# Back to the Future III: An (semi)obvious solution... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029 "2011-12-13T13:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/41 "2011-12-14T01:24:36Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The entire Earth would have shifted over a hundred years. Heck, the entire solar system would have shifted over a hundred years. That assumes, of course, a privileged frame of reference but without that, how does a time machine find a spatial target (as opposed to a temporal target) anyway? If Doc were a different Doctor, the answer would be, "Look! Monsters! Run! " ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/42 "2011-12-14T01:26:04Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > This is why I figured the 88mph was just an arbitrary trigger. There would have been no way the Delorian could have accelerated to 88mph from a standstill in mid-air. > > I figured Doc had decided on 88mph so there would be less of a chance of accidentally setting it off on the highway, and “if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” If that were true, he would have simply bypassed his own arbitrary trigger with some kind of a momentary push button switch, parked the Delorean under the clock tower in the first movie, hooked it up to the wires, and waited. Instead, he concocts this crazy plan with a hook and a clock so that the car would be doing 88 when the lightning struck. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/43 "2011-12-14T01:44:09Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > The whole thing could’ve been avoided if he’d just saved the gas from his Delorean before burying it. Gasoline doesn’t “save” well. It’s volatile, and it breaks down over time. It’s my understanding that it can start getting dodgy in as little as two or three months. Low temperatures might extend that a bit, and there are chemical additives that will extend the shelf life as well, though it’s unlikely Doc had access to those. Since he’d already been in the past for 8 months when he wrote the letter, the gas would likely have been too old to use even if he had saved it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/44 "2011-12-14T01:47:51Z")
Couldn’t he have converted run the DeLorean on alcohol? Surely he could have made a distillery. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/45 "2011-12-14T01:48:44Z")
‘Arbitrary’ and ‘automatic’ aren’t the only options. The thing no doubt needs to go 88 to work. That doesn’t mean it’ll automatically transfer at 88. Given the amount of power the Flux Capacitor uses, having it trigger when the car hits the necessary speed, instead of bleeding juice while it waits, only makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/46 "2011-12-14T02:08:13Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Couldn’t he have converted run the DeLorean on alcohol? Surely he could have made a distillery. They tried alcohol. It blew out the injector manifold (literally, which was admittedly a bit over the top)–probably because the stuff wasn’t pure enough. As for building a still of his own… Shot. On. Monday. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/47 "2011-12-14T03:03:43Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Couldn’t he have converted run the DeLorean on alcohol? Surely he could have made a distillery. For that matter, I always wondered if he couldn’t have just refined his own gasoline from crude oil. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/48 "2011-12-14T03:06:53Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > For that matter, I always wondered if he couldn’t have just refined his own gasoline from crude oil. Read my associate’s post above. “Shot on Monday.” ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/49 "2011-12-14T03:19:26Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > on the DVD commentary they say that it should have been obvious to Doc that horses pulling the Delorean would never get enough speed, but they included it anyway because it was a cool shot “Well, I figured what the hell!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/50 "2011-12-14T03:42:47Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > For that matter, I always wondered if he couldn’t have just refined his own gasoline from crude oil. Where does he get the oil from? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/51 "2011-12-14T03:47:35Z")
Why didn’t he just pay Tannen the $80 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/52 "2011-12-14T04:48:48Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > If that were true, he would have simply bypassed his own arbitrary trigger with some kind of a momentary push button switch, parked the Delorean under the clock tower in the first movie, hooked it up to the wires, and waited. > > Instead, he concocts this crazy plan with a hook and a clock so that the car would be doing 88 when the lightning struck. Would 1955 Doc know how to reprogram. a chip made in 1985 Japan? ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/53 "2011-12-14T05:00:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Where does he get the oil from? Oil was already being drilled for in California’s Central Valley by the late 1800s. [Cite](http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/signal_hill/signal_hill.html) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/54 "2011-12-14T05:03:06Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Why didn’t he just pay Tannen the $80 I imagine it was partly a matter of saving face. Also in the scene where he saves Marty from being hanged at the courthouse, he basically tells Tannen to shove it, so at that point Tannen probably wouldn’t have been very receptive to a peacemaking gesture anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/55 "2011-12-14T08:38:31Z")
Did they ever explain why the Mr Fusion was still able to power the time circuits, but not the hover system? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/56 "2011-12-14T08:49:17Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Did they ever explain why the Mr Fusion was still able to power the time circuits, but not the hover system? It’s not that it can’t power the hover system. Doc’s letter mentions that the lightning strike destroyed the flight circuitry as well as damaging the time circuits. He may have had the roughest reentry in the series, unless the conversion included some sort of emergency soft-landing mod. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/57 "2011-12-14T11:14:35Z")
One of the best shots in the entire trilogy is Doc’s thought processes on how he’s going to get the DeLorean up to 88, because it ends perfectly with the train appearing in the window behind him. It’s an ingenious, and unbelievably complicated, shot to achieve, and I love it. We know why he chose the train, and once he fixed on that idea, and assessed their limited timeframe, it was their best option that he knew had good odds of working. However, after they defeat Buford Tannen they no longer need to rush away, so they could’ve taken the time to come up with a better plan if they so wished. Evidence of this being Doc remaining behind and managing to build another time machine even while stuck in the 19th Century. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/58 "2011-12-14T17:58:48Z")
So here’s a question…could the Delorean time travel on a treadmill? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/59 "2011-12-14T20:06:54Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Gasoline doesn’t “save” well. It’s volatile, and it breaks down over time. It’s my understanding that it can start getting dodgy in as little as two or three months. Low temperatures might extend that a bit, and there are chemical additives that will extend the shelf life as well, though it’s unlikely Doc had access to those. Since he’d already been in the past for 8 months when he wrote the letter, the gas would likely have been too old to use even if he had saved it. Wasn’t gasoline available at pharmacies in those days? I remember reading that it was sometimes used as an anti-lice treatment. It might not have sufficient octane, but you could add some alcohol to it and also, a few minutes of knocking isn’t necessarily going to make your engine blow up. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029/60 "2011-12-14T22:49:13Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > So here’s a question…could the Delorean time travel on a treadmill? yep - since it was the speed of the drivetrain - it could be accomplished ‘sitting still’ - its wasn’t the wind over the vehicle that mattered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-iii-an-semi-obvious-solution/606029.md?page=4)