Cool pic of breaking the sound barrier

BrianUSMC

Hey there guys!

Remember when I said I was in Alaska for the last month doing an 'exercise'? Well these Raptors were part of it. It was called Northern Edge and is (I think) the largest exercise US forces conduct from the perspective of air combat. Also, the USS Stennis was out there (I have landed on that boat several times... GREAT Philly Cheesteaks!)

As far as breaking the sound barrier: You would think it would be awesome and cool and (as a pilot) you would hear the boom, etc. Fact is, you don't hear a damned thing. You have to be really light on the controls as you pass through the Mach number, though, because there is transonic pitch-up (which means that if you move the stick around too much when you are breaking the barrier, you could overstress the wings, etc)

So, in short, (too late): your mach airspeed just ends up being a number in the HUD that you are watching as it increases... nothing cosmic that you hear or see. But it IS cool to know that you have been traveling faster than 99.9% of all people, ever.

BTW, those Raptors are pretty damned cool. It is really a shame the funding is getting cut. I am on the block for the JSF (F-35) transition in the next several years. Now THAT will be cool!

r/
Brian

ps. back in Japan now... patiently waiting. patiently. waiting. p a t i e n t l y. (wanna see my car)

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