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What you need to get your brain around is reconciling image posted at #58 and yours at #303. They are depicting the same event from two different vantage point. Where is the evidence of the vertical zoom in #58?

Secondly, review what I posted at #189, your image (at #303) illuminates what is described in the upper-air rawindsonde synopsis (w/isotach contours), there's a profound zonal flow abeam from port-side of the aircraft. Winds aloft from the entire length of the west coast and due west extending west into the Pacific for about 500 miles is in excess of 50kts.

The magnitude of the shearing forces on the contrail are plainly evident at the oldest portion of the contrail. Notice the two lateral bands of cirrostratus emminating to the right and left from the contrail. Both bands of clouds, i.e., traversing left and right, are at the same altitude. The band that juts to the right is farther away. The band jutting to the left is closer to the camera. Moreover, the dark almost black clouds evident in the image at #303 are knwn as stratofractus - from cumulus - aka 'scud' clouds. By definition they can be no higher than FL050. I'm estimating the altitude of the helicopter is FL020 and I'd call the stratofractus broken 'estimated' at FL0350.

Now, that being said, the vertical component of the contrail is purely an optical illusion due to vantage point. The image posted in #58 is entirely devoid the vertical component evident in image at #303 (and yet they're the same object). IF there truly was a vertical component in the contrail, no matter which vantage point you examine it from: it'll be vertical; you can revolve around a vertical rocket exhaust pillar and it will be vertical from all aspects.

aiiii!

wrote: I'd call the stratofractus broken 'estimated' at FL0350.

s/b: I'd call the stratofractus layer, broken at estimated FL035 Furthermore, given no other clouds in a 360^o radious, I'd call and additional broken layer of CS at estimated FL250. By definition I can't esitmate higher than that w/out PIREP. And margin for error on estimated high etage layer is +/- 5000', so they could be as high as 30000. Quite unusual for cirrostratus. However, FL250 is reasonable considering the contrail sinking ~10k feet w/in 10-15 minutes.