At 1,730 ft (527 m) to the tip of the highest
antenna, the Sears tower is the tallest building in the U.S. If the navigation warning
light burns out there, you take the elevator up to about 1,500 ft., then climb the
remaining couple hundred feet up the tower and replace the bulb - piece of cake,
right? It's usually not that easy. The two guys in this video filmed their climb
to the very top of this free-standing, 1,786-foot tower in order to replace its
bulb. They latch in safety hooks during rest stop, but climb freely in-between;
stops become more frequent near the top. You have to be in pretty good physical
condition to do this work - which in this case is akin to crawling uphill on your
hands and knees for ½ km. According to the narration, the visible horizon is 55
miles away at the top. d = sqrt (h2 + 2rh) r = radius of
earth (mean) = 20,903,520 feet h = height of tower = 1,786 feet d = 273,259
feet = 51.8 miles (83.3 km)
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