Flight 587 Video Shows 'Puff of Smoke' in Sky

Newsmax ^ | November 17, 2001 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[Born to Conserve]

The heavier the plane is, the harder it has to push on the air to stay aloft. The disturbence intensity is going to be related to the weight of the plane, and how slowly it is going. A large slow plane will tend to have a more powerful wake than a small fast plane.

[El Gato]

If it was a terrorist event then why haven't the perps taken credit? Terrorists will always take credit for their handiwork - otherwise they don't advance their agenda.

Hmm, nobody took credit for 9-11, not for several weeks anyway. In fact they denied it. Finally they sort of admitted it, but only in a video intended for their supporters, and even then somewhat ambiguously. Sometimes the purpose of terror is merely to terrorise, and get a reaction from the victims, the reaction being the desired outcome, to be further exploited.

[floriduh voter]

Your honor, you want to split up this thread like you tried to split up Microsoft? Personally, I like to hear all points of view; one stop shopping.

[El Gato]

centripital

Should have been centrifigal force. Centripetal (spelled it wrong too!) force is real, it's what causes the circular motion. The centrifigal "force" is the result of choosing a rotating coordinate system, which I try not to do, since it confuses me. :)

[Crowcreek]

That's the natural color of the carbon-fiber (graphite) composite material. 'Composite' is a catch-all term to refer to materials similar to fiberglass, which are made with graphite, kevlar, or ceramic fibers which are held together in a matrix of epoxy.

The graphite fiber, though stronger than steel in the finished product, is the same material as pencil lead, hence the color.

[VOA]

Thanks to both of you for the information and explanations.
Guess my faulty armchair analysis of the situation shows why it's a good thing
I didn't try to become an aeronautical engineer!

[alithia]

except that we saw interviews with witnesses right after it happened,and a lot of them talk about a fire and pieces falling off all at the same time.

[EggsAckley]

tell me why it doesn't look like something exploded causing those darkened rounded portions?

That is precisely my question.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Good point... now, not to get back on the TWA 800 'isolated incident' again, but I recall reading something somewhere (I disremember exactly where, though, so I'll have to try and find it) where Iranian (I think) sources claimed that the Islamic Jihad Group (based in Egypt, with ties to Al Qiada) actually took credit for the downing of TWA 800...

Which brings up another complication - I doubt terrorists would be above claiming credit for an accident - I believe it's happened before...

So, here's a question for everyone on this thread - If the gov't continues with the claim that Flight 587 was an accident, and a terrorist group comes out and claims responsibility, who do you believe????

;0)

[hoot2]

Left forward attachment point
Vertical stabilizer (tail fin) attachment point

these 2 pics look identical, different names???
anyone else see this?

[El Gato]

I'm not an engineer...but wouldn't amount/intensity of wake turbulence be determined by the aerodynamics of a plane...NOT the amount of weight carried within it's hull? In other word, if a 747 is cruising along at 450 mph, wouldn't the wake turbulence from the votices from it's wingtips be just about the same if it was flying empty or loaded to the max?

Nope, weight does matter. Why? Because the vortices are a side effect of generating lift. If the aircraft is heavier, you have to generate more lift. You do this by having a larger angle of attack, the angle between the direction the nose is pointed and the direction the aircraft is moving. A higher angle of attack also means more drag, and thus a larger thrust required from the engines. With a higher angle of attack the air is moving faster as it traverses a larger arc going ovr the wing. Faster air means stronger/bigger vortices, everything else being equal besides aircraft weight.

How big the difference between a heavily loaded and a lightly loaded 747, I couldn't say.

[usconservative]

While all the "a bomb did it" crowd goes nuts, I have a simple question that no one has been able to answer:

On the voice recorder, the pilot remarked he heard a rattling noise on the plane. The cockpit voice recorder picked up the noise.

Now the question: Since when do bombs make a rattling noise? They usually just go KA-BOOM!

Well???

[Chad Fairbanks]

Did you ever read "Soft Targets" by Dean Ing? A sub-plot deals with that very issue... ;0)

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, it's possible that they took a page from the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, and made a bomb out of Baby Toys...????

[Diddle E. Squat]

Amazing the number of blithering idiot conspiracy nuts, no matter what investigators do, they get ripped as engaging in some converup. Lets see, they find a videotape, analyze it, then allow reporters to view it. Yeah, that's really trying to cover this up. But not only do they allow reporters to view it, they do so knowing that what appears to be a puff of smoke is visible, bringing more questions than answers. If they were going to cover this up, wouldn't they digitally alter the tape and get rid of the smoke BEFORE they let reporters see it?

But of course one has to employ logic and reason to reach this conclusion, rather than hysterically spinning to somehow support whatever coverup one is contending. Ya know, I hear how there are no differences between Republican and Democrat legislators, but frankly I see alot of similarities between conspiracy nuts and Democrats in their emotional bull-headed refusal to consider anything other than their templates, in this case "the govt is lying to hide xxxx from us".

Sorry for the rant, but some of these goofballs really make me hesitant at times to recommend Free Republic to liberal friends who are just starting to see the light. Sometimes they are more focused means for conversion, but what a shame to have to wait to benefit from all the other rich debate and thought found here on FR.

[KirklandJunction]

Huh?
I guess you've closed this AA587 site!

[concerned about politics]

tell me why it doesn't look like something exploded causing those darkened rounded portions?

Your picture looks like something round went through it.