bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Damn! I'd love to have been on one of the boats. Hard to believe they are flying that speed that low with civilians that close. I might have to watch Top Gun again tonight.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

:lol: :lol: :thumbup: :thumbup:

DOOK Loc: Maclean, Australia

Very interesting. :thumbup: :thumbup:

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

Thanks Earl. :-D

guts Loc: texas.

Now that was pretty cool,I've seen lots of pics. like these before but didn't know how they were made.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

:thumbup: :thumbup: :-D

pixelcene Loc: Texan in New Hope, PA

That was wonderful explanation and visuals. Thank you

flyguy Loc: Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Blue Angels really put on a great show here in San Francisco during the "Fleet Week" celebrations and they really get very low as seen in the image below. This one was from this last event in October 2014.

Be sure to click on the download tab below the picture for a much larger version.

(Download)

DougW Loc: SoCal

I've been " straffed " on hwy 395 by f18s, whorthogs,f16s and some I couldn't identify. They fly over Owens lake from China Lake Navel Weapons station.

F18 Hornet Buzzes Unsuspecting Drivers on CA High…: http://youtu.be/ssqKynaDpm4

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

You are welcome. :-D

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

:thumbup: :thumbup: :-D

Shaun Loc: Tucson, AZ

Where it really gets neat is when you are flying in close formation and are faster than Mach 1. When I was instructing in the T-38 which is the Air Force trainer that can easily go supersonic, we had one lesson where we went in a two ship close formation and went through the Mach. The number 2 airplane in close formation is angled back from the lead aircraft and if the sun was in the right position, you could actually see the shockwave from the front of his aircraft. It looked like looking through a piece of glass edgewise because the air was compressed so much. If you moved forward, when your aircraft encountered the shockwave, it tended to move you in towards the lead aircraft because the shockwave is angled back approximately 45 degrees.

Two things to take away from the video - the shockwave is formed when the airplane goes faster than sound but is attached to the airplane and follows it along. It is not just at the point where the transition occurred. The other point is that there are two shockwaves following the aircraft over the ground. If the airplane is high enough, there will be enough space between the waves to hear separate booms.

The first time I went supersonic in a T-38 was a bit of a let down as there are no physical effects at all. You have to watch the airspeed indicator to know you are faster than Mach 1 (or Mach 2 as I have done in an F-4E). All those movies I watched as a kid where the test pilot has to fight the aircraft to maintain control when he approaches the speed of sound no longer apply once they started sweeping the wings back.

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

:thumbup: :thumbup: Thanks for your input and thank you for your service to our country. :thumbup: :thumbup: :-D

SuKai Loc: California

Hear those quite often when they are testing new planes. They always scare the crap out of me because I don't expect it and if feels as if the entire building is going to come down. That's the price one pays for working near an Air Force Base and Space Port I guess.