[DannyTN]

If that's repeatable, that has some psychops potential.

[EnjoyingLife]

DannyTN wrote (post #4): If that's repeatable, that has some psychops potential.

Two USMC KC-130s in Iraq engaging in unforgettable flare-o-drama by those who were fortunate enough to see it:

Video clip: http://YouTube.com/watch?v=_vyXkD8TVUQ and http://www.Archive.org/details/Herc_Salvo2

Photos: http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20051111.htm and discussion at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1562989/posts

[Criminal Number 18F]

If that's repeatable, that has some psychops potential.

Completely so. he smoke trails are created by defensive flares which are used to decoy shoulder-fired missiles; the swirls are created by the wingtip vortices of the C-17. All aircraft produce such vortices where the high pressure air below the wing or rotor spills around the tip into the low pressure air on the topside.

Winglets like those on the -17 and many other modern aircraft move the vortices, but can't eliminate them. Any plane creates them flying through smoke or wisps of cloud. They are most pronounced when the aircraft is heavy, clean (gear and flaps up), and slow. Helicopters and gyroplanes only create them when going forward... in a hover or vertical climb (helo) or vertical descent (helo or gyro) they don't.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F