Popular Mechanics (October 2005)
Single issue magazine 148 pages Best cars of the year 5 New ideas to power our future Could our car's AC explode Ho
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 182 NO. 10
64 Cars and Trucks of the Year
90 Backyard Power
Fall chores are a lot more fun when you tackle them from the seat of a garden tractor with real muscle. We put five rigs through their paces—hauling wood, grading driveways, towing dethatchers—to help separate the merely strong from the mighty.
PM AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
Ater racking up big mileage on more than 100 vehicles, PM presents this year’s winners in Design, Performance, Safety and other major categories. Plus: 22 noteworthy new contenders that caught our eye.
80 Fueling the Future
88 Master Class: Guitar Builder
Deep in the heart of bluegrass country, Wayne Henderson crats some of America’s best acoustic guitars with fine wood, timetested skills and a whole lot of elbow grease.
Birds of Mercy Every minute matters when Black Hawk medevac crews airlit the wounded from the battlefield to the ER. An inside look at lifesaving military medicine dispensed on the fly.
Spc. Blake Vogt (left) and Spc. Carmen Catalioti service a Black Hawk used by the busiest air ambulance crew in Iraq. Popular Mechanics (ISSN 0032-4558) is published monthly by Hearst Communications, Inc., a unit of the Hearst Corporation, 959 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, U.S.A. Victor F. Ganzi, President, Chief Executive Officer; George R. Hearst Jr., Chairman; Frank A. Bennack Jr., Vice Chairman; Catherine A. Bostron, Secretary; Ronald J. Doerfler, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Hearst Magazines Division: Cathleen Black, President; Mark F. Miller, Executive Vice President; George J. Green, Executive Vice President; Raymond J. Petersen, Executive Vice President; John A. Rohan Jr., Vice President and Group Controller. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40012499. Send returns to Quebecor World, P.O. Box 875, Windsor, ON N9A 6P2. CANADA BN NBR 10231 0943 RT. Registered as second-matter at the Post Office at Mexico D.F., Mexico, June 20, 1950, © 2005 by Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Popular Mechanics, P.O. Box 7170, Red Oak, IA 51591. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE: Popular Mechanics will, upon receipt from its reader of a completely new or renewal subscription order, undertake fulfillment of that order so as to provide the firstcopy delivery either to the Postal Service or alternate carriers within 6 to 12 weeks. If for some reason this cannot be done, you will be notified promptly of the issue date that will begin your subscription, with a request for any further instructions you may have concerning your order. Please address all such orders to us at Popular Mechanics, P.O. Box 7170, Red Oak, IA 51591. Should you have any problem with your subscription, please write Joan Harris, Customer Service Department, Popular Mechanics, P.O. Box 7170, Red Oak, IA 51591 or call toll-free 1-800-333-4948. Please enclose your mailing label when writing to us or renewing your subscription. Subscription prices: United States and possessions, $24.00 for one year; $42.00 for two years. Canada and all other countries add $16.00 for each year. MAILING LISTS: From time to time we make our subscriber list available to companies who sell goods and services by mail that we believe would interest our readers. If you would rather not receive such mailings, please send your current mailing label or exact copy to: Popular Mechanics, Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 7024, Red Oak, IA 51591-0024.
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OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
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We cannot be responsible for loss of unsolicited queries, manuscripts or photos. For return, they must be accompanied by adequate postage. AS A SERVICE TO READERS, Popular Mechanics publishes newsworthy products, techniques and scientific and technological developments. Due to possible variance in the quality and condition of materials and workmanship, Popular Mechanics cannot assume responsibility for proper application of techniques or proper and safe functioning of manufactured products or reader-built projects resulting from information published in this magazine.
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY BURCU AVSAR, COVER ILLUSTRATION BY ANTHONY VERDUCCI; HOME DEPOT COVER BY JONATHAN SPRAGUE; PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCIAN READ (THIS PAGE)
With an oil crisis looming, scientists are urgently searching for new energy sources. PM evaluates five leading contenders for a share in the post-petroleum world.
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CONTENTS
O C TO B E R 2 0 0 5 / VO LU M E 1 8 2 N O. 1 0
T E C H
W A T C H
18 Tipping Point How repair crews righted a tilted oil-drilling platform floating in Hurricane Dennis’s path.
U P G R A D E
39 Finer Focus Swap your pocket digicam for a sub-$1000 digital SLR; plus, 1 cubic inch, packed with MP3s.
C O L U M N S
52 Watch Out, Hollywood Why backyard Spielbergs (armed with digital camcorders) are Hollywood’s greatest fear.
58 The Whale Trackers No longer just a stadium spectacle, the Fuji blimp moonlights as a floating whale-study center.
H O M E
J O U R N A L
101 The Big Red Shed
105 How Your House Works: Plumbing An X-ray view of your walls. Plus: essential tools, common repairs, emergency know-how.
112 Homeowners Clinic Updating electrical outlets; also, when mildew attacks.
C A R
C A R E
123 Saturday Mechanic Hear that clicking? Those are worn-out ball joints—ignore them at your peril.
128 Auto Clinic A part that a mechanic has never heard of and the dealer says is a must. We settle the debate.
T E C H N O L O G Y
134 Tech DIY M O N T H LY
8 KEEP IN TOUCH 10 EDITOR’S NOTES 12 LETTERS
14 TIME MACHINE 119 READER PROJECT 148 THIS IS MY JOB
Your home computer’s equivalent of a fall tuneup.
138 Tech Q & A Creating DIY movie screens and fixing “stuck” LCD pixels.
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OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL DIODATO (PIPES), BURCU AVSAR (MP3), RITA LEISTNER (BLIMP), JAMES WESTMAN (BALL JOINT)
Overwhelmed by bikes, mowers and lawn chairs? Check out our plans for a two-in-one shed.
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EDITOR'S NOTES
CONTRIBUTORS
Living the Story
O
James Meigs
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OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
They say warfare is 90 percent boredom, 10 percent terror. Photographer L U C I A N R E A D , who traveled to Fallujah for our Feb. 2005 cover story, felt the truth of this old adage during his most recent trip to Iraq for this month’s story “Birds of Mercy” (page 94). “Things would be quiet for hours, and then ‘Medevac! Medevac!’ would come over the radio, and everyone’s running to the helicopter,” the Austin, Texas, native says. “You have to be able to switch your mindset. Just like that, the world could be coming down around you.” Legendary guitar builder Wayne Henderson rarely measures anything. He tried it for the benefit of ALLEN ST. JOHN, writer of this month’s “Guitar Builder” (page 88), the first installment in our Master Class series. “It was almost comical, his fingers were better calipers than calipers, down to the thousandth of an inch,” says St. John, whose book, Clapton’s Guitar (Free Press), is out this month. “It was as if the wood wanted to be a guitar, and he needed to give it just the slightest bit of encouragement.” The entertainment industry should listen to this guy. Four years ago, before anyone had heard of a blog, GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS launched instapundit.com, which now draws 250,000 readers a day. In “Watch Out, Hollywood” (page 52), the University of Tennessee law professor argues that technophobia will ultimately cost the studios and record companies customers. “It takes away the most innovative and exciting audiences, the ones who follow technology,” he says.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RITA LEISTNER (JENNIFER BOGO), HELEN SMITH (GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS), ALYSON ALIANO (JAMES MEIGS)
On our letters page this month (page 12), reader Leonard Gaston writes, “I don’t know how you manage to publish a magazine from New York and still stay so in tune with what folks out here in the heartland are really interested in.” The answer is simple, actually. To find the stories that matter, you have to go where the stories are happening. And you have to get involved. This month, PM senior editor Jennifer Bogo accompanies a team of biologists using a specially equipped Fuji blimp to conduct vital research into whale behavior (“The Whale Trackers,” page 58). It turns out that blimps, which proved so effective as sub hunters in World War II, are also ideal for observing elusive marine mammals. “The blimp is big and slow but also graceful,” says Bogo, who took the controls herself for a time, “a lot like the whales we were tracking.” The scientists hope that with better information about whales’ feeding and migration patFLIGHT RISKS: PM’s Bogo terns, they can help protect the creatures from goes alot in the Fuji blimp; shipping, fishing nets and other hazards. Sabbagh properly outfitted for Iraq’s less friendly skies. “Birds of Mercy,” contributing editor Leslie Sabbagh’s report on helicopter medevac crews in Iraq (page 94), traces its origin to another Sabbagh piece from nearly a year ago. The writer, who covers both medical and military affairs for PM, wrote the feature article “Courage After Fire” (Dec. 2004) about National Guardsman Kevin Pannell, who lost both legs to a grenade in Iraq. After the story appeared, Pannell stayed in touch with Sabbagh and PM. (You can see occasional updates on his progress at www.popularmechanics.com.) One day he sent me an e-mail saying that we should do an article on the medical crews who transport and treat wounded soldiers like him. “They’re the real heros,” he said. Sabbagh knew the story would involve flying in unarmed Army Black Hawks in combat conditions. She didn’t hesitate. “I saw some things that were harrowing,” she says, “but I saw a lot more that was inspiring. The determination of these pilots and medical crews to get to the wounded, no matter what the risks, is simply beyond words.”
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LETTERS
Lessons From Iraq As I began this letter to thank you for the article “Lessons From Iraq” (Aug. 2005), I was struck by the location of your editorial offices. I don’t know how you manage to publish a magazine from New York and still stay so in tune with what folks out here in the heartland are really interested in. We Americans are too often ready to forget or minimize what these fighting men are doing for us. Leonard Gaston Wilberforce, OH I was shocked by your repeated use of the term “insurgents.” There are no “insurgents” in Iraq. They are terrorists, pure and simple. Steve Schott Eagle, ID I am proud of our servicemen in Iraq, not only for their sacrifice to help the Iraqis and protect our country, but also for the way they’ve adapted to very harsh conditions and changed tactics to accomplish their mission. Linda Alford White Springs, FL I am writing to request you rethink your recent obsession with military hardware reporting. There are plenty of macho niche market magazines to fulfill this need. The country doesn’t need another media mouthpiece and cheerleader for failed foreign policy. I have always thought Popular Mechanics was a magazine about building things, not destroying them. Christian Kay Denver, CO
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How fortunate we are to have such dedicated and professional servicemen and women. I will be attending Virginia Military Institute, and I hope to command such outstanding Marines in the future. A.S. Wise Richmond, VA
L E S S O N S
F R
O M
IT’S A BRUTAL SCHOOLING, BUT AMERICAN FORCES ARE LEARNING HOW TO COMBINE NEW TECHNOLOGY AND OLD-FASHIONED COMBAT SKILLS TO ROOT OUT A TENACIOUS INSURGENCY. FORMER MARINES OWEN WEST AND HIS FATHER BING WEST, WHO WAS A FRONT-LINE WITNESS TO IRAQ’S FIERCEST URBAN BATTLE, DETAIL THE KEY CONCEPT: ADAPTABILITY.
T H E I N F A N T R Y M E N loved to move alongside the tank. It was like going on an evening stroll in a dangerous neighborhood with a Tyrannosaurus rex. In fact, during last November’s battle to retake Iraq’s insurgent-held city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, the M1A1 Abrams was the favored weapon to support Marines who fought street by street and house by house. If the infantryman was the left hook, the Abrams was the haymaker. On the fourth day of the three-week operation, one of the Marines in India Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, used the “grunt phone” attached to the rear of an Abrams to ask Master Gunnery Sgt. Ishmael Castillo to maneuver down a tight alley. With more than 80 percent of Fallujah’s civilian population evacuated, every concrete house and courtyard had become a potential pillbox for insurgents firing on the Marines advancing out in the open. From his tank commander’s hatch 8 ft. above the ground, Castillo could look over walls and shout warnings to the grunts on the ground. When two insurgents lobbed grenades that bounced off the tank’s armored plates and exploded harmlessly, Castillo briefly considered buttoning down the hatch, but decided against it so he could continue to warn his men. To eliminate insurgent positions at 100 ft., he began to “pivot steer,” swiveling the Abrams back and forth on its treads, smashing the alley walls. With the grunts urging him on, Castillo rumbled down the dirt track, firing his 7.62mm and .50-caliber machine guns into the doors and windows of houses. When the startled jihadists began to fire blindly, giving away their hiding places, Castillo opened up with the tank’s 120mm main gun. The M1A1 was engineered for battle on the open plains of Europe, not for the narrow alleyways of an ancient Middle Eastern city. Some pundits had warned that American forces would be vulnerable in Iraq’s teeming urban areas, our lumbering tanks sitting ducks for insurgents with superior knowledge of the battlefield. But the M1A1’s 120mm gun, designed to take out Soviet tanks at a mile or more, proved equally effective at destroying insurgent positions at 50 ft.
Project: Siding You warn against painting a dark color over a light-colored vinyl siding because dark colors absorb more heat, causing the siding to buckle and the paint to peel off (“When Bad Things Happen to Good Projects,” Aug. 2005). You then say it is okay to repaint a dark color over dark-colored siding, which seems to defy logic. Scott Blalock San Antonio, TX
CLEANING HOUSE: MEMBERS OF THE 1ST BRIGADE, 101ST AIRBORNE D I V I S I O N , S E A RC H FO R I N SU RG E N TS I N N A JA F, SOU T H O F BAG H DA D.
It’s perfectly logical: Dark siding is designed to handle the intense heat from sunlight. Repainting it a similar dark color won’t change the amount of energy it absorbs. —Ed. Tough Enough The Nokia 3120 you tested is tough (“Will It Break?” Aug. 2005). The phone fell out of my van while I was going 45 mph. When I retrieved it, the phone was still on and worked fine. Tim Heckler Bartlett, IL Survival Tactics While reading your article (“Would You Survive?” Aug. 2005), it hit me
that you could buy a 40 meter CW (Morse code) radio that weighs as much as a transistor AM radio. With a simple antenna made of magnet wire, one could contact another radio operator thousands of miles away. Ham radio: Don’t leave home without it. Ron Giuntini San Francisco, CA Followup After “Would You Survive?” appeared, we were contacted by Barbara Peterson, whose husband was one of the survivors described in our piece. We hadn’t been able to locate the Petersons before publication, but now Barbara Peterson helped fill in details. She explained that her husband was scouting locations for a future hunting trip when his truck became disabled. Terry Peterson stayed with the truck for nine days before walking to safety. He lived, but eventually lost a lower leg and half of one foot to frostbite. You can read more about his ordeal in Time Almost Expired, by Judith E. Honeck, which is available from Bookman Publishing.
C O R R E C T I O N : In the story “This Is My Job: Camera Operator” (Aug. 2005), the dolly is identified incorrectly. The dolly pictured is a Chapman Hybrid III.
To have a letter considered for publication, please include your full name and address, even if you correspond by e-mail. Send e-mails to [email protected]. We’ll withhold your identity upon request but will not print an anonymous letter. All letters are subject to editing for length, style and format.
OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
POPULAR MECHANICS • AUGUST 2005
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TIMEMACHINE
Before TiVo We’ve embraced cathode rays, color tubes and cable—how come there’s still nothing on? JANUARY
CLEARER THAN B L AC K A N D W H I T E
1954
Vying for FCC approval, RCA and CBS duked it out over whose color TV technology made more sense (RCA won). Perhaps trying to console those on a budget, PM pointed out the flaws of the new $1000 sets: “Nobody believes color will completely replace black and white.”
1980 DECEMBER
Beginnings of the Box This guy appears to be enjoying his new 37-channel cable box, but despite the clear reception and commercial-free movies, PM remained skeptical. Predicting we’d someday have 100 channels, PM said cable’s growth might mean just “more of the same,” pointing out, “How many great movies are made in a year?” While there was no way of foreseeing the news ticker, we were excited about Ted Turner’s launch of 24-hour “nonrepetitive” news.
1935 MARCH
A Bad Year for Sweeps Regularly scheduled programming hit the airwaves, albeit with a few kinks—namely the lack of technical standards and, well, programming. Camera limitations (they couldn’t see much beyond 100 ft.) ruled out televising sporting events. But, PM predicted, there was still money to be made. Sure enough, TV’s first original drama, “The Love Nest,” debuted the following year. Its decidedly low-maintenance star (and writer) was paid $5. PM
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OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
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G u e st E s say
showing homemade movies anytime soon, although the success of 1999’s Blair Witch Project suggests that anything is possible. But soon, people may very well watch homemade movies on their computers—or even make them themselves—instead of watching seemingly endless previews in a sticky-floored room full of strangers munching overpriced snacks. Likewise, few independently produced albums will go platinum, but for millions of record buyers, homemade music may eventually consume a big chunk of their time and money. It’s the death of a thousand cuts for the entertainment industry, and it’s showing in slumping big-label music sales and this year’s dismal box office returns. What’s more, the amateurs are in it as much for fun as for money. Tech guru Jonathan Peterson says the problem is that the Big Media companies still see audiences strictly as consumers. They don’t realize that many members of their audience want to create as well as consume. “The quality of ‘amateur’ content is exploding at the same time that Big Media companies are going through one of their all-time lows in music and television creativity,” he says. “No wonder we’re spending more time with our PCs than we are with our TVs.” The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Grokster case makes it easier for copyright holders to sue people who deploy technologies that can aid infringement. It may encourage Hollywood to go after companies that threaten
OCTOBER 2005
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its remaining trump card: distribution. It’s too late to call back all those digital camcorders and computers, but it’s not too late to make it harder for people to share their work. We’ll probably see more lawsuits aimed at shutting down file sharing—and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s just the first step in an effort to squeeze independent distribution sites such as AtomFilms.com, even though they don’t promote piracy. The problem for Hollywood is that the lawyering may backfire. Under Grokster, sites that are promoted purely as ways for people to share their own work are safe; it’s sites that are promoted as carrying pirated works that are vulnerable. I think this will encourage the growth of truly independent Internet distribution. And it is happening just as the technology gets good enough to support the big files needed for movies. Amazon .com is getting involved by streaming
TECHNOLOGY
short films and by acquiring DVD-ondemand manufacturer CustomFlix. Then there’s AtomFilms.com, ifilm .com and thelonelyisland.com, all of which distribute films directly, online. If the folks from Big Entertainment are smart, they’ll figure out how to make money off this sort of thing, instead of trying to sabotage it. Are they smart? Here’s a hint: Back in the 1970s, they opposed the introduction of VCRs. Now, video sales and rentals are one of their major revenue streams. Maybe they’ve learned from that mistake. If not, they’ll have their work cut out for them: Those millions of amateur Spielbergs represent a market that someone will serve—and a mass of voters that politicians will notice. The backyard video revolution has just begun. PM Glenn Harlan Reynolds edits the online blog instapundit.com. For more on low-cost moviemaking and for links to content, go to www.popularmechanics.com/diyfilm.
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SCIENCE
Whales have a surprising ally in their struggle for survival—a 200-ft. blimp.
Top: The Fuji airship is an ideal vessel for carrying camerawielding scientists over Cape Cod Bay. Left: Using highresolution images, researchers directed a crew freeing a humpback whale from fishing line.
BY JENNIFER BOGO
F
From my seat in the cockpit, I scan the flat, gray-green waters of Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Massachusetts. Nothing but ripples. Then I glance down at the panel of flight controls. We’re at an altitude of 500 ft., moving at 35 knots, and, according to the directional gyro, drifting badly off course. I crank the control yoke as far to the right as I can and the 200-ft.-long aircraft eventually, almost imperceptibly, begins to nose in that direction. My first lesson as copilot of the Fuji airship is that 247,000 cu. ft. of helium doesn’t move anywhere very quickly. The blimp is roughly the size of a Boeing 747, but 500 mph slower and, without ballast, lighter than air. This
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makes it the perfect vehicle for studying another behemoth: whales. Several species of this marine mammal are swimming dangerously close to extinction, but without knowing more about their behavior it’s difficult for scientists to help them recover. It has never been easy to observe whales. They don’t fit in a lab, and in the wild they spend only about 3 percent of their time at the surface. The 38-ft.-long gondola suspended beneath the airship’s gastight
OCTOBER 2005 • POPULAR MECHANICS
envelope is packed with cameras, recorders, laptops and cables. I have to step carefully around them once I relinquish the controls. By hovering quietly in the blimp, scientists armed with state-of-the-art equipment are finally able to peer into whales’ elusive world. THINKING BIG “Whale!” shouts Eryn Wezensky, a marine biology contractor for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “At 2 o’clock!” I scramble to her side. Bill Lange, a research specialist
P H O T O G R A P H S B Y R I TA L E I S T N E R
COLLECTED UNDER MMPA ESA PERMIT #775-1600-5 ADVANCED IMAGING AND VISUALIZATION LABORATORY WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION (WHALE)
The Whale Trackers
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SCIENCE
Blimp
A ROOM WITH A VIEW Data gathered from the blimp allows scientists to
at Woods Hole, dives sweeping circle to get a track the health and behavior of whale populations. under the hoods shielding better view. The blimp -++ao) three camera monitors. pilots simply use the rudCinematographer Alison ders to gracefully rotate Kelly, who is kneeling the craft in midair. IJ