The Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River, known as the second largest waterfall in China, is located at the border of Jixian County in Shanxi Province and Yichuan County in Shaanxi Province. Here, the riverbed suddenly narrows from hundreds of meters wide to just a few dozen meters, like a teapot, trapping the surging Yellow River water within the narrow stone walls and forming the waterfall, hence the name "Hukou". The rapid flow, violent waves, and massive water volume of the Hukou Waterfall are rare in the world. In 1997, Ko Shu-liang, known as "Asia's First Flying Man", successfully drove a car across the Hukou Waterfall, completing an epoch-making feat. So, how did he accomplish this, and why was he able to pull it off?
First, Ko Shu-liang and his team chose the narrowest section of the Hukou Waterfall for the flight, with a distance of over 60 meters. Then, guidance platforms were set up on both sides of the waterfall. The platforms' surfaces were not horizontal, but at an angle to the horizontal plane. The car flying across the Yellow River can be considered a trajectory of an oblique projectile. Ignoring air resistance, the oblique motion can be regarded as the combination of two component motions: one is a uniform rectilinear motion in the horizontal direction, and the other is a vertical upward throw. In the vertical direction, the car first reaches its highest point and then falls back down. During this time, the car can travel a certain distance horizontally. The size of this distance depends on the initial speed and angle. In reality, Ko Shu-liang flew across the Yellow River with a distance of 63 meters, and the launch angle of the runway to the ground was 10°. Calculations show that a car with an initial speed of 153 km/h would be sufficient to fly across the Yellow River. To achieve this speed, Ko Shu-liang's team built a 260-meter-long runway. For safety reasons, the landing guidance platform was 1.2 meters lower than the launch guidance platform, and the landing guidance platform also had a 10° downward angle to reduce the impact force when the car landed. Therefore, Ko Shu-liang completed the feat of flying across the Yellow River without any unexpected accidents.
Of course, this is just from the perspective of mechanical analysis to show that flying across the Yellow River is possible. But to actually achieve the feat, the performer needs to have superb skills and extraordinary courage.