Is The A-Team's MacGyver Engineering Physically Possible? | MythBusters

The A-Team, the iconic 80s cult classic, was renowned for its heroes' ability to construct elaborate weapons and execute daring escapes using only the materials at hand. But how much of this on-screen ingenuity holds up to real-world physics? The MythBusters team, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, put two of the A-Team's most memorable feats to the test: a log cannon and a manhole-cover car disablement.

The Log Cannon: A Flammable Failure

One of the A-Team's signature moves involved being stranded in a lumberyard and constructing a cannon out of a log, firing 2x4s using a controlled propane explosion. The MythBusters meticulously replicated this scenario. They sourced a log, drilled a barrel using an auger bit (though they had to substitute a Forster bit due to size constraints), and prepared 2x4s as ammunition. For propellant, they used propane, ignited by a neon transformer to generate a powerful spark.

Their initial attempts were met with resounding failure. Despite getting ignition, the explosions lacked the necessary energy to propel the 2x4s. The problem, as Adam quickly diagnosed, was a fundamental flaw in the A-Team's design: the gap between the 2x4 projectile and the log barrel was too large, preventing sufficient pressure buildup. The gas simply escaped around the projectile, resulting in weak pops rather than powerful launches.