Navy Lt. Ron Candiloro's F/A-18 Hornet creates a shock wave as he breaks the sound barrier July 7. The shock wave is visible as a large cloud of condensation formed by the cooling of the air. A smaller shock wave can be seen forming on top of the canopy.
It is possible for a skilled pilot to work the plane's throttle to move the shock wave forward or aft.
Cool.... at the Farnborough air show, there was a Super Hornet doing a display; the only bit I remember is when it turned directly away from the crowd and put on the reheat... man that was loud! *Ears hurt at the memory*
The Typhoon made a better display though, it was really good.
Yeah the Eurofighter Typhoon seemed more flexible... actually what really amazed me wasn't how fast it could turn and do loops n stuff, it was how slow it could go; the pilot raised the pitch and dropped the throttle to near-stall, but stayed in level flight really slowly. Of course, there was a lot of other fancy stuff that it did.
Ever seen an Apache Longbow doing its stuff? It can do some pretty neat tricks. I never realised how much control over the orientation of the craft they could maintain and still be relatively still in the air.
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