Trans-sonic flight shock wave refraction photo

[Simaril]

Cruising around and found this really cool shot, showing a VERY on the deck flypast from a San Fran airshow in 2007. Apparently the jet was about 700 mph, and had just blasted UNDER the golden gate bridge. The photographer (who was using a digital SLR) tracked the pass, and when he examined the photo he saw something odd around the jet. On zooming in the image demonstrated sharp refraction lines caused by the trans-sonic shockwave air pressure differentials; in short, surface protuberances on the jet caused air moving around them to LOCALLY break the sound barrier. The very localized "mini-booms" cause sharply outlined zones of very different pressures...which then act like lenses to refract the light passing through them, just like light refracts at the interface between air and water.







You aeronautic engineer types no doubt find this very old hat, but for a fan boy like me this is cooler than cool.

[Simaril]

And a shot from right before the above ones.

Being a boring, plane vanilla midwesterner hadn't heard of Fleet Week before...but shots like these make me want to check into it!



Photos from this website: http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/

[Bronk]

Very cool thanks for sharing.

[Fulmar]

Crazy with all those sailboat masts around there...

[trax1]

I think I remember someone else posted these pics on here awhile ago, still very cool looking.

[Sox62]

Crazy with all those sailboat masts around there...

I'm pretty sure there was a path kept clear for the low fly's.

[Anaxogoras]

Being a boring, plane vanilla midwesterner hadn't heard of Fleet Week before...but shots like these make me want to check into it!

Whatever you do, do not drive into San Francisco during Fleet Week, ever.   It can be difficult to find a good viewing spot from which to see the aerobatics, but hey, it's a free show.

Edit: if you're a tourist in San Francisco, forget the historic F-train that takes you to fisherman's wharf.  That's how a majority will tell you how to get there, but the train is always bursting and frequently breaks down.

[AWwrgwy]

video   



wrongway   

[trax1]

video   



wrongway   

Now thats just squealing cool.

I wonder do they do that maneuver for every air show there each year, or if it was a one time thing?

[AWwrgwy]

Now thats just squealing cool.

I wonder do they do that maneuver for every air show there each year, or if it was a one time thing?

The Answer?


wrongway

[trax1]

The Answer?


wrongway

Well actually I meant in San Fransisco and going over the bay like that.

[Anaxogoras]

It's every year.

One day I was taking BART home to the east bay, and there was a boy who was going nuts over all the things he had seen that day.  Besides the Blue Angels, he had visited the Submarine (I think it's called the "Pampanito"), and kept asking his father about the dive alarm and why the sailors had to run to the front of the boat.  Dad either didn't know or was exhausted from a long day, so I had fun explaining the usefulness of weight distribution.

[hammer]

I was able to attend Fleet Week a couple of times while stationed in the Bay area. Very cool show.

[whels]

rifle shockwave


pistol



bullet


F-22

[wooly15]

It's every year.

One day I was taking BART home to the east bay, and there was a boy who was going nuts over all the things he had seen that day.  Besides the Blue Angels, he had visited the Submarine (I think it's called the "Pampanito"), and kept asking his father about the dive alarm and why the sailors had to run to the front of the boat.  Dad either didn't know or was exhausted from a long day, so I had fun explaining the usefulness of weight distribution.

Good thing you didn't run into Officer Johannes Mehserle....sorry, I couldn't resist