Photos of Planes and Contrails (That you took yourself)

Question: Could it be made possible to view EXIF-data of the posted photos here?
So one would be able to identify corresponding aircrafts. Or is that tricky?
 
No, the EXIF data is stripped out when the images are resized.
Also I think most contributors wouldn't be too happy to have the exact location of their photos made public. For identifying flights it would be good if people could include date, time and approximate location, though.
 
Also I think most contributors wouldn't be too happy to have the exact location of their photos made public.
Which is why I've never changed it. I was going to see if I could strip out JUST the GPS, or maybe just leave exposure and time stamp.
 
"Hologram" plane

There has been a good contrail day today. I went outside at lunch time to film a particular plane, A330 EC-MIN (flight WOW405), one of the Air Europa A330s, which earlier this year were refurbished and resprayed for WOW Air at our airport. When I checked the footage, I found a "100% proof" of the plane having been replaced with a hologram :eek:
Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 22.50.45.png
This is a crop from the actual footage. The A330 engines are below the wing and well below the tail, correct? So, why does the horizontal stabiliser appear below the port engine's contrail? What's going on?

Hidden below is a two-minute video of the plane and its contrail that hints at the answer (all of you are welcome to figure it out yourselves ;))
 
"Hologram" plane

There has been a good contrail day today. I went outside at lunch time to film a particular plane, A330 EC-MIN (flight WOW405), one of the Air Europa A330s, which earlier this year were refurbished and resprayed for WOW Air at our airport. When I checked the footage, I found a "100% proof" of the plane having been replaced with a hologram :eek:
Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 22.50.45.png
This is a crop from the actual footage. The A330 engines are below the wing and well below the tail, correct? So, why does the horizontal stabiliser appear below the port engine's contrail? What's going on?

Hidden below is a two-minute video of the plane and its contrail that hints at the answer (all of you are welcome to figure it out yourselves ;))

My guess is that with the angle of the sun, the vertical stabilizer is shadowing the contrail at the point where it goes under the horizontal stabilizer, making it look like it is going over the hor stab, but it isn't, it really is going under the hor stab, but because of the shadow from the vert stab, it is not visible.
 
My guess is that with the angle of the sun, the vertical stabilizer is shadowing the contrail at the point where it goes under the horizontal stabilizer, making it look like it is going over the hor stab, but it isn't, it really is going under the hor stab, but because of the shadow from the vert stab, it is not visible.
Actually, it is the horizontal stabiliser that is shadowing the contrail at this point. The vertical stabiliser is shadowing it too, but at the point that is slightly ahead. Because of Mie scattering being predominately in forward direction, the backlit contrail is particularly bright and looks opaque, but in the shadow it is transparent. At that particular position of the plane relative the Sun (nearly level and slightly to the left), from the camera viewpoint, the horizontal stabiliser was completely aligned with its shadow and therefore was seen through the transparent segment of the contrail. As the plane moved further from the Sun position, the alignment was broken with the horizontal stabiliser gradually slipping under the 'opaque' segment.
 
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Actually, it is the horizontal stabiliser that is shadowing the contrail at this point. The vertical stabiliser is shadowing it too, but at the point that is slightly ahead. Because of Mie scattering being predominately in forward direction, the backlit contrail is particularly bright and looks opaque, but in the shadow it is transparent. At that particular position of the plane relative the Sun (nearly level and slightly to the left), from the camera viewpoint, the horizontal stabiliser was completely aligned with its shadow and therefore was seen through the transparent segment of the contrail. As the plane moved further from the Sun position, the alignment was broken with the horizontal stabiliser gradually slipping under the 'opaque' segment.
Yes, that makes more sense, I believe you are correct.
 
A bit of "sky art" above my head at lunchtime today :)

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(Note: the old warehouse in the foreground is called Vinegar Yard :p )
 
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I just bumped into this old photo of mine of a sink being emptied and 'three trails from four engines'.

This is a good example of perspective - look at how far apart the 2 engines are on each wing - those on the far wing appear much closer together than on the near wing!

This is due to the sweep back of the wings - and the effect is also what makes the 2 contrails from the far wing appear as one - if you project the "single" contrail on the far side forward you will see that its edges correspond to the apparent width of the engines

Untitled.jpg
 
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this one has a feature that the jumbo jet photo also had - what appears to be a bright line under the rear fuselage (item 1 in pic), that seems to transfigure into part of the contrail (item 2)

Part 1 looks like sunlight reflecting off the curve of the fuselage, but clearly part 2 can't be that - I was wondering if they are a water drain activating??

Untitled.jpg
 
This is a good example of perspective - look at how far apart the 2 engines are on each wing - those on the far wing appear much closer together than on the near wing!

This is due to the sweep back of the wings - and the effect is also what makes the 2 contrails from the far wing appear as one - if you project the "single" contrail on the far side forward you will see that its edges correspond to the apparent width of the engines
Untitled.jpg
I figured that out, but it does upset our friends when they see that!
The centre trail often seems to be coming from the aux generator, but this trail can be seen following the steamline down the fuselage.
ps. From the length of the vapour gap and the short coffee trail, the conditions for contrail formation are marginal (low humidity).
 
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This is a good example of perspective - look at how far apart the 2 engines are on each wing - those on the far wing appear much closer together than on the near wing!

This is due to the sweep back of the wings - and the effect is also what makes the 2 contrails from the far wing appear as one - if you project the "single" contrail on the far side forward you will see that its edges correspond to the apparent width of the engines

Untitled.jpg

I think that the appearance of "three trails" is not just perspective, but also due to the curl the wake vortices induce. That is, instead of simply being in line with the flex of the wings, the port contrails are actually one behind the other from the angle of the shot, as the wake vortex lifts the outer and depresses the inner.
 
2016-09-22 18.44.04.jpg 2016-09-22 09.59.51.jpg 2016-09-22 09.58.33.jpg 2016-09-22 09.23.51.jpg 2016-09-22 07.38.05.jpg 2016-09-22 07.35.50.jpg Aviationsmog: Almost always in the sky, but never in the weather bulletins. Apparently it must remain a public secret..

These pictures were all taken yesterday, September 22nd 2016, in Amstelveen, The Netherlands.
 
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A matter of perspective, This plane looked like it was going vertical on our horizon.
DSCF1218.JPG
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As he passed overhead, it became more apparent he was on a level flight path, plus there was still a little more moisture in the upper troposphere from the low dropping in from Alaska staying over the mountains on our horizon.

DSCF1222.jpg
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You can even see the slight course correction in the dit-dit-dots of the moisture changes.
 
No, much closer to overhead. Time was 10:22 gmt, possibly DAL 87. Flightradar24 playback times can be a bit iffy..

I do not see how it could be DAL 87 that passed over Wales at about 11:00 UTC (=GMT). There were several other DAL flights around 10:22 UTC, but neither of them had its track in such a good alignment with the Sun position.

I've just realised that have forgotten to take into account that the direction of contrail may deviate from the track by several degrees, which may improve the alignment of contrail with its shadow :oops:
 
I do not see how it could be DAL 87 that passed over Wales at about 11:00 UTC (=GMT). There were several other DAL flights around 10:22 UTC, but neither of them had its track in such a good alignment with the Sun position.

I've just realised that have forgotten to take into account that the direction of contrail may deviate from the track by several degrees, which may improve the alignment of contrail with its shadow :oops:

Flightradar24 was playing up for me so I might have got it wrong. I am fairly sure both photos are the same plane.

Edit: How about DAL 405?
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL405/history/20161003/0855Z/LFPG/KJFK/tracklog
I am at 52.42 -4.07 ish..
 
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Very likely. The closeup matches a B777 in the Delta livery. Other Delta planes at the time were either 767 with winglets, or A330 with more fairings than in the Boeings. DAL 170 is another B777, but it passed a bit north of your place.
The Sun does not align well, however, and the westerly wind will only worsen the alignment:
Screen Shot 2016-10-03 at 17.56.34.png
Perhaps, the alignment of contrail and its shadow looks better than it is in a side view.
 
Very likely. The closeup matches a B777 in the Delta livery. Other Delta planes at the time were either 767 with winglets, or A330 with more fairings than in the Boeings. DAL 170 is another B777, but it passed a bit north of your place.
The Sun does not align well, however, and the westerly wind will only worsen the alignment:
Screen Shot 2016-10-03 at 17.56.34.png
Perhaps, the alignment of contrail and its shadow looks better than it is in a side view.

I have not figured out how to work out the shadows.. yet. I would guess at the time of the shadow photo it was roughly SSW and more than 30 deg. elevation. Its path had passed fairly close to the sun.
The cloud heights were quite variable.

ps. I am quite a bit north of the position shown (Llanrhystyd}, at Aberystwyth.
 
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I have not figured out how to work out the shadows.. yet. I would guess at the time of the shadow photo it was roughly SSW and more than 30 deg. elevation. Its path had passed fairly close to the sun.
This is the point. I was working out a wrong hypothesis, thinking that for the contrail shadow being aligned with the contrail itself, the contrail should point strictly away from the Sun.

In fact, for this the contrail merely should cross or be very close to the Sun position from the observer's point of view. DAL 405 did pass close to the Sun position at 10:22 UTC and even a slight westerly wind would move its contrail across the sun disk in no time.
Screen Shot 2016-10-03 at 20.30.42.png

PS I'm aware about your true location. The location in my previous post is just a point on the DAL405 track nearby to show the angle between the plane track and the Sun azimuth.
 
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This is the point. I was working out a wrong hypothesis, thinking that for the contrail shadow being aligned with the contrail itself, the contrail should point strictly away from the Sun.

In fact, for this the contrail merely should cross or be very close to the Sun position from the observer's point of view. DAL 405 did pass close to the Sun position at 10:22 UTC and even a slight westerly wind would move its contrail across the sun disk in no time.
Screen Shot 2016-10-03 at 20.30.42.png

PS I'm aware about your true location. The location in my previous post is just a point on the DAL405 track nearby to show the angle between the plane track and the Sun azimuth.

How did you do that! Have you mixed a FlighAware track into Google Earth? Looks cool whatever it is!
 
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