Here Is What Would Happen If You Poked Your Head Out of a Flying Airplane

Our dogs show us the effect of strong winds on their faces when we take them on a ride in our cars. With the abundance of smells that traveling at 50 mph (80 km/h) usually brings, our furry friends can’t resist the temptation of sticking their heads out the window.

The results are hilarious, but you might not be laughing that hard when the time comes to clean that third side window (if you’re driving a station wagon or an SUV) of all the drool. All in all, though, the funny faces Spot makes are usually worth it.

Apart from dogs, there was a certain moment in television history that made human face disfigurement by wind popular. We’re talking, of course, about Jeremy Clarkson’s Ariel Atom test drive on the British Top Gear series.

Since the ex-host of the popular show had plenty of flabby skin hanging from his face, riding a reasonably fast car with no windscreen and no helmet on provided one of the scariest scenes in non-horror modern television. He looked as if he was doing an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation, without the muscles.

But back in 1946, these things were called “scientific research projects.” Seeing any old, black and white footage of tests carried out on humans - even though in this case they were volunteers - brings back all sorts of nasty memories (as if Clarkson’s face wasn’t enough already). But rest assured, nothing bad is going to happen here. And this young gentleman here has very tight face skin.

The tests were carried out in NASA’s new High-Speed Tunnel to see whether a pilot could still fly an airplane in the event the aircraft’s canopy were blown off. The subject was exposed to short bursts of wind of variable intensity, from a mild 36 mph (58 km/h) to a very severe 457 mph (735 km/h). You can watch the results in the clip below.