That is funny, cause I was in a client meeting and there was a loud boom, I thought it was just that someone dropped something in the office suite. I guess I was wrong.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by William
[B][QUOTE]Originally posted by josh3io
[b]i grew up near dulles airport...whenever the concord was taking off (always around recess time) everyone, everything STOPPED.

 

I was getting my car washed at the time (not my s2k)and thought it was a couple of gunshots or explosions. I totally forgot that the space shuttle was scheduled to return today.

 

Did you guys see the land speed car powered by jet turbines break the sound barrier? A sonic boom on land looks pretty awesome too.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by huyto
[B]Did you guys see the land speed car powered by jet turbines break the sound barrier?

 

I searched high and low for MPEG's of the Thrust SSC's run but couldn't find them anywhere.

If anyone does track one down let me know.

 

Okay, I hate to be the techno-weenie and spoil the fun, but the F-18 in that picture is not going supersonic, and the cloud around it is not caused by "breaking the sound barrier." What you're actually seeing is the plane flying close to the speed of sound (maybe 0.9-0.95 Mach) in high-humidity conditions. When the air moves over the canopy and wing, it accelerates to supersonic speed. As the air speeds up, expansion waves (as opposed to compression waves, or shocks) cause pressure and temperature to drop, causing the water vapor in the air to condense...hence the clouds around the aft portion of the canopy and the wing. As the air moves farther aft, it decelerates back to sub-sonic velocity through a shock wave, instantly raising temp and pressure back to near ambient, thus causing the abrupt end to the vapor cloud.

All that being said, it's difficult to explain and my feeble attempt at it probably doesn't make any sense...calling that photo a picture of an F-18 breaking the sound barrier ain't far from the truth, and it sure is easier that way, so maybe I shoulda just kept my mouth shut . In either case, it sure is a kick-ass pic! I've got a whole book full of stuff like that. I'd love to see some photos of the supersonic car though.

 

The supersonic car was on an A&E special on the land speed record attempts (watched a lot of TV when I was living in Davis, CA ). The thing was powered by two jet turbines and was basically a jet airplane with no wings and wheels. I think my roomate might have taped it but its probably long gone by now (Next time I see him, I'll ask him about and make copies for board members). You'd be surprised by some of the interesting documentaries on the History Channel, A&E, MSN... But the picture of the car breaking the sound barrier has to be floating around on the net somewhere.