object, be it aircraft or armament, is not technically flying anyways :p
Took me a bit, but I finally got the point.
It points that way
I can't be the only one who watches til the very end to hear sandy tell me to hurry up 🤣
Steven says that the US ‘was expanding faster than any country’s economy had ever expanded’. I was under the impression that this was actually Japan during the Meji Restoration era. They had just come out of 200 or so years of almost complete isolation and modernised extremely quickly to pose themselves an a powerful nation to the rest of the world. I could be mistaken and in fact it was that they had the fastest expanse of economy at the time...
Any one have any knowledge on this?
My guess would have been the Mongols, both speed and size of conqured territory was impressive !
@@realitymatters8720 Different type of expansion, I'd think. But impressive nonetheless, of course.
Hoards of immigrants from 1865 through the 1920's swelled the American population greatly...
Let me correct you he said *perhaps* the fastest expansion. According to the World Bank, China has experienced the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history (www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview), but I'm sure he had his sources to get that trivia bit.
The Meiji Restoration was perhaps the fastest modernization in history, but I don't believe that it was the fastest economic expansion. Although Japan quickly Westernized at the national level, the country was still mostly primarily agricultural by the end of this period despite radical changes to economic, military, and political policies.
(P.S., sorry for the late reply...UA-cam thought this was relevant a year later.)
Problem with watching QI clips is I forget it’s a clip and then it ends and I’m like “please Stephen tell me more about (enter subject here)”
I know they were joking in the start...but all I could think of was that "There wouldn't be much conversation going on in a plane filled with helium. It would be a coffin filled with helium."
I never considered that, I simply enjoyed some light humor... :)
@Ordinary Sessel Downside? You mean in the filling of a closed space with helium that leads to that space having no oxygen and people within it suffocating...
Nothing you said would get any kind of reaction.
@Ordinary Sessel Are you ok?
@Ordinary Sessel well the downside would be that those people would have families and loved ones, and maybe you'd be a passenger. Subsequently there would be lawsuits to the airport and the like.
Ha! I knew this one, because of a Tom Scott video 😄
was it made of plaster a Paris of plaster
In my hometown there’s a Fred Meyers near the airport and on the roof it says “Welcome to Fairbanks”
There is a guy in Milwaukee near the airport who painted “Welcome to Cleveland” on his roof.
archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/15-minutes-of-fame-for-welcome-to-cleveland-sign-lasts-37-years-b99627742z1-360471381.html
I’ve heard about a littlebird pilot in Iraq descending to a low hover to read roadsigns
In the mountains surrounding the communities of San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Redlands, as well as the mountain communities of Rim of the World, there are HUGE letters carved into the hilltops. In Moreno Valley, the 'M' is lit in various colors, depending on the holiday. There are several airports in close proximity in the area. Ontario, Redlands municipal, San Bernardino International (once an AF base, Norton) and the Air Force Reserve base (March). I've never been told why those letters are carved into the hills; I suspect it is to orient the planes and low-flying jets to exactly which airport is nearby.
These are everywhere there are hills and valleys all across America.
It is usually the local high school or college that puts up the letter for school spirit and hometown pride
That explains the roof with "Green Acres" written on it.
Aha! I think it was CGP Grey who taught me all about this. Or Wendover. Or someone else, I'm a bit hazy on the details.
Stephen: "Speaking of things visible from the air..."
Alan: "Enough about my mum, you right tosser."
So that's where they came up with that plot line in "Blazing Saddles"!
Yep, Mel Brooks invented the toll booth!
I believe fiberglass could technically be called a concrete, much like bitumen is as well.
What did they do about planes that wanted to fly from west to east?
Very funny 😂😂😂
They simply had the planes keep flying west until they ended up back east.
A jumbo jet is actually not heavy! If you take into account its massive size, it's positively dainty compared to one that'd be made out of concrete.
i already knew that thanks to half as interesting
That's why they were called arrowplanes
Remember, folks: Tom's appearing here at the Chucklehut just for this weekend!
Were not V1 "buzz bombs" made partially of concrete?
Huh. Super interesting ;)
*Quite Interesting.
If you don’t see the arrows, do you go left or right?
Hence the name arrowplane
Mythbusters: concrete glider 😉
They did do a lead balloon
Concrete arrows in America ???
What about the ones in good ol' Blighty ?
Well please come on, which way are we going?
Where can I watch this program
Dave
142doddy cheers buh
In your living room, in front of your telly with a cup of tea and a plate of Jaffa Cakes.
You can find a lot of them online, just google for QI series G Full or whichever series you want.
Hitler loved Paris though, he said it was his dream to see Paris in person, so I doubt he would have had anything to do with its destruction. The time he went to Paris was a thrill for him. Something he was ecstatic to see and over joyed to have gotten to see. He said it was his dream so I don’t know what else he really wanted to do in this world. I believe he was insane and wanted to take over the world for his own joy, but part of me wonders if he did accept that he might not win anymore and simple milked it for what it was, to see Paris was a thrill and most likely a realistic way to see one of the things he wanted to all of his life, to use his power when he still had it and play around more to keep up the war but really he was prolly sad deep down and accepting slowly that his sadness would be too much after losing his safety to keep living.
"Hitler loved Paris though, he said it was his dream to see Paris in person, so I doubt he would have had anything to do with its destruction"
They were talking about WW1, not WW2.
In 1944 Hitler issued an order for Paris to be razed. It did not happen because General von Choltitz, then in charge of the occupied city, defied direct orders and surrendered to the Free French instead.
Nah. He was psychopath who almost to the end believed in being right and anyone who opposed him should perish.
Including Paris and Germany itself. He wanted Germany to be bombed as well by their own soldiers as punishment for failing him.
And when he realized that it's over and he will be captured, he chickened out,,
Or you know.
He could have purchased a train ticket to paris without starting a war, if that was indeed your reasoning for the events.
Did david mitchell inspire messi's look or vice versa?
You related to gavin Mitchell and Laura mitchell
During WW2 the Germans built a decoy airfield made entirely of wood. The RAF dropped a single wooden bomb on it!
Gah, Snopes says probably not true.
There are witnesses and accounts of it happening from both sides that suggest it did happen.
That’s so cute haha. I heard a similar thing about Germans using inflatable ships to make it look like their Navy was bigger than it was but the British realized it and dropped an inflatable bomb on one!
There is a whole class of similar stories. Most versions, the wooden bomb, or whatever, is dropped by another squadron. So what does the story do?
It reminds your pilots that decoys exist, and suggests that they can be recognised.
Snopes is as often wrong as right.
In America we all fly IFR. Only IFR means I Fly Roads.
What Alan should have said is that the density of concrete would make a plane impossible to take off. Weight in a jumbo jet is a delicate balance, and it's very carefully calibrated for maximum efficiency.
GuanoLad smart arse
I don't think Jumbo jets can fly. Also, it would be very dangerous to built a big flying object out of any hard material, because it could crack the firmament when it flies a bit too high.
They used to trim the jumbo with depleted uranium counterweights too.
Imagine how many people flew having no idea they were sat only a few meters away from half a ton of depleted uranium?! Lol
It's tungsten they use these days where required iirc
@6a Plus I'm a comedy genius.
@@jamietaylor6242 or just not a fucking moron
Disappointed Stephen didn't mention concrete ships...
Who else knew about this from half as interesting?
Matt Leeson ???
@@carolynworthington8996 Half as Interesting is a youtube channel that deals with obscure facts
Matt Leeson oh - should I look it up?
@@carolynworthington8996 if you are into that sort of thing then most certainly.
Couldn't use a compass?
That's exactly what I was thinking but if your bearings are off at the start or at any point you could end up way off course, maybe if there's a storm or something and I guess this method is pretty foolproof.
Didn't Mythbusters try a concrete airplane?
I see you've been watching Half as Interesting.
Didn't they steal the Fake Paris idea from Blazing Saddles?
Obviously it doesn't do stuff to your ears.
You can see some of those arrows on Google Earth.
That USA map makes no sense. It appears to have rivers drawn all over completely at random.
Scone David not scon
Did anyone else google 'concrete plane' to discover that Stephen Fry was wrong?
what on Earth are those borders on the map of the USA?
I think they might be rivers lol
Kinda wanna pat myself on the back for knowing the origin of the arrows before this video.
ta
Jo said fake Paris first
CAPTIONS PLEASE! FGS!
Was it a white flag?
I question the source of information British seem to have.
At least thats the impression I have after someone spouts off "facts" on this show.
Consider this, "Who has the control of written history?" Man is a corrupt and egotistic being that will prefer to lie rather than admit to almost any mistake that has been made as well as to avoid discomfort.
With that said, "A concrete shaped arrow that is useless as a real navigation tool for aviation" I highly doubt was ever used for flight navigation across the united states (Except as a dull idea someone thought was a national aviation flight director)
yeah and they totally didn't use railway lines to find station names to know where they are
>With that said, "A concrete shaped arrow that is useless as a real navigation tool for aviation" I highly doubt was ever used for flight navigation across the united states (Except as a dull idea someone thought was a national aviation flight director)
And quick fact checking shows that they absolutely were used in very early aviation, specifically for air mail.