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To: jwalsh07
How long does it take you to drive perpendicular to a tornado 2 miles wide at 60mph when you are driving at approximately right angles to the tornado?

To answer that, download the Radar Navigation and Maneuvering Board Manual. Go to page 258 (Chapter 6), Course at specified speed to pass another ship at maximum and minimum distances, which is also applicable to tropical storms.

You can see there that the course you want to take is dependent on the vectors and magnitude of your car and the tornado, and that it's not a right angle. In the example provided there, where the other ship has a course of 300 degrees, neither your own maximum distance by taking a course of 000 (=360) degrees nor your minimum distance by taking 240 degrees approximate a right angle (30 and 210) from a storm.

Remember that if you take a right angle (a) from a storm's path, it's closest point to you, when it passes, will lie at the intersection of your path and its own (A; plot your line in the other direction). But if you're driving at an angle (b) that keeps you ahead of the storm's path while heading away from it, when that storm reaches point A, you're still ahead of the storm and can still drive further before it reaches closest point of approach B.

I don't know if that direction is normally 60 degrees from the storm's course or if it just happened that way in the example they gave on the maneuvering board. I haven't practiced any of these in real life and just know about the maneuvering board because I was looking things up for a roleplaying game.

423 posted on 05/21/2013 6:05:02 AM PDT by Styria
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To: Styria

I am a sports photographer.

You learn pretty quick that you do not run from an on coming play. You run at a 45 degree angle in the direction of the play, but off to the side of it. This allows you to put distance between you, but also keep you eye on them. The play would have to make a significant course change to hit you.

Otherwise you might get run down.


424 posted on 05/21/2013 6:15:14 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?)
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To: Styria
Remember that if you take a right angle (a) from a storm's path, it's closest point to you, when it passes, will lie at the intersection of your path and its own (A; plot your line in the other direction). But if you're driving at an angle (b) that keeps you ahead of the storm's path while heading away from it, when that storm reaches point A, you're still ahead of the storm and can still drive further before it reaches closest point of approach B.

Of course in real life, you'd have to be real lucky and find a road that veers off at the correct angle for any of that to apply.

Out there, in some of those state, they have a county dirt road matrix that surrounds the sections (square miles) so you could zig zag.

429 posted on 05/21/2013 6:32:49 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Hey RATs! Control your murdering freaks.)
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