Elaborating on the lack of angular acceleration point above…
Identification of the pertinent object:
If Chandler were competent, he'd clearly identify the object in ALL of its video appearances. Being a high school teacher, he is usually precise about this.
For some reason, in this video, he fails.
In twoofer fashion, he resorts to "implication".
Chandler says this at 2:38 seconds of his video:
Chandler said:
The object, by the way, appears from other photographs to be a perimeter wall unit, 30 feet long, 10 feet wide & weighing about 4 tons.
While saying this, he switches to this video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvw0_i1rGns&t=2m38s
There is one large object trailing a significant smoke trail in this video. This is the element that outpaces the other falling debris, as he identifies it at the start of his analyzed video. And it generally fits his description as an elongated object ("30' long, 10' wide").
Now, Chandler doesn't say explicitly that this is the same falling element in his other analyzed video. He does imply so.
Here are a couple of screen grabs (in time sequence) of that element.
As a reasonable 1st order approximation, consider the CG to be approximately at the geometric center of the object. (Even if it is heterogeneous, the CG must be contained somewhere within the physical extents of the object.)
Notice that the alleged "rocket trail" departs one end of the long object at about a 90° angle from the axis of the object. (Greater than 90° in the last image.)
Therefore, Chandler's "rocket's thrust vector" is acting approximately 90° to the body axis of his rocket.
Controlling a rocket is a very delicate balancing act. It is crucial that the thrust vector pass thru (or
extremely close to) the CG of the rocket. Grave consequences for controlled flight ensue if this requirement is violated.
Here are a couple of screen grabs (from
this video) of a rocket whose thrust vector is just slightly off of "thru the CG".
This is a Trident missile, sub launched. Without going into elaborate research, it appears to not have external flight control surfaces (fins & vanes), but to depend on thrust vectoring by gimballing of its exhaust nozzle. (Perhaps one of you rocket men could elaborate on the Trident.)
In all of the above images, the thrust plume seems to be very slightly (perhaps about 5°) off angle. View the Youtube link for the impact on flight path.
You'll also note that, in this 4th image ...
… the rocket is perched almost directly above the water spout that it created when it emerged from the ocean about 2 seconds earlier. In other words, over the course of these four images (about 2 seconds, and again at about 4 seconds), it's
average (not instantaneous) velocity & acceleration are close zero.
Lesson: off axis rocket impulse is spectacularly inefficient at producing linear acceleration.
___
What's your best guess as to Chandler's awareness of the problems with his claims? I find it difficult to believe he really thinks that this is some kind of rocket - maybe he really is that self-deluded...
I have no clue what Chandler really thinks. It is difficult for me to imagine that he doesn't believe it. If he doubted it, then he would be much wiser to simply not comment. He knows his stuff is going to be reviewed.
I think that the source of the error is the lousy resolution of the video images. Even tho he pays lip service to the effects of error, Chandler seems oblivious to the magnitude of the impact of those errors on calculated velocity & accelerations.
It's similar to someone saying that people are "affected" by the moon's gravity. And that accounts for more crime, higher birth rates, etc. during full moons. It's a form of knowing theory, without knowing numbers. What John Paulos referred to as "innumeracy".
If you don't know the numbers, you don't know squat about the effects.
I also think that this is another example of the mistakes that he made (& continues to make) in his use of the same tools in the analysis of the collapse of WTC7.
He has taken to saying that WTC7 falls "at G for 2.25 seconds". A detailed look at that situation shows that it does nothing of the sort, except in a gross average sense. One can speak of a constant acceleration of WTC7
only because Chandler chose to apply a linear fit to the velocity data, which
forces a constant acceleration.
It makes as much sense to say that the rocket shown above hung motionless above the water for 4 seconds until someone decided to blow it up. (No doubt, for some nefarious Illuminati purpose.) On average, the rocket DID hang motionless. The reality is, uh, somewhat different.
It seems to me that Chandler is locked into a camp. Us vs. Them. He seems to view every criticism as politically motivated.
So he has insulated himself (shutting off comments to all of his videos, for example) & surrounded himself with other loonies.
His failings extend beyond the merely technical, to arrogance and more than a touch of persecution complex.
When he started down this path, I pleaded with him to simply take his assertions to a competent, independent structural engineer, and to carefully listen to what that expert said about matters that are clearly outside of Chandler's narrow field of expertise. He refused to think that anyone else might have something enlightening to say that he hadn't already considered.
So, arrogance, paranoia, political agenda, insularity, incompetence, delusions of grandeur…?
Or some combination…?
Or he might simply be a lying a-hole.
At this late date, after all of the vile accusation that he's made, someone else may care about his motivations.
Not me.
tom