
T-38C passes in front of the Sun at supersonic speed, revealing shock waves - maxcan
http://imgur.com/ozGT87I
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crisnoble
In case you are also wondering what a T-38C is, it is a plane.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_T-38_Talon)

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ochoseis
I didn't realize it was supersonic:

Maximum speed: Mach 1.3 (858 mph, 1,381 km/h)

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kunai
Neither did I. Is it customary for trainers to be capable of supersonic
flight? The T-6 we use in the Navy is a turboprop whose flight envelope is
well under transonic speeds, let alone supersonic ones.

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dingaling
It was a fad of the era which followed on from the excitement of all-jet
training ( which itself declined in the 1970s ).

The British RAF looked at the T-38 as inspiration but the subsequent Jaguar
turned out as an attack aircraft.

The Japanese then looked at the original supersonic training concept of the
Jaguar and cloned it as the T-2, larger than the T-38 but likewise still in
service.

The few other forces who ended-up using T-38s did so as a result of FMS
credits rather than actual need or validity, since the US had nothing to offer
comparable to the subsonic Hawk and Alpha Jet.

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matheweis
This is known as Schlieren imaging. The refraction of the light changes with
the density of the air, resulting in a nice way to visualize the shockwave.

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ochoseis
Seeing multiple parallel lines (I'm guessing condensation from the pressure
wave?) makes me wonder if the boom you hear is actually multiple nearly
simultaneous booms.

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fuzzieozzie
it does -- and designing the plane to shape the shockwaves can reduce the
perceived boom volume
[http://www.nasa.gov/aero/centers_tackle_sonic_boom.html](http://www.nasa.gov/aero/centers_tackle_sonic_boom.html)

~~~
detritus
When I was a child (Gosh, nearly thirty years ago now - where did it all go
wrong?) I used to draw relatively snub-nosed planes that had an array of
lasers firing so that they settled on a movable point ahead making a 'virtual
nose'. The lasers could then diverge and move the concentrated focal point
forward as it went faster, making the 'nose longer'.

I always wondered whether there was anything in that, but I'm too stupid to
work it out.

