F-22 making clouds

[markfh]

Really neat pictures...

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/0...e_this_tr.html

[kenw]

the comments are fairly telling about the intelligence of the posters.....

(more than you wanted to know section follows)

almost any jet airplane will form "clouds", supersonic or not. In fact most passenger jets form them as well, altho not nearly as dramatic. I've often sat on a plane and watched them form just past the peak of the wing. They are formed by the rapid pressure reduction of the air. In fact this pressure reduction is the lift that makes flight possible. (this is not the oft-seen contrails which are a by-product of the combustion process from the engines.)

The neat part about these pics is the cloud surrounding the entire fuselage. Kinda like an explosion or puncture.

As far as it being a non-stealthy thing, the vapor cloud formed this way usually dissipates immediately as the air pressure returns to normal behinid the plane, not leaving much of a target like contrails do.

[Digital Prophet]

Come on. That is just the new top secret "Cloud Camouflage" that is being deployed by the Air Force. Every F-22 has a big bag of cotton balls that the pilot can take out and puff up for the stealth value. Originally they tried using fluffer nutter filling but found that at high altitudes it froze and broke off. Thus ... cotton balls.

But of course they are special radar absorbing cotton balls produced by Lockheed.

Pft, clouds? What will you people believe next?

Prophet out.

[Wes]

Who cares about the intelligence of the comments made on the other site? The point is that the pictures just rock!