Stagecoach
Anyone remember the classic film that appeared on our screens at Christmas all those years ago ?
Four horses galloping across the North American prairies with a four-wheel stagecoach in tow and a band of Indians in hot pursuit ?
The rear wheels were called “four-yarders” because that was the distance they would travel in one revolution – assuming no slipping or sliding! They also had 24 spokes per rear wheel. The front wheels were three quarters the diameter of the rear wheels, and only 12 spokes per wheel.
Sometimes the wheels appeared to be slowly turning backwards or slowly turning forwards. Well, the other evening, Mrs D and myself sat down with the DVD player to watch Stagecoach for old-times sake. Now, the notes on the DVD sleeve, made it clear that the manufacturing process had retained the authenticity of the original film which had been shot at 16 frames per second. So, we watched in anticipation to see which way the wheels on the stagecoach would appear to slowly turn! (sad really!)
We were sadly disappointed. During the first chase, there was no sign whatsoever of moving wheels. It wasn’t a very fast chase either, an Olympic sprinter could have run 100 yards faster!
However, to our surprise and delight, on the next two chases the wheels appeared to turn backwards, and then forwards as per the old movies !! success!!
“So,” I asked Mrs D “how fast was the stagecoach going in the first chase when there was no sign whatsoever of turning wheels?”
The ‘look’ that she gave me suggested she had better things to do such as decorating the dining room, winterizing the garden, washing her car ………
Perhaps someone on this forum could solve the speed of the stagecoach whilst I get started with the decorating !
Oh, the answer would be best in terms of yards per second.
