Billy Joe Bob (2.1)

[marlboro]

If they had made "Billy Joe Bob" a realistic character instead of a collection of sterotypes it could have been a good episode. You could start by giving him a less silly name; even the guys from Dukes of Hazzard thought the name "Billy Joe Bob" was a little obvious.

[Milton Collins]

If they had made "Billy Joe Bob" a realistic character instead of a collection of sterotypes it could have been a good episode. You could start by giving him a less silly name; even the guys from Dukes of Hazzard thought the name "Billy Joe Bob" was a little obvious.

Hah haha I love it, great comment! I have to see we seem to be watching the same episodes Marlboro, and the funny thing is they aernt sequential! Always enjoy your posts:) And I have to say I LOVED the Dukes of Hazzard, that was a Friday night ritual for my brother and I when were little kids, loved it!

[Little Garwood]

I voted Billy Joe Bob a 7.0 (Average at Best).

Not much to add except that I associate this episode with that different (to me) King Kamehameha Club entrance which always throws me off. There's also the preponderance of cloudy, overcast weather in this one, too. It boggles the mind that Billy Joe Bob was chosen to open the second season instead of Memories are Forever. Maybe CBS wanted to save MaF for whatever NBC and ABC had going when it did air?

James Whitmore, Jr. has always been a reliable actor in everything I've seen him in and he does alright with what others have already seen as a thankless, stereotypical role. The scene where Magnum is trying to get Billy Joe to add on the letter G to his words where he would normally drop them reminds me of how I might speak to my sister-in-law's husband.

The three thugs of Ito's getting taken out by the helicopter skids is something I loved as a kid and accepted without batting an eye. Now I'm just agog that the thugs stayed unconscious(?) for so long that they were still sprawled motionless on the ground when Magnum arrived!

[KingKC]

If there was ever a hokey, over the top presentation of a "cowboy" from Texas this was it. It was amusing at best but the best part of the show is when Billy Joe Bob has Ito strung up and scared! Oh, if only real life could do that to the bad guys!!

KingKC

[ENSHealy]

The idea that he could hot wire and fly TC's chopper, not being an experienced chopper pilot, is absolutely preposterous.

They work it in, about the same time as he steals the chopper, that he flew "just about anything" back in Texas. (Kind of like Luke Sywalker.) Carol Ann says it after she re-appears. So they at least tossed a throwaway line at it.

[karolis]

Funny thing: I read there is a cat in one scene at Ito's place (an "extra"?). I admit I didn't notice him. Next time maybe...

Here's the cat at 30:14

[MaximRecoil]

The idea that he could hot wire and fly TC's chopper, not being an experienced chopper pilot, is absolutely preposterous.

They work it in, about the same time as he steals the chopper, that he flew "just about anything" back in Texas. (Kind of like Luke Sywalker.) Carol Ann says it after she re-appears. So they at least tossed a throwaway line at it.

Yes, but "Hollywood Hotwiring" is almost always a load of "recycled vegetation", and this is no exception. We are to believe that Billy Joe Bob just happened to have committed the Hughes 500D ignition wiring scheme to memory at some point before coming to Hawaii? And not only that, but the two wires he needed to connect in order to turn the ignition to "run" just happened to be dangling down, with pre-stripped ends no less? In reality, if the ignition switch's hot wire had been dangling down like that, it means it wasn't connected to the ignition switch, which means the helicopter couldn't be started in the normal way, i.e., it would have to be hotwired every time.

Hollywood presents "hotwiring" as something that a person learns to do once and then he can magically hotwire anything. It doesn't work that way. There is no standardized ignition wiring scheme that applies to all, nor even most, makes/models of vehicles (just as there's no standardized bomb wiring scheme so that it's always the same color wire that needs to be cut in order to disable it), and on top of that, the hot wire that you need to short to ground (to bypass the ignition switch) isn't just dangling down under the dash. The hot wire for the ignition's "run" state is connected to one of the terminals on the ignition switch, and it's very likely to be bundled with a bunch of other wires, and you normally can't see the ignition switch's terminals without taking things apart, so unless you memorized the schematics for the vehicle you're trying to hotwire, you have no way of knowing which wire you need to cut or otherwise remove from the ignition switch's terminal in order to short it to ground.

Most instances of Hollywood Hotwiring are with automobiles, which presents an additional problem. All American automobiles (and most foreign ones as well) have had a steering wheel lock since 1970. It is deactivated when you put the key into the ignition lock/switch and turn it. Hotwiring bypasses the ignition switch, so the steering wheel remains locked. It doesn't do you much good to get the engine started if you can't steer the car. Hollywood nearly always ignores this inconvenient fact.

[Pahonu]

The idea that he could hot wire and fly TC's chopper, not being an experienced chopper pilot, is absolutely preposterous.

They work it in, about the same time as he steals the chopper, that he flew "just about anything" back in Texas. (Kind of like Luke Sywalker.) Carol Ann says it after she re-appears. So they at least tossed a throwaway line at it.

Yes, but "Hollywood Hotwiring" is almost always a load of "recycled vegetation", and this is no exception. We are to believe that Billy Joe Bob just happened to have committed the Hughes 500D ignition wiring scheme to memory at some point before coming to Hawaii? And not only that, but the two wires he needed to connect in order to turn the ignition to "run" just happened to be dangling down, with pre-stripped ends no less? In reality, if the ignition switch's hot wire had been dangling down like that, it means it wasn't connected to the ignition switch, which means the helicopter couldn't be started in the normal way, i.e., it would have to be hotwired every time.

Hollywood presents "hotwiring" as something that a person learns to do once and then he can magically hotwire anything. It doesn't work that way. There is no standardized ignition wiring scheme that applies to all, nor even most, makes/models of vehicles (just as there's no standardized bomb wiring scheme so that it's always the same color wire that needs to be cut in order to disable it), and on top of that, the hot wire that you need to short to ground (to bypass the ignition switch) isn't just dangling down under the dash. The hot wire for the ignition's "run" state is connected to one of the terminals on the ignition switch, and it's very likely to be bundled with a bunch of other wires, and you normally can't see the ignition switch's terminals without taking things apart, so unless you memorized the schematics for the vehicle you're trying to hotwire, you have no way of knowing which wire you need to cut or otherwise remove from the ignition switch's terminal in order to short it to ground.

Most instances of Hollywood Hotwiring are with automobiles, which presents an additional problem. All American automobiles (and most foreign ones as well) have had a steering wheel lock since 1970. It is deactivated when you put the key into the ignition lock/switch and turn it. Hotwiring bypasses the ignition switch, so the steering wheel remains locked. It doesn't do you much good to get the engine started if you can't steer the car. Hollywood nearly always ignores this inconvenient fact.

I'm questioning whether a gas turbine helicopter even has an ignition key like a car. It doesn't start in the same way as piston engines. There are probably a series of steps that are needed to get it going and how many people understand this process and could then fly it away. I'm thinking the doors may have keyed locks like a car, but then the doors can be removed by taking out some hinge pins, and they're incredibly light and thin. That's not much security, but then how many people could steal a helicopter? One of the news stories I saw about the guy who stole the plane in Seattle and crashed it into the ground, stated that commercial planes don't have ignitions keys like cars. If you gain access to the plane and actually know what to do, it can be started. These type of incidence must be incredibly rare.

[MaximRecoil]

I'm questioning whether a gas turbine helicopter even has an ignition key like a car. It doesn't start in the same way as piston engines. There are probably a series of steps that are needed to get it going and how many people understand this process and could then fly it away. I'm thinking the doors may have keyed locks like a car, but then the doors can be removed by taking out some hinge pins, and they're incredibly light and thin. That's not much security, but then how many people could steal a helicopter? One of the news stories I saw about the guy who stole the plane in Seattle and crashed it into the ground, stated that commercial planes don't have ignitions keys like cars. If you gain access to the plane and actually know what to do, it can be started. These type of incidence must be incredibly rare.

In the case of a car, the ignition key switch does two things when you turn the key:

1. Closes a circuit that lets electricity flow to the ignition system (the "run" position).
2. Temporarily closes a circuit that lets electricity flow to the starter motor (via a couple of relays/solenoids); once the engine starts you let go of the key/switch/lock and it springs back to the run position.

This is why hotwiring a car, when done correctly, is a two-part operation. First you have to create the "run" position, which involves shorting the ignition's hot wire to ground and leaving it there. Then you have to create the "start" position, which involves shorting the starter relay's hot wire to ground temporarily, i.e., until the engine starts.

The ignition key switch for a helicopter like TC's is only an ignition switch (function #1), rather than a combined ignition/starter switch like in a typical car. It has a separate starter button. You can see the startup of a Hughes 500D in this video:

https://youtu.be/RDAXbLH4YYw

He turns the ignition key switch at the beginning of the video:

[Pahonu]

I'm questioning whether a gas turbine helicopter even has an ignition key like a car. It doesn't start in the same way as piston engines. There are probably a series of steps that are needed to get it going and how many people understand this process and could then fly it away. I'm thinking the doors may have keyed locks like a car, but then the doors can be removed by taking out some hinge pins, and they're incredibly light and thin. That's not much security, but then how many people could steal a helicopter? One of the news stories I saw about the guy who stole the plane in Seattle and crashed it into the ground, stated that commercial planes don't have ignitions keys like cars. If you gain access to the plane and actually know what to do, it can be started. These type of incidence must be incredibly rare.

In the case of a car, the ignition key switch does two things when you turn the key:

1. Closes a circuit that lets electricity flow to the ignition system (the "run" position).
2. Temporarily closes a circuit that lets electricity flow to the starter motor (via a couple of relays/solenoids); once the engine starts you let go of the key/switch/lock and it springs back to the run position.

This is why hotwiring a car, when done correctly, is a two-part operation. First you have to create the "run" position, which involves shorting the ignition's hot wire to ground and leaving it there. Then you have to create the "start" position, which involves shorting the starter relay's hot wire to ground temporarily, i.e., until the engine starts.

The ignition key switch for a helicopter like TC's is only an ignition switch (function #1), rather than a combined ignition/starter switch like in a typical car. It has a separate starter button. You can see the startup of a Hughes 500D in this video:

https://youtu.be/RDAXbLH4YYw

He turns the ignition key switch at the beginning of the video:

Interesting video. Lots of switching going on! That would seem to make the process of starting it (without a key) one step easier than in a car. You would only have to bypass the keyed ignition switch. All the other steps in starting it didn't seem to have any security. It's not unlike my buddies old diesel boat. Just one key to turn on the electrical system, which he usually leaves in there. Then he opens the fuel valve near the companionway and finally presses the starter motor button. I think it has a manual choke also.

[MaximRecoil]

Interesting video. Lots of switching going on! That would seem to make the process of starting it (without a key) one step easier than in a car. You would only have to bypass the keyed ignition switch. All the other steps in starting it didn't seem to have any security. It's not unlike my buddies old diesel boat. Just one key to turn on the electrical system, which he usually leaves in there. Then he opens the fuel valve near the companionway and finally presses the starter motor button. I think it has a manual choke also.

Yeah, some cars are like that too, particularly custom built "hot rods", i.e., just a simple ignition key switch plus a separate starter button. So a setup like that is indeed "one step easier" than hotwiring a typical car, because you don't have to hotwire the starter, but that doesn't make Billy Joe Bob's hotwiring scene believable. He would still have to crawl up under the dash to see which wire is the hot wire for the ignition switch, and that's assuming that the terminals of the ignition switch are even visible without taking a portion of the dash apart. In that scene, the ignition's hot wire (plus a wire connected to ground) was already just dangling down under the dash, not connected to the key switch (which means it couldn't have been started with a key even if he had one), with the ends already stripped, ready to be twisted together.

Ironically, MPI is one of the few TV shows that has a plausible hotwiring scene (in the Mad Dogs and Englishmen episode), at least with regard to getting the engine started. Here's an old post I made about it:

This episode contains what may be the only instance of a plausible "hotwiring" procedure in TV/movie history. Notice that there were two separate steps, first a permanent electrical connection was made, which he did in the engine compartment, and then a temporary electrical connection was made, which he did under the dash. This is how it has to be done in real life, because that's what happens when you start a car with a key. When you turn the key the ignition lock switch is put in the "run" position, which gives juice to the ignition system. This is the permanent electrical connection. As you continue to turn the key, it goes to the "start" position which cranks the starter. As soon as the engine starts you let go of the key and it springs back to the "run" position. That is the temporary electrical connection.

In order to hotwire a car, you have to create those two connections via direct wiring, bypassing the ignition lock switch.

The scene wasn't without its problems though, the biggest problem being that hotwiring in and of itself is useless on cars made since ~1970, because they have a steering wheel lock which is [de]activated by the ignition lock switch. Hotwiring will start the engine, but since you bypassed the ignition lock switch, the steering wheel remains locked, so you can only drive in a straight line. In the case of an automatic, you can't even do that, because you won't be able to shift it out of park. Of course, Magnum's car is a standard, so he could have at least driven in a straight line.

Another issue: it was a nice touch showing him make the permanent connection in the engine compartment, because, unlike what you normally see on TV/movies, that's the easiest place to do it. However, the temporary connection which actually starts the car is also far easier to make in the engine compartment (all you need to do is jump the starter solenoid or relay with a jackknife, screwdriver, or whatever, i.e., no messing with wires at all), while it is next to impossible to make from under the dash like Magnum did, without help ("help" could be in the form of schematics, prior memorized knowledge, or a time consuming process of tracing out the connections manually). Even if you know exactly which wires to use under the dash, it is still a lot easier (and non-destructive to boot) to jump the solenoid.

Also, the gum wrapper was not only unnecessary, but counterproductive as well. After you twist-splice wires together, you want to wrap the splice with insulating material (such as electrical tape), not something conductive like foil. Wrapping it with foil just makes it more susceptible to shorting out on something while driving, more susceptible than if he'd wrapped it with nothing at all. On the other hand, encasing the splice with the chewed gum itself would have been a good idea (gum is made out butadiene-based synthetic rubber, which is an excellent electrical insulator). I suspect that whoever orchestrated that scene got their wires crossed with regard to the role of gum in that situation, thinking it was the foil wrapper rather than the gum itself which was to be used on the splice.

The only believable way to quickly start and drive a 1970 or newer car without a key is to simply break the ignition key switch with brute force, which you can then turn without a key, which will both start the engine and disengage the steering wheel lock. There are a couple of instances of this in the movie The Terminator (1984), but that movie has a laughable Hollywood Hotwiring scene too.

[Pahonu]

The only believable way to start and drive a 1970 or newer car without a key is to simply break the ignition key switch with brute force, which you can then turn without a key, which will both start the engine and disengage the steering wheel lock. There are a couple of instances of this in the movie The Terminator (1984), but that movie has a laughable Hollywood Hotwiring scene too.

I remember seeing some TV episode in the 80's that showed a thief using a slide hammer screwed into the ignition. I also remember thinking that seemed like an easier way to do it. It exposed the wiring and it disengaged the steering lock at the same time. No clue what show it was though.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

MaximRecoil, in that video of yours what exactly started the rotors turning? Was it the turning of the key or all those other switches that he flipped? He flipped 3 or 4 switches after turning they key and then later in the video he flipped a few more switches. This is all Greek to me.

[MaximRecoil]

MaximRecoil, in that video of yours what exactly started the rotors turning? Was it the turning of the key or all those other switches that he flipped? He flipped 3 or 4 switches after turning they key and then later in the video he flipped a few more switches. This is all Greek to me.

Turning the key simply allows electricity to flow to the ignition and other systems. It's like turning your car's ignition key switch to the "run" position, but not all the way to the "start" position. Nothing obvious happens when you do that, except that you can listen to the radio, turn on the windshield wipers, etc. But the ignition system is also ready to go, electrically speaking, when you do that. If you opened the hood and jumped the starter solenoid, the engine could start, because the ignition system can get electricity from the battery. If you turn the ignition key switch to off, and then try the same thing, the starter will crank the engine until you burn it up or the battery is dead but the engine will never start, because the ignition system can't get electricity with the key switch in the off position.

The Hughes 500 has a starter button located on the front of the collective lever. You push that and then you use the twist-grip throttle, which is also located on the collective, to introduce fuel. This gets the rotor turning. Then there are some toggle switches that get flipped once it gets going, such as the avionics master switch, but those have nothing to do with getting the engine started. Also, the startup procedure has to be done within specific guidelines to avoid things like a "hot start", and you have to know when and how to abort the startup if something goes wrong.

But nothing can happen without first turning the ignition key switch to the on position. When it is in the off position it's effectively the same thing as having no battery.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

MaximRecoil, in that video of yours what exactly started the rotors turning? Was it the turning of the key or all those other switches that he flipped? He flipped 3 or 4 switches after turning they key and then later in the video he flipped a few more switches. This is all Greek to me.

Turning the key simply allows electricity to flow to the ignition and other systems. It's like turning your car's ignition key switch to the "run" position, but not all the way to the "start" position. Nothing obvious happens when you do that, except that you can listen to the radio, turn on the windshield wipers, etc. But the ignition system is also ready to go, electrically speaking, when you do that. If you opened the hood and jumped the starter solenoid, the engine could start, because the ignition system can get electricity from the battery. If you turn the ignition key switch to off, and then try the same thing, the starter will crank the engine until you burn it up or the battery is dead but the engine will never start, because the ignition system can't get electricity with the key switch in the off position.

The Hughes 500 has a starter button located on the front of the collective lever. You push that and then you use the twist-grip throttle, which is also located on the collective, to introduce fuel. This gets the rotor turning. Then there are some toggle switches that get flipped once it gets going, such as the avionics master switch, but those have nothing to do with getting the engine started. Also, the startup procedure has to be done within specific guidelines to avoid things like a "hot start", and you have to know when and how to abort the startup if something goes wrong.

But nothing can happen without first turning the ignition key switch to the on position. When it is in the off position it's effectively the same thing as having no battery.

Thanks, Maxim! That was very informative.