cartalk puzzler

I thought it would be cool to have a thread with the puzzler of the week and have a little discussion on it. I am stumped on this one.


A Frigid Flight to Safety

RAY: Roger Meyer sent this puzzler in to us. I always attribute the puzzler. There are no innocents here at Car Talk.

Here it is:

A group of explorers were trapped in Alaska for the winter season. Stuck in the ice and snow, they only had one means of escaping to civilization before spring. They had in their possession an old World War Two airplane with skis, which they could use in the event of an emergency.

The plane had a placard on the instrument panel that said, in bold red letters, "Do not attempt to start engine with oil temperature below minus forty degrees Fahrenheit."

Did I mention it was cold?

Well, wouldn't you know it, but a medical emergency arose, and when the pilot checked the oil temperature gauge, he discovered it was broken. As luck would have it, this being an international kind of team, all of their instruments were in Centigrade.

Unfortunately, nobody could remember the formula for converting Centigrade to Fahrenheit. Skip, who had been carefully looking over the engine for the last couple of days, emerges from—are you ready for this?—the inky shadows of the dimly lit Quonset hut.

The others ask, "Do you know the formula for converting Centigrade to Fahrenheit?"

He says, "I don't need no stinkin' formulas. But, I know you can start the engine. It will be all right."

They say, "Okie dokie!" And, sure enough they start the engine up, and it's fine. Of course, the propeller fell off-- but that's another story.

The question is, how did Skip know they could safely start the airplane's engine?

The body heat? :confused:

i would guess that the oil pressure guage rose. dont know what else to think.

He was drunk.

This one will keep me up all night... :dunno:

Simple. -40 F is the same temperature as -40 C. Go look at a thermometer and check.

:Smacks head: You're right.

Simple. -40 F is the same temperature as -40 C. Go look at a thermometer and check.

boy do i feel dumb. i was involved in a kelvin discussion just a few months ago on here. as well as absolute zero. :icon16:

Simple. -40 F is the same temperature as -40 C. Go look at a thermometer and check.
no, the gauge was broken

nice try though

no equipment was used.

The plane had a placard on the instrument panel that said, in bold red letters, "Do not attempt to start engine with oil temperature below minus forty degrees Fahrenheit."

when the pilot checked the oil temperature gauge, he discovered it was broken. As luck would have it, this being an international kind of team, all of their instruments were in Centigrade.

They used their thermometers that were in Celcius... if it was above -40C it was above -40F

Damn You!

They used their thermometers that were in Celcius... if it was above -40C it was above -40F
It did not say that he knew that they had taken measurements. maybe I am taking this too literaly. Im wondering if it had something to do with the plane having skis on it? or if the guy had broken the gauge while looking over the plane, and knew how much it was off. they didn't say it was not functioning at all. might be stupid

How? A plane's engine isn't attached to the wheels/skis. He couldn't have jump-started the engine.

How? A plane's engine isn't attached to the wheels/skis. He couldn't have jump-started the engine.
no, I wondered if WWII airplanes with skis had different fluids in the engine than regular ones?

Well, it said not to start the plane with oil temp below 40ºF... It didn't say that the plane WOULDN'T start with oil temps lower than that, and after all, it was a medical emergency, so maybe he just said screw it, the oil will warm once the engine heats up.

Either that, or since it said that this "Skip" fellow had emerged from a Quonset Hut and had been looking over the engine for the last few days, maybe the plane was IN the quonset hut with him, and the Quonset hut may have been heated to a temperature that would guarantee that the oil was not below 40ºF.

Edit, afterthought:
Either that, or Skip figured that the reason for the warning is that the oil used in the plane would freeze below 40º. So, maybe he checked the oil, and it was still liquid, not frozen, and therefore wouldn't cause any damage to the plane if it started.... That wouldn't be what the "40" in 10W-40 refers to, would it?

10W-40: i believe this solution was created on the 40th attempt. i cannot recall the guys name.

Did I mention it was cold?

No, you didn't.

That is the key, its not even cold out. Hence, them being able to start it safely.


(Yes...that would be my idiot solution)

::imwithstupid::

(Yes...that would be my idiot solution)


Thats almost as funny as your avatar

No, you didn't.

That is the key, its not even cold out. Hence, them being able to start it safely.


(Yes...that would be my idiot solution)

Yes he did...

A group of explorers were trapped in Alaska for the winter season. Stuck in the ice and snow

Unless ice and snow are not cold......

Yes he did...



Unless ice and snow are not cold......


Maybe it was a hollywood set and the ice and snow were fake. lol

Take two......Action!

I still don't think that we have the right answer, that was just too simple
it didn't say he knew that they took a temperature reading at all, he just walked out of the hut and told them that.

I was assuming we're supposed to solve this using only the information we were given in the first place. That means that we can't assume that the guy knew that -40 C = -40 F.

But at the same time it's an interesting coincidence that we were given -40 C as a reference in the problem because of the equivalency stated above.

We could have the right answer and not even know it.

My head hurts...

I was assuming we're supposed to solve this using only the information we were given in the first place. That means that we can't assume that the guy knew that -40 C = -40 F.

But at the same time it's an interesting coincidence that we were given -40 C as a reference in the problem because of the equivalency stated above.

We could have the right answer and not even know it.

My head hurts...
kinda like a t/f question, the question always seems true when you don't know all the facts. That answer is just too simple! I believe that your assumption is correct. I should post this somewhere else where it won't get pushed down so fast.

ok, here is a stupid question. does it have to do with the lightbulb? they made a big deal of pointing out he emerged from a "dimly lit quonset hut" which, first off, I doubt they would be in a quonset hut in snow and ice, since the huts are made of sheet metal. Anyways, does a standard incandescent bulb still turn on without popping below -40? if so, and the bulb was lit, that means its above -40

ok, here is a stupid question. does it have to do with the lightbulb? they made a big deal of pointing out he emerged from a "dimly lit quonset hut" which, first off, I doubt they would be in a quonset hut in snow and ice, since the huts are made of sheet metal. Anyways, does a standard incandescent bulb still turn on without popping below -40? if so, and the bulb was lit, that means its above -40
Again with that answer, we have to assume that this guy knew more than what was originally stated in the problem, just like the temperature thing.

ok, here is a stupid question. does it have to do with the lightbulb? they made a big deal of pointing out he emerged from a "dimly lit quonset hut" which, first off, I doubt they would be in a quonset hut in snow and ice, since the huts are made of sheet metal. Anyways, does a standard incandescent bulb still turn on without popping below -40? if so, and the bulb was lit, that means its above -40
the bulb should generate heat though? nice try.
There has to be something I am missing....

or maybe...

mr. skippy really had no idea and just guessed

:owned: :worshippy

Whats to say he didn't check to see if the oil wasn't frozen? No power steering, transmission or brake fluids to worry about, and it's air cooled, so no antifreeze. As long as no ice had formed around the engine to prevent it from turning over, the engine should start.

Whats to say he didn't check to see if the oil wasn't frozen? No power steering, transmission or brake fluids to worry about, and it's air cooled, so no antifreeze. As long as no ice had formed around the engine to prevent it from turning over, the engine should start.
It did not indicate anywhere that he checked the fluids, oh well. when somebody hears the answere on the radio, please post it. Im putting my money on the temp conversion answer because I can't seem to come up with anything better

here is the answer,

RAY: The formula happens to be Fahrenheit equals 9/5th Centigrade plus 32. If you put 40 degrees in, or minus 40 degrees in for F, C comes out minus 40 also. What Crusty knew, even though he didn't know the formula, is that if it was above minus 40 Centigrade, it had to be above minus 40 Fahrenheit and therefore

TOM: Minus 40 Centigrade equals minus 40 Fahrenheit!

Sean was right! I read to deeply into it, And for having the right answer Sean has earned as many rep points as we can give him

AND THE NEW PUZZLER:
RAY: A few weeks ago, my younger son Andrew, who completed his first junior year in college, decided to come home for a few days to reacquaint himself with his parents.

TOM: Who, of course, are paying his tuition!

RAY: Right. He wanted to refresh his memory in case he had to identify us at the inquest.

He and I were driving around town, and he said, "Gee, I hadn't noticed that our town has changed a lot of its traffic signals to the new lights."

Now, traffic lights basically consist of a lens, like a green or a yellow, or a red lens, and a light bulb behind the lens. When the bulb goes on, you see the green, or the yellow, or the red light. The new traffic lights, however, are light-emitting diodes. Instead of having one bulb, you have perhaps dozens of diodes that are shining the light. The new lights are much cheaper to operate and they're much brighter.

TOM: And they don't all blow out at once!

RAY: Exactly. But, we noticed that there are some of the old lights still around. In fact, where they have put new ones in, they've replaced the green light and they've replaced the red light, but they haven't replaced the yellow lights.

I say, "It must be that they don't make light emitting diodes in yellow...maybe that's why they haven't replaced them."

We drove along a little farther, and Andrew says...

TOM: "Au contraire, piston puss!"

RAY: He says, "I think I have a better answer than that."

And, I said, "Yeah, it's about time." And he said, "As a matter of fact, it is about time." And that's the hint.

Why do we see new green lights and new red lights, but no new yellow lights?

:lol2: I dont know what the fuck the puzzler is :screwy:

I don't know exactly. I know it has something to do with the timing between the changing of green to yellow to red...

I would think that it has something to do with the length of time that the yellow light is actually on(very little)

Yep, red and green are both on for minutes at a time, but yellow for only a few seconds.

The yellow is on for such a short period of time, the cost of changing the bulb would be more than the cost of the electricity to run through the current bulb. They would get no benefit from changing the bulb to LED's.

I would think that it has something to do with the length of time that the yellow light is actually on(very little)
You posted up the puzzler and you don't even know what the puzzle is?
:screwy:

I am asking. read first post

Read it. Very confusing

If I say he was drink, it'll sure as hell help me sleep better at night....

I gotta admit, these have been pretty lame as of lately. If tom and ray don't step it up a notch I will not post the next one...(The sound of AF'ers cheering)..

Horray!

I'm going to agree with Jet-Lee on this puzzle.