Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

It's often debated here as to the correct explanation of the trails behind air liners etc.
This link shows them vividly on airliners & jet fighters.
At this closer distance they are quite spectacular, regardless of interpretaions

This was an Incident over Germany a few weeks ago, when a JetAirways flight bound for Heathrow went quiet & didn't respond to ATC. Nice to know they're on the ball and don't mess around....


https://youtu.be/iJALftSN0ek

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Interesting.
Thank you for the link.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

And here I thought this was going to be another discussion of pro or con views of cloning them from images.

Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

You old cynic you?

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I guess pilots could sing that old Roy Rogers and Dale Evans song. Happy Trails to you.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Vapor trails are interesting and controversial. There is a popular theory that the government is using them to spread who-knows-what over the country. Their appearance - or not - depends on many factors. Having a huge vapor trail behind a stealth aircraft would be a cruel trick.

starlifter Loc: Towson, MD

I wonder what happened to the plane/crew ? Back when I was a newbie crew member in the USA on a C 141 the pilot tried to pull my leg. The sun was up and behind our plane , thus our vapor trail was creating a shadow on the clouds below us. The pilot said see that line below us I said yes as it plainly visible. That's what we're following to get to Alaska.

kmcclimon

As a meteorologist, we always referred to them as contrails.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I know someone that thinks those AREN'T contrails and the our government is spewing some kind of chemical in the air to make it rain and prevent more damage to our ozone. What do you guys think?

MorrisT Loc: Chattanooga, Tn.

No one remarked on the two different colors of the contrails of. the jet on the right.

Shaun Loc: Tucson, AZ

I started flying jets at the altitudes where contrails occur in the the early 1960's. It is entirely dependent on the amount of water vapor in the air as the contrails are only condensed water vapor. The weather guessers could give us a pretty good estimate of when the contrails could be a factor and how long they would persist. The rumors about chemicals or pollutants has been around since airplanes started flying high enough to cause them - including WWII.

I was going through T-38 instructor training in San Antonio in the mid 60's and we had one mission where we took 4 T-38's and flew in formation at an altitude where the weather briefer told us the contrails would be persistent and after about 1 hour of operating in an area about 30 square miles, we had caused that area to be overcast while the adjacent skies were clear.

Forget the rumors - the T-38 aircraft had no capability of dispensing anything other than its regular exhaust and as for the B-17s and B-29s of WWII, why would you leave a highly visable trail behind you to show the enemy fighters exactly where you were?

Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

Interesting, yes, I noticed them but never thought to mention, thinking it may have been the sun on one & tother one in shaded side???
Another observation. As the first Typhoon drew up to the Airbus, there was a couple of little wiggles to his trail, thought to be an alignment/positioning action to match the AB.
Even the plane from which the video was captured, was in the ringside seat to witness the action.
Not surprising when we have as many as 10 thousand planes in the air at many times, & not much less at other times.
Flightradar24 displays that on their free programme. PFHD free is another app.

Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

I submitted this theory a couple of years back, but still believe it.
I'm a mechanic & learnt about the theory of the internal combustion engine, years ago.
The question often arose as to why the exhaust emits a lot of water??
It was explained that for every litre of fuel burnt, a litre of water comes out of the exhaust.
The scientific explanation was a little over my head but I accept it.
In cold weather it seems like more water but it's only because, most of the water is in vapourous form, but in cold weather more of it condenses to liquid form, thus water, but still much goes off in vapour/steam.
Apply the same principle to the jet engine, fuel burnt produces water vapour which condenses in colder temps, thus causing the trail of vapour which condenses into liquid.
Call it what you like but it is the condensation of vapourous water, produced by burning hydrocarbons.
The clue is in the name HYDRO-carbons. Some scientific brains should have the full story.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Definitely! An alien told me that they do that on their planet, too.