Wings of gas
Question: When I look out of my kitchen window only 8 kilometres from
Heathrow Airport I can sometimes see a thick mist boiling off the top surfaces
of aeroplane wings. The mist starts out near the wing tips and forms two trails
of grey condensation, especially if there are a lot of low fluffy clouds in the
sky.
The effect is particularly spectacular with bigger aircraft such as Boeing
747 jumbo jets and Concorde. Why does this happen and why only occasionally?
Answer: The clouds of gas are actually plumes of rotating air called trailing
vortices or…
