tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post1880179954127210300..comments2023-11-03T09:36:22.100-04:00Comments on In From the Cold: What Supersonic Looks LikeGeorge Smileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07049707648660651119noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-59464434710135645122009-07-01T11:08:30.620-04:002009-07-01T11:08:30.620-04:00Although I read a lot about early supersonic fligh...Although I read a lot about early supersonic flight as a boy I never heard or saw pictures of this water vapor side effect. Wow!lgudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12774491337993415578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-80620645218351780622009-07-01T09:35:41.826-04:002009-07-01T09:35:41.826-04:00Pictures like this crop up regularly, usually with...Pictures like this crop up regularly, usually with comments about "breaking the sound barrier."<br /><br />The aircraft may or may not be supersonic, usually it is not. What you witness is transonic flight--that band of airspeed in which shock waves begin to form on the aircraft. The phenomenon is what causes the "barrier" that was so difficult to breach. <br /><br />Air moving over a curved surface accelerates. As it approaches supersonic it forms a "normal" or perpendicular shock wave over the areas of highest curvature. That perpendicular shock wave drastically increases the drag and made it difficult with early powerplants to push through. <br /><br />As you go faster, the shock wave moves back until it trails in a V like the wake of a boat. When that occurs and the whole airframe is ahead of the aerodynamic wave, you are supersonic and the drag is reduced. <br /><br />When humidity is high, the perpendicular trans-sonic shock wave creates that condensation wall. <br /><br />It looks a lot cooler from inside the cockpit! BTDT. Many times.Ed Rasimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667325554289268659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10820485.post-71586850987165768502009-06-30T19:19:05.981-04:002009-06-30T19:19:05.981-04:00http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246296...http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246296529941&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter<br /><br />'In Pyongyang's crosshairs', by Edwin Black.<br /><br />Might be of interest.mosheshmealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05814656362354292424noreply@blogger.com