#transonic flight

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F-35A in transonic flight

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Major Kirstin “BEO” Wolfe pulls a perfect vapor cone  in her F-35 during a transonic pass at the California International airshow

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”Vapor Cone”

The vapor cones are created by a shock wave that is generated by the aircraft as it picks up speed. The shock waves are the physical effects of the aircraft traveling so fast through air. As the aircraft picks up speed, and approaches the speed of sound – around 767mph (1,234km/h) at sea level – shock waves form around the aircraft. Across these shock waves there is ‘discontinuity’ in the local air pressure and temperature. This causes the air to lose its capacity to hold water and condensation starts to form, creating the vapor cone. the vapor cones are often the most dramatic when they take place in what’s called ‘transonic’ flight – that’s when some of the air flowing around the aircraft is flowing at above the speed of sound, and some of it below. However, this effect does not necessarily coincide with the acceleration of an aircraft through the speed of sound or Mach 1.

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Transonic Flight - Carpainter [Declare Victory]