View Single Post
Old 04-08-2018, 06:28 PM   #2
NN5I
Carl, nn5i
 
NN5I's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 1,441
Default

This is a striking and beautiful image, but I don't think we're seeing a rainbow produced by an airplane.

The rainbow, if that's what it is, appears to be in the cloud ahead of the airplane. Notice that there's a white puff, clearly part of the cloud, over the starboard wing between engines 3 and 4, that is between us and the colored arc, so that it obscures that part of the arc. So the arc can't be as near to us as the airplane is.

Also, what contrails? I see the aircraft's winglets sticking up, as they do on all 747s, but no contrails. There's a light flare, likely from the bright sunlight reflecting off the starboard winglet. I think the flare is probably produced within the camera lens.

Contrails are almost always below the wing that's causing them (and below the flight path of the airplane). That's because they're floating in the air that has been pushed downward by the wing. That's how the wing produces lift, by pushing air downward. Many airplanes can produce contrails at high angles of attack and especially at low speed. The F4U Corsair of WW2 was especially notable in that regard, during hard (high G) pulls in aerial maneuver. But I think there ain't no contrails in this photo anyway.

Oh, well, what do I know anyway?

Still, it's a lovely and serendipitous photo, for sure.
__________________
-- Carl
NN5I is offline   Reply With Quote