cartalk puzzler

[lamehonda]

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?

[Raz_Kaz]

The body heat?

[kittedb18bt]

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

[2strokebloke]

He was drunk.

[psychobadboy]

This one will keep me up all night...

[Sean]

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

[psychobadboy]

:Smacks head: You're right.

[kittedb18bt]

Originally Posted by Sean

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.

[lamehonda]

Originally Posted by Sean

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.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by lamehonda

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

[Raz_Kaz]

Damn You!

[lamehonda]

Originally Posted by Sean

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

[Sean]

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

[lamehonda]

Originally Posted by Sean

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?

[ci5ic]

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?