posted 03-06-2002 03:18 PM            

Heh, if that's a B-52 bomber, then i have them streaking all across my sky right now. Going straight up, straight down, performing generally abnormal manuevers. Which i see nearly everyday, but that supposed B-52 bomber looks exactly like a chemcraft. Well, i'd say it is, and doubt it is even a B-52 bomber at all.

Edit - Yeah, it changed. Here's a screenshot...
http://iamtower.homestead.com/files/chembomber.bmp

posted 03-06-2002 05:50 PM            

Tower, how would you know if this was the kind of plane you are seeing in your sky or not? BTW, where are you from?

posted 03-06-2002 08:29 PM            

Yeah, I know about how some of these spray planes couldn't be anything near commercial planes! The passengers would be puking their guts up with some of those moves.

What I was wondering was more like specifics of the model of planes. Like the different military tankers and such. Sometimes people on this board are very educated in various areas so I was wondering if you happend to be especially knowledgable in aircraft type.

I'm in broadcasting and marketing and hopelessly unscientific at times.

Hope you stick around, Tower. Don't forget to post your PA reports on the "Post your CT reports here thread". If you can add any type of weather conditions or atmospheric conditions that would be nice too. We're all (those of us that are convinced there is a spray program that is) are trying to figure out any patterns on spray days. Also, if it appears that they target certain areas at certain times.

It's not very scientific but hopefully something will stand out. It is a good place to post reports in a constructive way. Pretty much everyone on that thread are real supportive of each other without the debunkers getting nasty trying to call us crazy and all.

posted 03-07-2002 10:20 AM            

There's no way anyone can look at the picture and tell what kind of aircraft it is; there simply isn't enough detail. As a matter of fact, I can't even tell if the contrail comes from two engines or four.

Here are some reasons why it is probably a Boeing B-52.

• The caption says it is. I can't see any reason why the military would lie about such things; if it's a Bone or an F-15 trying to 'hide' as a B-52, what difference would it make?

• The B-52 is the bomber of choice in Afghanistan; it has the range, the platform stability, and the size to carry just about any type of ordnance in the military's inventory. Outside of special considerations (such as the AH-64A and AH-1W attack helicopters used in ground support and the Predator with its used-to-be-secret-but-isn't-anymore payload of HELLFIRE missiles), most air attacks are from miles high, and the B-52 'BUFF' is the most cost-effective way the Air Force has of delivering the ordnance.
  

Bear in mind that the ground is between 8000 and 12000 feet, and it is still winter in eastern Afghanistan. This means that atmospheric conditions at ten thousand feet above ground level might be amenable to normal contrail formation (or they might not).

Mr. Tower, although it often looks like an aircraft is traveling "straight up" or "straight down", that is usually an optical illusion. As an airplane travels from the zenith to the horizon, it will subtend a different angle to our eyes and will look as it is ascending or descending -- especialy if it travelling directly away or towards the observer on the ground. Very few aircraft can climb vertically, typically, they are fighter aircraft with a very high thrust-to-weight ratio (and even then, it usually requires afterburner to perform the climb). Something as big and old as the B-52 cannot climb straight up any more than a Boeing 737 can.

Notice that, in the picture, as the contrail from the Afghanistan aircraft goes "down" it seems to convert from twin contrails to a single one. This is further evidence that whe apparent descent is really a result of the aircraft turning and displaying a different aspect to the photographer on the ground. Remember that the B-52's claim to fame is its remarkable platform stability; it works best when the aircraft is in level flight. Even precision guided bombs benefit from a flat platform trajectory.

Hope this helps.

Regards,