Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: muawiyah
They can disperse a long way before sublimation, so an aircraft can give you a very wide plume due to wind movements affecting it.

Not a mile wide without being extremely thin. You didn't address how wide an airplane contrail would be if it extended to the apparent horizon in the camera's view.

1,075 posted on 11/16/2010 2:41:31 PM PST by TigersEye (Who crashed the markets on 9/28/08 and why?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1072 | View Replies ]


To: TigersEye
How "long"? He started at Hawaii ~ this is approaching LA. In really clear air, light winds, heavy contrail? Could last a long time and really spread out.

I've seen them spread out truly vast distances. They're just ice crystals and they're pretty tough. Do a google.com search for "contrails". Flip the switch to "images". Go through the collection. Some of them are obviously more than a mile wide.

Most of the photos are taken of contrail formations close to the aircraft producing them though, but when I grew up in Flyover Country I could lay there in the lawn on a hot summer's day and see HUNDREDS of contrails ~ many as high as 35,000 feet. So how wide do you think they might have been?

The trick here is the APPARENT width of the contrail ~ going no further than the distance of the horizon, whether that's 62, 42, 35 or fewer miles. An Apparent width can be computed without reference to WIND.

1,078 posted on 11/16/2010 2:54:10 PM PST by muawiyah (GIT OUT THE WAY ~ REPUBLICANS COMIN' THROUGH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1075 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson