I weighed an airplane... while it was flying! @AlphaPhoenixChannel

Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Theoretically, it should be possible to measure the weight of a flying object from far below that object - by measuring the air that object displaced when it pushes on the ground. I HAD to know if this was realistically possible, so I set about building a very large scale to measure paper airplanes and flying playing cards. After getting successful measurements, I decided to go full scale with real airplanes.

bonus points to @noquarter7 for the relevant nerd snipe in last video's comments...

Massive thanks to my top Patreon supporters!
birdiesnbritts
John Sosa Trustham
Vladimir Shklovsky
Aloysius Sparglepartz
Jason Whatley
Lohann Paterno Coutinho Ferreira
nothings
Eugene Pakhomov
Glenn Willen
R520
Nick F
Mirko Rener
Chris Connett
Tyler Filla
Chandler Freeman
Benjamin Manns
MPG
Seth Reuter
Danny Thomas
Lucy Fur
tiaz
David Antoš
Chris Duvarney
Nick Wage
John T
Jack Serrino
Ethan Sifferman
Dit55
Ashley Hauck
Scott Schlesier
Steve
James K
Allan Adams
Usama

Chapters:
0:00 Intro - Don't let your memes be memes
1:30 A "large scale" experiment
6:34 Load cells
8:39 Poor man's orthogrid
12:31 Wait... Something's wrong
14:40 Pressure shadow
20:28 Curved flights and playing cards
26:03 Let's go to an airport
28:33 Day 2
32:02 Making excuses
34:11 Your regularly scheduled outro

Media Credits:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626

Arcadia - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Run by Ethan Meixsell

Not Without the Rest by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Acid Jazz by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

I weighed an airplane... while it was flying!

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$Inside Grande Pines Observatory: Top-of-the-line amateur astronomy A look inside Grande Pines Observatory! This observatory has featured in multiple timelapses, appearing in my channel trailer, the Barn Door tracker video, and the Polaris Timelapse video, but Ive never actually done a video about the observatory and all of the awesome equipment inside, so here it is! Grande Pines Observatory is operated by my dad (the astronomer). He is also the presenter in this video. I got to have fun shooting somebody elses project this time! Hope you enjoy! The gallery of images at the end of the video were taken in this observatory, some with the old 10 f/4.0 Newtonian telescope that the telescope featured here replaced. Music and stuff used: I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) http://ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Comfortable Mystery 2 - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100537 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Ether by Silent Partner Creative Commons Simulation of a bahtinov mask diffraction pattern when focusing Niels Noordhoek Creative Commons Attribution$

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Star-Stabilized 360 Camera #perfectloop #astronomy

$A laser pointer at 2 billion fps makes the speed of light look... kinda weird Ive upgraded! It took almost a year, but today I finally get to show off a TWO billion frame per second camera! I really want to record refraction, interference, and other awesome stuff with this camera, but today Im looking into a really strange quirk of the speed of light. In a way, understanding this weird phenomenon is kind of a prerequisite for everything else I want to do with this camera - I hope you find it as interesting as I have! MANY more technical details for the curious: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYHMTkuzdT3Zwk3UialNtxXrpkmaC_ZI bonus points to hakonjdjohnsen for advice on colormaps, R520 for a typo, and @dl33 for the top suggestion in last videos comments! Massive thanks to my top Patreon supporters! birdiesnbritts John Sosa Trustham Vladimir Shklovsky Aloysius Sparglepartz Jason Whatley Lohann Paterno Coutinho Ferreira nothings Eugene Pakhomov Glenn Willen R520 Nick F Mirko Rener Chris Connett Tyler Filla Chandler Freeman Benjamin Manns MPG Seth Reuter Danny Thomas Lucy Fur tiaz David Antoš Chris Duvarney Nick Wage John T Jack Serrino Ethan Sifferman Dit55 Ashley Hauck Scott Schlesier Steve James K Allan Adams Usama Cody and Sara Doug Strain Justin McCaskill Chapters: 0:00 Bouncing light is actually complicated! 5:35 The mirror 11:50 The optics train 13:51 The sensor 19:40 The cables? 23:02 Seeing the past Media Credits: I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license http://ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Arcadia - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Switched on Carcassi by Brian Bolger, YouTube Music license Future Freeway by Adam MacDougall Disco Knights by Quincas Moreira This Close by half.cool Gemini by half.cool Mountain by Text Me Records / Bobby Renz Local Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Meme from The Spongebob Movie$

Freezing water sounds like a special effect #shorts