# In the movie Thunderball... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084 "2018-01-07T23:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/1 "2018-01-07T23:32:49Z")
…Bond and his girlfriend du jour are rescued from a raft on the sea by an airplane that flies by and captures the line extending from Bond’s harness to an inflated dirigible. Let’s assume the sudden jerk doesn’t snap their necks and Bond is able to physically hold on to the woman (who is not wearing a harness). It’s the last seen so the movie doesn’t explain how the plane drops them off safely at their final destination without dragging them to death on the ground or letting them splash down at speed into another body of water? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/2 "2018-01-07T23:36:05Z")
They pull the rescue-rope up inside the plane before arriving at their destination? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/3 "2018-01-07T23:40:08Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > They pull the rescue-rope up inside the plane before arriving at their destination? How? The rope is attached to the capture mechanism in the nose of the plane. They are hanging below and behind the plane. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/4 "2018-01-07T23:55:38Z")
[The Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (STARS).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/5 "2018-01-08T00:01:13Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > [The Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (STARS).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system) > > CMC fnord! Wow. Never would have guessed it was an actual thing. T/Y. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/6 "2018-01-08T00:09:58Z")
I’ve read that if a fast-moving plane snags a line like this, the person on the ground is pulled straight up into the air rather than dragged along parallel to the ground. Apparently it’s due to inertia. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/7 "2018-01-08T00:16:42Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Wow. Never would have guessed it was an actual thing. T/Y. Ever watched _The Green Berets_? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/8 "2018-01-08T00:36:23Z")
You obviously don’t climb. Modern ropes have an amazing amount of give to them. That rope is going to stretch, giving them a swift but not violent trip up to the plane. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/9 "2018-01-08T01:51:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Ever watched _The Green Berets_? Clearly not! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-movie-thunderball/806084/10 "2018-01-08T02:07:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve read that if a fast-moving plane snags a line like this, the person on the ground is pulled straight up into the air rather than dragged along parallel to the ground. Apparently it’s due to inertia. It would be interesting to work out the physics of it. A rope can only pull you in the direction of the rope.[sup]\*[/sup] And when the plane first snags the rope, it’s going straight up (or maybe a little off if there’s some wind). So yeah, I think the initial tug of the rope would be pretty close to straight up, but changing fairly rapidly as the plane continued on its course. Acceleration is a different matter. The plane initially contacts the rope perpendicular to its length, so the actual tension it applies will be relative to the sin of the angle, and as the extraction proceeds, that angle will get smaller. Plus, as silenus points out, there’s stretching to consider. But this was first implemented in the 1950s, so it must have worked with the ropes they had back then, too. - I’m pretty sure that’s true. My last Physics class was a long time ago.