Awesome F-16 pic

[RoadDawg]

I found this on Yahoo and thought it was sweet and worth sharing.
Yahoo link

[Army]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

[personman]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

pwnt.

[Willystyle21]

Looks like somebody took a pic of 2 model rockets shooting off and cropped in the "Lawn Dart" . Hate those planes anyhow............

[xXHavokXx]

I love 16's and 15's I grew up listening to them roar into the sky from my house on Luke AFB

[Blennidae]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

May be a photoshop with the moon, but the vapor patterns off the wing and the smoke trails are consistent with an F-16 pulling high G's. I've seen the same thing in a lot of F-16 pics. In pics of F-14s and F-15s the vapor shows up over the whole wing, but on F-16s you usually see what is in RoadDawgs pic. The smoke trails off the wings are from "smokewinders" used for airshows. Here is another example showing the same vapor/smoke trails.

[RoadDawg]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

So your saying the Associated Press photochopped this picture? Interesting. None the less I love these planes. I grew watching them at Hill Air Force Base everytime the Thunderbirds came to town.

Here's excerpt for those that hadn't clicked the link.
A F-16 military jet from the Belgian Air Forces flies inverted past the moon during a demonstration flight at the airshow Air 04 in Payerne, Switzerland, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2004. The airshow is one of the biggest in Europe this year, showing top international and national flying teams. (AP Photo/Keystone, Fabrice Coffrini)

[Fixion]

I don't think thats photochopped. I've never seen anyone chop smoke that well. But it is an excelent pic.

[Head knight of Ni]

but the vapor patterns off the wing and the smoke trails are consistent with an F-16 pulling high G's. I've seen the same thing in a lot of F-16 pics. In pics of F-14s and F-15s the vapor shows up over the whole wing, but on F-16s you usually see what is in RoadDawgs pic. The smoke trails off the wings are from "smokewinders" used for airshows.

My thoughts exactly. I noticed there were no head fins on the missles. AIM-9 sidewinders have a very characteristic head. I don't think the moon is chopped in either. The vapor makes an effect on the color of the moon quite nicely, something a photochopper probably would have left out.

[NJPaint]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

Looks pretty accurate to me. But then again, maybe its the liberal media trying to brainwash us.

[magstevo]

Here is a link to a cool pic of a Thunderbird having a little fun. picture

[Army]

May be a photoshop with the moon, but the vapor patterns off the wing and the smoke trails are consistent with an F-16 pulling high G's. I've seen the same thing in a lot of F-16 pics. In pics of F-14s and F-15s the vapor shows up over the whole wing, but on F-16s you usually see what is in RoadDawgs pic. The smoke trails off the wings are from "smokewinders" used for airshows. Here is another example showing the same vapor/smoke trails.

Look again. Your aircraft is doing a "gear up" slow pass. See the forward slats extended, and the elevator clawing for air? A high G pass would still have the smoke out straight, since you won't get high G's without high speed.

Head knight of Ni, Those are known as "Smokewinders", only used for show (see above quote).

[Blennidae]

Look again. Your aircraft is doing a "gear up" slow pass. See the forward slats extended, and the elevator clawing for air? A high G pass would still have the smoke out straight, since you won't get high G's without high speed.

Its possible that the first pic is a gear up pass. However I respectfully disagree with your comment that high G requires high speed. I don't know if you have ever seen the Blue Angels in their F-18's. One of the solo manuevers is to do a high G pull up as soon as the gear is up. Of course take off speed for an F-18 is not slow by any stretch of the imagination, but if they had smokewinders going, the trail would look simillar. If you hit a brick wall at 30mph, you aren't moving fast, but you will sure pull a lot of G's.

I found another pic of an F-16 with the same smoke/vapor pattern. This one looks to be at the bottom of a loop. He would be pulling a fair amount of G, and be traveling at a good rate of speed. Not much deflection on the elevators. I believe the leading edge devices on an F-16 will deploy whenever the flight control software tells them to.

The whole idea behind the smokewinders are to wow the crowd with the angle the F-16 can fly in regards to the angle of the air flowing over it.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that I really don't think the original pic is photoshopped. There are just way too many pics out there of F-16s pulling G's showing the same patterns.

[Steelrat]

Bad photochop

The smoke trails should be straight as can be, since the aircraft is in afterburner. The small vapor trails coming from below the cockpit wouldn't form before a huge vapor cloud has formed over the wings, since the wings would create a larger negative atmosphere area sooner.

Still...nice pic.

Afterburners on does not automatically translate to high speed. He might of just kicked them in right there.

Does anyone know under what conditions vapor trails form at the LERXs? I think it has something to do with AOA, but im not sure.

[ASDadam]

Is everyone missing the fact that the back end of a wing creates a vortex or swirling motion of air? This would make the smoke move in different directions as opposed to just shooting straight out the back, which in fact would make the first pic totally possible.