On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 20:13:27 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article ,
(Christopher) wrote:

I watched a dvd of the Clint Eastwood movie yesterday-I've seen it
before-bit of a slow movie but the Mig flying effects were cool.

Anyway, over the northen ocean above Russia when Clint was bearing
down on the Russian missile crusier he got it up to Mach 2.8 to Mach 3
about 50 feet above the water. The effect was a twin water plume that
followed the jet exhausts.

Would you get the same effect in the real world if a fighter plane
went that fast that low over water?

One of my favorite Cold War efforts was "Project Pluto," which featured
a Mach 3, nuclear-powered ramjet that would fly in at low altitude, drop
nukes in various places over the Soviet Union, then fly around until the
reactor came apart... it could have caused *more* damage with the
intense sonic booms and reactor pollution than it would have from the
bombs it would have dropped.

Possibly less damage over a wider area but the effects of up to 26
nukes would be tough to beat.