For Pinkie Pie's Flying contraption to work.. 0.5G on equestria?

[silvadel 1,393]

For Pinkie Pie's Flying contraption(from griffon the brush off) to work with the top propeller etc, what would the gravity need to be and the weight of ponies etc?  It always kind of made headcanon sense to me for gravity to be around 0.5G on equestria.

[DJRainbowDash 724]

All I can say is that I would rather not question what should not be questioned. Pinkie Pie's methods should not be put into question, as nobody will ever be fully able to understand. 

 

But yeah physics is my kryponite, so I have no clue. Sorry!

[TasteTheRainboom 82]

Its Pinkie Pie don't question it, she breaks the fourth wall and hangs upside down every episode, she could probably flly in a shoe if she wanted to

[Rainbow Dash Loyalty 1,275]

If something doesn't seem right and Pinkie Pie is a part of it, then that's the thing that doesn't seem right x)

If she can break the 4th wall, she can basically do anything, plus it's a cartoon >.< Since when was any good cartoon realistic?

[Fhaolan 4,483]

Helicopter physics is *really* hard. There are entire books devoted to the math just for the top rotors. It technically boils down to regular propeller physics with pressure differentials giving thrust, with the Thrust = Pressure differential x Area. Unfortunately it gets really messy with figuring out the pressure differential with Bernoulli's law, as that requires us to know the fluid density and dynamic pressure constants as well. Given that due to the rotors imparting churn to the air the constants... aren't, so you have to bring in semiannular flow equations to top those off. Especially since the design is a non-ducted rotor, which introduces pressure loss through the tips of the rotors 'throwing' air outwards rather than downwards.

 

I don't have my old university fluid dynamics textbooks anymore, otherwise I'd take a stab at the math. Here's a starting point for you: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/propth.html

 

The reduction of this is that the tiny area 'swept' by Pinkie's rotor might equal that of a large 'normal' rotor, if the speed of the rotor is high enough. But at a certain point a rotor ceases to 'pull' air because it's moving too fast and the air is too churned to notice. Figuring out where that point is, is the hard bit. 

 

However, the thing that pings this over to 'Pinkie Pie Physics' is the lack of a tail rotor, or a secondary rotor under the top to cancel spin. Gilda shouldn't need to do anything here, Pinkie should be spinning as-is.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Fhaolan

[IronPonyApplejack 318]

Well the physics of flight can be a tad complicated. Luckily, there are two simple and easy explanations for this.

 

1) Cartoon show. They don't often have very realistic physics.

 

2) Pinkie Pie. Whatever laws of physics exist in Equestria, Pinkie doesn't care for them.

 

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

Duh it's Pinkie Pie. The laws of physics does not affect her at all. The fact she then made an helicopter is beyond reasoning but the fact it could support her weight it's baffling.

[PinkiePieClone 35]

Hrm...pardon my naivety, but is there an episode where Pinkie Pie tries to fly?

 

Heh, wow! I really must be Pinkie Pie's clone. Go figure! I spent my whole childhood trying to dream up ways to be able to fly. Needless to say, I had no success when I tried them.

Edited May 13, 2013 by PinkiePieClone

[Wingnut 6,994]

I just chalk it up to superhuman pony strength.  If the average pony can lift 10 times her own body weight without straining a muscle, then Pinkie's rear extremities probably have enough horsepower in them to operate a one-pony helicopter.  She's also seemingly able to alter her own mass or at least gravity's effect on that mass in Too Many Pinkie Pies.  Between both abilities, it's not hard to imagine her becoming airborne with this invention.