The Need For Speed

[kham]

Well, it has taken the USN, what, 100 years? to get where they are now. And there are still mishaps that occur every year. Watching the PLAN try to get into carrier ops will make that Russian near in-flight engagement look dull

Now, here's an interesting shot from a couple years ago -- never seen that before

[Boggy Man]

Now, here's an interesting shot from a couple years ago -- never seen that before

Looks like that aircraft is either carrying air above its "lifting condensation level" (altitude at which the air expands and therefore cools enough for the moisture to condense), or the necessary aerodynamics for flight (lower pressure above wings, higher pressure below wings) is causing the moisture in the air to locally condense from expansion/cooling due to the lower air pressure above the wings.

[kham]

That aint it

Look at the wings, and the phrase "whats wrong with this picture" comes to mind

[DangerGirl]

Funny thing about the F-22 is that it has a completely integrated flight control system. Every flight control surface does a little bit of everything; the pilot still puts in the traditional control inputs (stick and pedals), but the airplane then decides which surfaces to move based upon the current energy and aerodynamic situations and what the pilot wants it to do. In this case, the small ailerons appear to be serving as elevators while the stabilators and thrust vectoring nozzles are in their neutral positions. The condensation appears to be the result of a sudden application of g's, probably after a high-speed pass when less control authority would be required to pull up abruptly. The burners are lit, so he's either going very fast or very slow.

[Duncan Edwards]

Well, it has taken the USN, what, 100 years? to get where they are now. And there are still mishaps that occur every year. Watching the PLAN try to get into carrier ops will make that Russian near in-flight engagement look dull

Hundreds of years of naval tradition and experience, that's the part you can't buy. The Russians managed to get planes on the deck but still haven't managed to use carrier based naval aviation productively. Never mind that their navy isn't aimed at force projection anyway. The Chinese may learn faster and may have more of a real reason for needing such big toys but it will still be lessons learned long and hard over many years before it reaches its potential.

[bart1997]

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[Mynock]

Not worried. We're already M.A.D. at each other from an ecoomic standpoint so it's doubtful we'll end up in a full scale war with them in the forseeable future. They want to spend money on aircraft carriers and missles let them. Maybe they could give us a hand keeping the world in line.

[schlamm]

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[dlodoski]

This pic may go well here.

No water vapor, but obvious thrust and speed going on (with a bit of BUFF in the background - for flair).

[schlamm]

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