Here’s a little “working for the weekend” motivation for DT readers. This shot was taken by former naval aviator and Military.com’s chairman and founder Chris Michel last Saturday during San Francisco’s Fleet Week. Note wake on the bay behind the Hornet. This is about as high speed as a jet can get without breaking windows and blowing the locals off of their yachts. This one’s for you, Councilman Daly!
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O ya, sweet picture. TO bad he couldn’t pouch full burners and pull a 90 right there.
I heard from Charlie Noble a few years back about a certain Tomcat driver who took his RIO for the full-burner, sub-rooftop tour of downtown Belgrade back in the 90s. Charlie even swears it was the CAG working out a little frustration on Serb fenestration.
Now, we all now that Charlie has about as firm a grip on the concepts or truth and fact as Beltway defense contractor, a Washington Post staff writer, or any of the Demopublican presidential candidates. But he leads me to ponder what would be the real effect of a Tomcat, Bug, or Superbug going balls-out on the deck through the People’s Republic of Sanfran?
Past experience with pilots blessed with the wisdom of youth and years of USNA experience informs me that EVERY jet pilot worth his or her wings will at some point flirt with the intersection of airspeed, altitude, and balls.
So, what would really happen? (Ward, you watching this?) I’ve already divined from the patterns of stains at the bottom (and sides) of my coffee cup that there’d be an acute epidemic of spontaneous defecation and urination. Are there any weird little rules of physics that might spring up that close to big buildings and the deck?
Lastly, would the pilot executing this airpower demonstration be awarded an Air Medal at his/her court-martial?
Cheers,
Chief B.
@ Chief B.
I do recall some of Dru Blairs paintings of the effect you are describing. However, I assume they are just “artist impressions”.
http://www.drublair.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItemBundle.asp?idProduct=116
http://www.drublair.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItemBundle.asp?idProduct=109
But what I want to know is where can I get a nice hi-res copy of Chris’s incredible photo?
Really.
There’s an old story about F-4 Phantoms going into North Viet Nam on the deck. They were prohibited from engaging unarmed sampan pickets, even if they could hear them reporting the mission’s position on the radio. So they started flying over them, full afterburner.
Sounds like a war story, and maybe a fish story. Anybody know if it’s true?
Chief and Demophilus:
A big fighter like the Phantom or especially the Tomcat going supersonic causes a lot of air to get pushed out of the way in a hurry, which in turn causes a pretty substantial “shock wave.” This wave can do some damage. I remember a particular “air power demo” at sea aboard the USS George Washington in ’97 where the carrier sustained pretty impressive damage to the island’s bulkheads and some of the ducting just below the flight deck after the Tomcat zorched by supersonic, bow to stern just off the port side at about fifty feet off the water. So the notion of f#@king up a sampan or two seems very reasonable to me. I’d be surprised if they didn’t sink them altogether.
I dig the loops; I dig the tight form. But I LOVE the just-off-the-deck-with-max-smack-on-the-jet passes.
Here’s another in higher res from 2005.
Can’t decide if those are shock waves extending upward and downward or just blurred sailboat rigging.
http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/051009-N-7559C-001.jpg
Cool pic, wrorke. That’s the shock wave, for sure. It radiates out in all directions from the jet, obviously.
To bad a pilot cant punch full burners, pulling a 90, right over Daly’s house. Dang I would so love to see that.