[img]http://www.rense.com/1.imagesC/boom.jpg[/img]

For the story on this photo see [url]http://www.rense.com/general8/boom.htm[/url]

Is this really what happens?  I guess I'm kind of skeptical about anything I pick up off the internet.

If it's a legitimate photo, it's very cool.

EDITED for sqelling.

That's what happens if there is a lot of moisture in the air.  The compression of the shockwave causes the water vapor to condense.  I have a similiar photo of an F-14 breaking the sound barrier as it passed a carrier, same "cloud" effect.

I got the .mpg movie that this pic came from on my computer at work. It was taken during a flyby off the deck of a ship.

I've seen a couple of shots like this and it seems to happen only under certain conditions, with the right temperature and humidity.

FYI, it didn't look like this through the entire flight. It was flying on what looked like a very clear day and it made what looked like temporary "clouds" at various points along its flight path. When it was at this point flying directly past the camera was the only time you could actually see the "cone" of the shock wave. It does help out with being able to comprehend the speed at which this thing is travelling though. It's pretty impressive.

That's cool!!!

When I was a kid at an air show in London Ontario one of our Canadian Hornets did just this in the middle of the show.

It was amazing!!

B mtha freaking S!

The nose of that aircraft is the particle that takes the brunt of breaking the sound barrier.  There is a thing called farantian (sp?) waves, that can be photographed, that actually show the compression and vacuum created BY THE NOSE.

I've seen aircraft exibit this vacuum of the serface of their wings in air shows.

that pic was taken during the end of cruise air show on board the uss constellation during our 1999 cruise. (yes i was there) the aircraft in question belongs to vmfa 323, the pilots name was ron candoloro, cant remember his rank, and the pic is not doctored. was really cool to see it happen, as not only was it my first cruise, but also my first time seeing one go supersonic up close and personal

elkydriver

halfcocked
there is also another pressure wave that builds up in front of the wings at the front, from what i understand the air that is trapped between the pressure waves is compressed enough to create this kind of effect.

Great pic!  I too have seen the real thing up close.  Very exciting to have one of those guys go by faster than sound.  It is too bizarre to watch them approach and pass with NO sound at all...then one HELL of a double boom (one shock wave from the plane...one echo from the sea surface).

Just before I retired in 1992, a brother surface officer and neighbor invited me and my missus aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) for a dependents' cruise and airshow.  We and several hundred other folks got a ringside seat on the flight deck to watch the airdales strut their stuff.  Since I had seen several of these shows before from the bridge of an escort destroyer, usually during our return trip from deployment, I knew that at some point in the show a fighter jock would make a supersonic pass up the side of the ship.  My friend also knew this.  Our wives did not...and we neglected to inform them of this possibility.  Sure enough, it happened...and the ship tried to trick everybody by having a Hornet fly up the port side very slowly "dirty" with gear, flaps and hook down.  As the announcer intoned about the slow flight characteristics of the Hornet...I spotted a very faint smoke trail astern and a small speck growing very quickly.  I let my friend know...but not the girls.  Just as the slow bird passed the ship, the other guy blew by just over the first at something over Mach and scared the hell out of most of the passengers.  My wife must have jumped three feet straight up, as did my buddie's wife!  I LMAO but she didn't see the humor in it at all.  [spank]  She said I should have told her.  Women...go figure.  Shoot...it's still funny.

Here are some more if you guys like.
[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p334.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p335.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p336.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p337.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p338.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/71_p339.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/ak_boy/full_71_p340.jpg[/IMG]

thats the first circular distortion ive seen.
the ony other barrier break shot ive seen was diamond shaped

Harry Gann was a great guy. I had the chance to meet him in 1987 and again in 1989.
You can read the tribute to him here at the American Aviation Historical Society web page:
[url]http://aahs-online.org/HarryGann.htm[/url]

I remember this plane!  Shortly after this pic was taken, VX-4 retired the old girl and got themselves a shiny new Tomcat, which they painted black with the Playboy bunny on the tail just like this Phantom.  Very distinctive and beautiful plane.  They used it for all sorts of missions around Mugu.

One day in the late 1980's while I was supervising a ship's surface to air missile test from sea we were unable to get a fishing boat to clear the range.  I guess he didn't care to read his notice to mariners before fishing near the firing range.  Anyway, he was just a couple of miles inside the Pt. Mugu firing range, but an inch is as good as a mile to the range safety guys.  We sent the range clearance P-3 aircraft over to shoo him off.  The Orion crew overflew him and called the dude on the radio without success.  The P-3 guys said they could see him looking up but he wouldn't answer the radio calls.

Now we had ordered up an F-14 to fly some tracking runs for the ship's AAW team to warm them up for the main event later that morning.  VX-4 decided to bring the black plane that day.  The Tomcat driver told us he could give us a few subsonic runs at low altitude and then one supersonic run from over the horizon to act like an enemy missile attacking us.  No more than that, 'cause at that speed and low altitude she was guzzling gas like through a fire hose!  After that, its back to the barn.

OK...the Tomcat driver reports on station, listening in on our conversation with the P-3 and our attempts to move the intrusive fisherman.  Now my op is quickly falling apart, since I have a limited amount of range time my program has paid for...and my planes are up there burning up taxpayer money...and my missile targets are sitting on the launch pads ready to go...and the ship CO is getting pissed because he wants to get this behind him and go on to more mundane but vastly more important stuff like preparing for his next (Youbetterpassthisoryourcareeristoast!) engineering exam.
All in all this morning is turning to a serious bag of shit...when the Tomcat driver, who happened to be the VX-4 squadron CO, calls us up on the radio and asks if we would like for HIM to move the civilian?  I got on the radio and said, "Sure...have a go, nobody else has been successful."
The F-14 driver then said, "OK, here we go with your supersonic run."  He then dropped down to minimum safe altitude of about 300 feet and went zone five.  As he blew right over that fisherman at about M1.5, he called us on the radio again and just said, "THAT got his attention."  The P-3 crew who had been orbiting this guy at a higher altitude then called in and reported that the guy was on the radio now and moving OFF the range at a good clip.  I would have like to have seen that fisherman's face.  I'll bet he had to change his linen.
[;)]
Sadly, after Tailhook, the black Playboy Bunny Tomcat became very un-PC and the VX-4 guys had to paint her the standard light grey paint scheme.
[V]

That's not breaking the sound barrier. It's coming through a multi-dimensional time portal. Time to cal the trekies [:D]

LWilde, you are a little off on your dates.
I was stationed at NAWS Point Mugu from 82-89 and again from 92-96. During my first tour there VX-4 had the Black (actualy Navy Blue) F-4 with the Playboy Bunny on the tail there.
[img]http://www.vogue-web.ch/f4/f4black.jpg[/img]
When the F-4 was retired in 1990 an F-14 took it's place. It also had the Playboy Bunny on the tail. There is a cool picture of the two of them sitting on the ramp at Mugu and flying over San Nick both painted black and with the Bunny.
During Tailhook VX-4 hosted a "party room", the Skipper of the squadron and a couple of "O's" had their asses handed to them over it. The Bunny disappered right after Tailhook. VX-4 disbanded in 1994 and was combined with VX-5 out of China Lake, Ca to become VX-9. The F-14's stayed at NAS Point Mugu until they were absorbed by Strike Squadron at Mugu in 1998 (or so).
Found the picture of the F-4 and the F-14.
[img]http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-photo-vx4-01l.jpg[/img]

F-14 M.A.T.S. page:
[url]http://www.anft.net/f-14/[/url]
Torstens F-4 page:
[url]http://www.vogue-web.ch/f4/[/url]

That's a sweet picture. I've seen it before, but it still is sweet.

the F/A-18 has always been my favorite fighter. I always thought it was a beautiful plane. I even got the F/A-18 Hornet flight sim for the Mac. That's a great game!

I've seen those before, all except the F-4.. that was the coolest, even sub Mach1!

I love old salt, sea stories. What did you retire as?

I'm still trying to make 2nd myself. I took the damn exam 3 times already and I'm only getting worse (but my evals are awesome. ) Go figure. I'm saying if I don't make 2nd this time around, the hell with re-enlisting. I'll be out after 6yrs is over.

[img]http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-photo-vx4-01l.jpg[/img]

Now those are things of beauty..

No operational version of the F/A-18 can hold a candle to the F-14D Bombcat.  If the Navy knew what was good for them, they would reman every viable F14 airframe available into F14D or Tomcat II configuration.

LT, LDO (6180 Elex Tech).

Get your hands on every reference book you can.  Go to the ET bibliography.  Learn the ET3 and 2 stuff cold.  There will be several questions on the ET2 exam from the ET3 exams.  Study...study...study, especially those areas caled out on your last couple of exam results summary sheets that you scored poorly in.  Hang in there...you'll make it.

[beer]

SWEET.... dad used to fly F-4s in the Air Force.  He used to tell me about it... about how the published stall recovery technique was completely wrong... that was sure one kick ass plane... like the Garand of fighter planes!

I keep expecting Jonathan Winters to walk out of that thing behind the Hornet.

... I derive a lot of pleasure working the F18E/F SuperHornet. Her performance is so much better with her new wing configuration and her new millimeter wave antennas they improve "seeing" ten fold. However, the machine that always makes my heart pound out of my chest when her rotors are spinning 100% nR is one of these: the Apache AH-64D, like her sisters the early Hornets, she is a completely different bird in her Longbow configuration. If you are looking to change your career, I'd recommend highly military aerospace.
[img]http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL16/408600/423895/6063772.jpg[/img]

Have any of you guys ever PASSED an F-4? I was driving down I-5 from LA to San Diego NB to pick up my brother. While in the vicinity of El Toro MCAS, I looked off to the right, and there was an F-4 about 500yds away, in about a 75-degree nose up attitude, plodding along at around 50 mph. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Hell, it was so strange, I almost wrecked the damn car, I stared at it so long! I wish I could have had a camera with me, because every time I mention it, people think I'm nuts.  Edited for spelling.

I don't know what it is but the F-4 Phantom II is just a beautiful bird.  She is sexy as hell, kinda like the girl who is just kinda good lookin but for whatever reason has sex appeal oozing out of all her pores.  She makes your heart pound and gives you an erection. That is an F-4 Phantom.  Sure the newer birds are better, but theres just something about that gal.

Benjamin

You ain't sh*ttin'! That's an airplane that just LOOKS like it means business!

…Damn [b] Zardoz[/b], never seen what the Soviets used to call a “Cobra”, how kewl!  
But in November of ’82 I was buzzed early in the morning driving back to AZ from Plano, TX.
… I’ll never forget that bastard in the F4, I was near Odessa when he flew right over me, in my direction of travel, no more than 75 feet AGL.
… Just as he passed me he hit his AB and pulled straight up.
… All the occupants in my car woke up and asked “WTF”?
… I just told them to go back to sleep; they wouldn’t believe me anyway.

I can imagine it must take a pretty damn good pilot to do this, 'course, the plane I saw doing this WAS piloted by a Marine (giving credit where it's due, from an Army-type)