The band was approached by a Russian airline about using a plane to do some flights for a video that would involve weightlessness. I know. A little hard to believe. But I read about it in an issue of Smithsonian Magazine. If they aren't a credible source, who would be?
The weightless part of the flight doesn't last long and to do anything substantial, it probably takes several runs at it. You might be familiar with the concept. you can fly a plane or rocket in a parabolic path to achieve weightlessness. It's how the Tom Hanks film, Apollo 13, had its weightless moments shot.
The article (December, 2016, pages 52,53) explained the process.
- Steady horizontal flight.
- Hypergravity (1.5 to 1.8 g's) for 20 to 25 seconds at a 47 degree ascent.
- Microgravity (0 g's) for 20 to 25 seconds.
- Hypergravity (1.5 to 1.8 g's) for 20 to 25 seconds at a 47 degree descent.
- Steady horizontal flight.
The weightlessness takes place during that 20 to 25 second sweet spot at the top of the curve. As the authour Jeff MacGregor stated "Then came the math. The song is 3 minutes and 20 seconds long, give or take. Weightlessness during parabolic flight occurs in roughly 25-second increments. That's at the top of each parabola. And for every parabola, it takes five minutes of flight to reset for the next one. To get a single continuous weightless take lasting 3:20 would require eight parabolas - more than 45 minutes of actual flying time.
This is perhaps not the best ever math application. However, have used it in movies and videos and it has even been used for weddings. Maybe it is the best ever math application.
