Pressure Waves

[xris]

In one of the other forums Baldy mentioned once how thermals off SanFran harbour were effecting the shot he was trying to make. I thought of that when I ran into this photo. Check out the pressure waves under this jet! (Used with permission.)

The caption reads, "...The jet is not yet supersonic, but is in the transonic region. The air around the plane is accelerated to supersonic speed when it encounters an obstruction (like a bump on the fuselage). Shocks within the supersonic flow (often causing it to decelerate to subsonic conditions) produce large gradients in air density and index of refraction, bending the light differentially on either side of the shock. Those pressure waves can be seen radiating from specific points on the aircraft (including the canopy)..."


Copyright - Bernard Zee

LINK (http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/)
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[JAG]

impressive force.

[ashby]

He's ripping right along. Those are transonic shock waves off the fuselage while the airplane is not quite supersonic. Some of the aerodynamic surfaces cause local airflows to exceed sonic speed when the airplane, itself, is still subsonic. Cool shots, though.

[Corehead]

Were you TRYING for that shot, or was that one of those "happy accidents"?

Never seen such from under a plane before--nice shootin'!

Steve-o

[xris]

Were you TRYING for that shot...

Not my shot. (Full credit and link provided.) Just thought I'd post it here because it's a great example of how even the air itself can have a lens-like effect on your pix.

Besides: it's interesting and rare in it's own right!
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[eL eSs Vee]

The longer I looked at it, the more waves I saw. An absolutely amazing shot. Thanks for sharing it.

[xris]

Here's the full shot:with permission. Copyright - Bernard Zee

He actually pulled off several frames during the fly-by. (Check out the link in the first post.)
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