This has got to be fake...

[MGallagher]

Looks kinda real, but I just do not believe it!

Breaking The Sound Barrier
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[Jack Stotts]

No. I've been in aircraft when this sort of thing happened. As you go through the Mach the air compresses and if it's a humid day, you can see just what the picture is showing.

[David_L6]

No. I've been in aircraft when this sort of thing happened.

I'm green with envy!

[jeff55v]

Actually, what you're seeing is not a sonic boom. It's really nothing to do with supersonic flight. The vapor cloud forming around the aircraft has more to do with the proper humidity in the air and the low pressure formed in the trailing areas of something moving fast. (not necessarily above the speed of sound)
Because of the destructive sound, the US military avoids breaking the sound barrier over populated areas. At air shows, you may see planes NEAR the speed of sound. But, breaking the sound barrier hasn't been done routinely at air shows since the 1960's.

Here's some old ones:
The last one really IS a sonic boom. Notice no vapor cloud formed around the aircraft.

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[johnsonm50]

Looks kinda real, but I just do not believe it!

Breaking The Sound Barrier
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In the mid 60s here in Jersey, jets from Maguire AFB were alledged to break some windows. My dad was stationed in nearby Fort Dix. A sonic boom 660 [kt or mph] at sea level & more as you climb can break glass up to a 12 mi. radius according to a film I saw on the Thunderbirds. Ive seen the Blue Angels 2x & even at 400 mph+/- on a low level approach you dont see or hear much till its gonzo.

[johnsonm50]

In the mid 60s here in Jersey, jets from Maguire AFB were alledged to break some windows. My dad was stationed in nearby Fort Dix. A sonic boom 660 [kt or mph] at sea level & more as you climb can break glass up to a 12 mi. radius according to a film I saw on the Thunderbirds. Ive seen the Blue Angels 2x & even at 400 mph+/- on a low level approach you dont see or hear much till its gonzo.

BTW thats an F16 a true hot rod of the sky, mach 2 & then some

[modhydro]

Sonic booms and stuff

Remember that there is trans-sonic flight as well. What you are seeing in the video is a drastic pressure gradient caused by shock waves. You can get shock waves forming at less than sonic speeds. The first ones are called lambda shock waves as they look like the Greek letter lambda. They will start as intermittent waves and come and go. These lambda shock waves can render the controls on airplanes virtually useless. The WWII Focke Wulf 190 could even get into that situation in a dive. Once you get a fully developed shockwave, it will look like the perfect cone you see.

Think about this for a minute. Pressure moves like ripples on a pond, gradually. A shock wave is just that, it is for our discussion purposes, an immediate state change like you see in the video. When you are at an airshow and see the "clouds" form over the wings on a radical manuever, that is the local pressure being lowered enough to allow that volume of atmosphere have the moisture condense.

We messed with this stuff in college. It was pretty neat to see the phenomena right in front of you. It is VERY evident when you go from transistional to a fully devloped shock wave.

I'll bet Jack can tell us more than anyone though. Have you ever seen how fast his C mod hydro is? The last time he passed me his rooster tail looked about like the plane past the ship!

Steve Roskowski

[Jack Stotts]

I don't have a lot of super-sonic time but on the occasion that we made a scene like the one pictured we had slipped through the mach at low level. The folks watching did not appreciate the boom. I have not seen shock waves to this extreme at slower speeds but agree it could happen. Mine was in an RF-4. The F-16 ,F-15, FA-18, can do this with a lot less effort. Mike Marshall can attest to that.

[Gene East]

I was a tin-can sailor when I was in the Navy, but I got to spend some time with my son on board the "Ike" CVN-69 as part of a "tiger cruise".

We were treated to an air show at sea between Bermuda and Norfolk. An F-18 did a low level super-sonic pass near the ship. When the shock wave hit the ship, dirt and dust came out of every nook and cranny. It was impressive!

Unfortunately, I don't believe the Navy does tiger cruises anymore since one of our subs on a tiger cruise surfaced and crashed into a Japanese trawler.

Rumor was one of the civilians on board was at the helm. Big, big no-no!

There were 500 civilians on the Eisenhauer during our tiger cruise. That's about double the crew of the destroyer I was on.

My son made some snide remark that if my ship was 10 feet longer, it still wouldn't be as long as the "Ike" is wide.

Smart ass kid!!!

[STEVE FRENCH]

Gene,
I was on the Nimitz....Nov 74.......till 3-days before commissioned (Spring 75).
It was in Newport News Ship Yard, Va.

Was on it for "Builder Trials"......."Sea Trials",....and "Acceptance Trails"..

Very impressive see'n a Carrier out-run it's escort!....Not sure of the top-end off that nuke carrier...but I remember it had a shake in one prop shaft near top speed.

I was a cook in the mid galley (MS-4)......during one meal there was an announcement ......"Heavy rolls in ten minutes"....not sure what that ment, but the Chief PO in charge went NUTS......we got the galley battoned down and then next thing the boat went on it's side at about a 45 degee angle in a turn....look'n out at the dining area, there were tables, people (some just lifted there hands from their trays as the boat rolled), and food against the starboard walls......will never forget that sight!.........

Small city with flight crew.....could play 4 games of football in hanger deck.

Quite a boat.......was later in a movie in the Burmuda Triangle....were it went thru a time warp/storm and wound up in WW-II a day or two before Pearl Harbor...(fiction)......wonder how it could went if .......Non-fiction....?

19P/100N

[jeff55v]

The Final Countdown.

Quite a boat.......was later in a movie in the Burmuda Triangle....were it went thru a time warp/storm and wound up in WW-II a day or two before Pearl Harbor...(fiction)......wonder how it could went if .......Non-fiction....?

19P/100N

The Nimitz is a great one.
A little off topic but...
I couldn't help posting this. It was a cool movie.

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[Gene East]

Jeff,

Thanks for posting this. I've seen the movie and I agree. Great flick!

By the way, isn't the F-14 an awsome piece of machinery???

F-4's were THE plane in my day. The F-14 dwarfs the F-4.

My son maintained the close circuit TV system that recorded all take offs and landings. He took me up on the camera platforms. From that vantage point looking down you get an accurate perception just how big these planes are.

[Hydroglobe17J]

Hey Matt, my ASH does that All the Time! Ha! Ha!

[johnsonm50]

Jeff,

Thanks for posting this. I've seen the movie and I agree. Great flick!

By the way, isn't the F-14 an awsome piece of machinery???

F-4's were THE plane in my day. The F-14 dwarfs the F-4.

My son maintained the close circuit TV system that recorded all take offs and landings. He took me up on the camera platforms. From that vantage point looking down you get an accurate perception just how big these planes are.

Not only a cool clip but IF I remember history correctly..during or before the Pearl Harbor attack a member of Congress & others dissappeared while out on a yacht, depicted in this movie with a twist on reality ?????