I saw the wind with my own eyes...

app flap · Post by **app flap** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:06 pm

Ok, so let me hit you with some knowledge.

So there I was...

Flying into the beautiful north, when over the radio we heard some dude talking with radio about a wind shear/low level jetstream about 100 mile west of where we were going, and it was 'moving eastward'. So, dropping into 'super-crew' styles we briefed dealing with windshear on approach and all the wonderful stuff associated with being incredible.

On the way in, I saws with my peepers something very strange. It looked like heat waves, like what you see over hot pavement in summer, only it was everywhere I looked. 'Doth my eyes beseach me?!' I said to my commander. And to both out amazment, we were both seeing the heat waves... everywhere... and it was -30. Very Strange, Oui?

We did find the wind shear, and we did find a very bumpy ride in... and I maintain that what we saw was the warm air in the jetstream against the cold surrounding air, the 'wind' if you will.

Are we the first people on earth to see the wind? Because if we are, I'm totally naming it the dropkick effect.

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:20 pm

App, ok, you can totally name it, but "..my eyes beseach me..."??

My eyes beseech me (huh?)
My eyes besmirch me,
My eyes deceive me,
My eyes believe me
My eyes will leave me?
My eyes tea leave me?

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:29 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell's_law

Shot In The Dark: The air you were looking through was of very different temperatures and thus different densities. The change in the density caused the light to bend at the boundary (see above). This is quite common when you look through heated air rising up from your engine after you land.

Or, surprising no one here, I could be completely full of sh1t and what you saw was the UFO that was at KORD a couple months ago:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240537,00.html

app flap · Post by **app flap** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:30 pm

its 'ye olde english', i learned it when i was hanging out in Constantinople just after the earth cooled...

Duh!

pilot to dispatch · Post by **pilot to dispatch** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:56 pm

Sounds like an inversion to me. Pretty common in the north.

matt foley · Post by **matt foley** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:48 pm

Agreed. Sounds like inversion. Its easier to pick out in the mountains when you look at the familiar hill to find for a few seconds that somone has chopped the top half off.

app flap · Post by **app flap** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:40 pm

whatever guys, way to rain on my parade. i will continue to believe what i saw was the wind, and maybe even 'a jetstream'. inversion or not.

Dash-Ate · Post by **Dash-Ate** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:54 pm

It was a weather balloon (standard answer).

Anyway congrats on your experience.

frontside_air · Post by **frontside_air** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:35 pm

strato-surf's up! toes on the nose bro's...

kelvin-helmholtz billows as seen at fl240 over georgia

. ._ · Post by **. ._** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:00 pm

Who has seen the wind?

linecrew · Post by **linecrew** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:38 am

istp wrote:Who has seen the wind?

I've seen it break....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KUzwp4v0Vjk

dangerous · Post by **dangerous** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:58 am

istp wrote:Who has seen the wind?

Not me. But I have seen the rain, comin down on a sunny day.

Dust Devil · Post by **Dust Devil** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:59 am

dropkick effect sounds cooler than inversion