St. Elmo's Fire

[Hardy Heinlin]

Discharge flashes are now modeled in PSX 10.14:

http://aerowinx.com/board/index.php?topic=4191.0


|-|ardy

[emerydc8]

A friend at UPS just experienced a static discharge on a 748 out of ICN last week. He said it was really dry air on the ground and he noticed that even getting out of the van he could see static discharges coming off his clothes as he slid across the van seat. As they were climbing out at around 1500' they saw a large flash and loud pop that appeared to be about 50' in front of the nose. It was so loud that the guys in back came up to ask about it. Maybe it was all that friction caused by a two-week-old airplane.

[Will]

Can't wait to see this in action. Thanks, Hardy!

[Hardy Heinlin]

You'll need a lot of luck :-) They appear seldom and last for just a fraction of a second ...

[torrence]

Hmmmm ...   Could you give a 'ball park' estimate of how long one might need to orbit inviting CB's to experience an instance?

Cheers, and Super Solstice to everyone (traditional astronomers' seasonal greeting and applicable to most cultural groups  )

Torrence

[Hardy Heinlin]

It's too complicated for a ball park summary, but I guess the probability is nearly as low as in real life. So better don't wait for it. It might appear when you're not expecting it :-)


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[torrence]

I'll keep a 'weather eye' out for it.  It's a nice semi-Easter egg.  I still get surprised sometimes by radar interference around Groom Lake and Area 51.
Cheers,
Torrence