Turkeys over Broadway (Was Re: Origin of Feathers)

[bh162@scn.org (Phillip Bigelow)]

Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU> writes:

someone wrote:
>> Yes(!). If the pre-feathers first appear as "peach fuzz" all over 
>> the animal's body, or at least, in areas well exposed to the air at
>> the leading  edges (particularly the forelimbs), they will surely
>> increase aerial friction and allow a small, wingless, arboreal
>> animal to better interact with the air when it is in free fall.


> Has anybody actually tested this by dropping shaved and unshaved 
> mice and chickens off a skyscraper or something?



Here is a reference from the media:

  1980?. "The Thanksgiving Episode"
      _ WKRP in Cincinnati_. (Originally aired on NBC)


Les Nesman, (radio newsman and winner of the Silver-Sow Award),
and WKRP's advertising man scheme-up a promotional idea for
WKRP listeners over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Borrowing on
the idea of throwing advertising leaflets out of aircraft,
the advertising guy suggests that they go to a farm and buy a
bunch of live turkeys.  They plan to rent a helicopter,
and fly over the city to release the turkeys, presuming
that these domestic birds will fly to various parts
of town after their ejection from the helicopter.

The idea starts off without a hitch, with the advertising
guy going up in the helicopter over town, and Les Nesman
doing a "live" man-on-the-street radio-remote from the
ground, to cover the turkey's release from the 'copter
for WKRP listeners.

The events that followed, however, were unplanned and
shocking.  I will spare you the horrific details, but
I do encourage you to watch the rerun of this episode
(suffice to say, it is very reminiscent of the
radio-coverage of the Hindenberg disaster in New Jersey).

This singular episode was probably the funniest thing
I have ever seen (or heard) on T.V.
Tears were streaming down my face.

                <pb>


--
                 Phil Bigelow
                 bh162@scn.org