Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

News, notes, questions on the McHenry invented James Bond Astro Spiral Jump Stunt
MSI
Site Admin
Posts: 2302
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:37 pm

Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by MSI »

Q: I am wondering what is the accuracy of the statement about the stunt "With a 39.9 mph take-off speed, the weight of the Hornet being exactly 1460.6 kg (including passengers), and the distance between the klong ramps being exactly 15.86m apart, Bond perfectly executes the jump."

A: The Spiral Jump Stunt was perfromed in the James Bond movie Man with the Golden Gun. The implied speed and weight were essentially correct, but the implied precision is excessive and somewhat unrealistic. For the actual ‘traveling stunt’ the target speeds, etc were 40 +/- 1MPH and 1461 +/- 3 kg, and 13.85 +/- 0.03 m
A thrill show toured with the stunt both before and after James Bond picked it up for the movie. For many of the tour shows in the US, the drivers came in slow (below the low speed) and damaged the suspension and landing ramp on landing.
For the stunt shown in the movie and for many times after the bond movie, Bumps Willard, who did the stunt for the movie, toured Europe and hit the jump correctly every time!
The Spiral Jump patent
Additional information on The Spiral Jump Stunt and the HVOSM software used to create it
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

Check out the YouTube videos:

[media]ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trJocyjCBzo&[/media]
Handheld film of the actual stunt from the James Bond movie

Original 1970's computer graphics of the hvosm simulation ramp design/design
Additional information on McHenry Software website
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

Q: What was the car? (this question was posted up on the youtube site of the video)
A: The stunt was originally done by the All American Thrill Show with an AMC Javelin. It was first performed at the Houston Astrodome on Jan. 15,1971
astrospiral.gif
astrospiral.gif (14.75 KiB) Viewed 33726 times
For the James Bond movie Man with The Golden Gun a modified AMC Hornet Sportabout hatchback coupe was used (centered seat, 6 cyl engine, engine modifications, etc) with Loren "Bumps" Williard as the stunt driver.
astrospiral.jpg
astrospiral.jpg (28.09 KiB) Viewed 33726 times
Be sure to also see James Bond's AMC Hornet Located!
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
stan

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by stan »

For your amusement and entertainment here are a couple of other versions of the 'spiral jump stunt' setup and performed perhaps without an adequate amount of scientific analysis:
The BBC series Top Gear
topgear.gif
topgear.gif (4.2 KiB) Viewed 33710 times
presented an attempt to mimic the James Bond Man with the Golden Gun Spiral Jump on Series 11, Episode2.
From the BBC site:
topgear2.gif
topgear2.gif (37.57 KiB) Viewed 33710 times
James May got his slide rule out (see above)in an effort to recreate one of film's most beloved car stunts: the spiral jump from Man with the Golden Gun. See the segment on

Top Gear: Doing 360 degrees roll with a car
In the film, an AMC Hornet is seen jumping off a ramp, making one complete revolution in mid-air, and then landing on its wheels on another ramp. What looks relatively simple on-screen actually involves some incredibly complex equations, and the genuine possibility of a horribly messy death for the driver. Enter Top Gear Stunt Man. Unfortunately, James misplaced a couple of decimal points, so the attempt ended in a huge and painful-looking crash.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And in yet another 'interesting' version of the 'spiral jump' a stunt driver performs the stunt with an apparent lack of science:
Tommy "Trubble" McTague Spiral Car Jump
ENJOY!
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

Found another YouTube video with some

more Spiral Jump footage including some of the original Calspan Tests, some of the touring Thrill show versions and finishing with the James Bond version.
You will notice that most of the footage from the touring shows did not land properly. This was due to improper speed and/or alignment by the various drivers. Most would come in too slow and take out part of the landing ramp. Not until Bumps Williard, the stunt driver for the Bond movie version of the stunt, did the driver bring it in at the proper speed an alignment. Bumps toured Europe with the thrill show and the stunts were perfomed perfect every time! Enjoy!
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

April 19, 2010: Thanks to Roy Bergman for sending me information on the Mercedes SLS AMG Tunnel Loop. Met Roy at the 99th birthday celebration of Bill Milliken this past weekend in Watkins Glen at the International Motor Racing Research Center.
Roy mentioned a tunnel stunt in a youtube video/ad by Mercedes. Somewhat like an 'inside' spiral jump. Not sure if it's real, as the ramp would have had to be constructed inside the tunnel (and it's much easier, safer and less expensive to simply morph into a CGI animation and then back to the real vehicle shots).
Enjoy!

Mercedes SLS AMG Tunnel Loop
Here's a few stills from the movie...this dude with the computer...ain't he in the crash zone (if something were to go wrong if it were a 'real' event?)
And apparently they've also changed the name of the driver too!
frame3.jpg
frame3.jpg (17.24 KiB) Viewed 32956 times
ramp1.jpg
ramp1.jpg (13.64 KiB) Viewed 32956 times
ramp2.jpg
ramp2.jpg (13.46 KiB) Viewed 32956 times
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
PaulM
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:36 pm

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by PaulM »

Yeh, having all those folks standing in the crash zone during a taping is a BIT unrealistic :-)

However, it is totally real. I swear it is. :-)

'Elvis is not dead, he just went home'.
PaulM
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:36 pm

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by PaulM »

I especially liked the way the entire tunnel has continuous light bars at the top on both sides, EXCEPT the precise little section where the Mercedes needed to go there, at which point they became utterly flat and smooth :-)

For a continuation of this thread, see Astor Spiral Jump, Part 2
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on McHenry James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

Dec 2011: recently recieved a link to an alternate take on the Top Gear version of the stunt wherein it randomly somewhat lands on its wheels. They call it 'a success' i call it 'luck'
Success of Luck Top Gear Jump?

Also wanted to post a link to the next thread in the 'Spiral Jump' topic Astro Spiral Jump, Part 2
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Question on James Bond Spiral Jump Stunt

Post by brian »

Be sure to also see next thread on Spiral jump:Astro Spiral Jump, Part 2
and also
Dyrdek Chevy Sonic KickFlip Stunt is the Spiral Jump
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
Post Reply