Photo of a Sonic Boom

[Kire]

Ensign John Gay, photo officer for Fighter Squadron Two (VF 2), took this amazing photo of a F/A-18 Hornet as it broke the sound barrier. The jet was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron One Five One (VFA-151) and John was standing on the 0-10 level weather deck of the USS Constellation (CV 64). He used a Nikon N-90s, Nikon 70-300 ED zoom lens and Kodacolor 200 negative film. The camera was set for manual exposure of F/5.6 at 1/1000 sec. John, the lucky and talented dog, caught this masterpiece with a single shot by prefocusing at approximately 200-300 yards off the port side of the ship and then panning left to right as the aircraft flew by. This image has appeared in many publications worldwide and I hope made John
some $ because damn, what a shot.

From Odd pics of the strange, weird, and bizarre

[Wickerman]

1. Amazing

that is very cool. A very talented/or lucky photographer.

Here is another sonic boom pic, even if it isn't a Peter Kember thread.

[aeolian]

2. That ranks up there as one of the luckiest shots ever

Damn good aim and timing. :)

[dogindia]

3. ufo...at wtc on 911 from same photo site

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/WTC_UFO.html

[LastDemocratInSC]

4. It's not a lucky shot

The impressive white flares in the photo are the result of water vapor condensing in the wake of shock waves created by the airplane's supersonic speed. Two shock waves are visible - from the forward wing chine and the cockpit canopy - and from the wings (the larger flare).

The photo is taken not as the airplane "broke the sound barrier" but while the airplane was flying beyond the speed of sound. The condensation flares were not visible for an instant but for a continuous period while the plane was flying supersonically through an environment of high humidity (just above the ocean surface).

The same effect can be seen with all kinds of airplanes even in low speed environments. Continuous Condensation flares are common above the wings of commercial jetliners when flying through high-humidity air.