Question to Mxmanic

The only dynamic is between the pilots on the group, certainly not with
MX. But, as I mentioned, the thread forced me to ask myself just what it
was I am "running over" when I hit my own wake turbulence. Does it
matter? Probably not, but this enquiring mind wants to know. I still
don't have the answer. Rising wingtip vortices in warm air? Prop wash?
"Burbles" from the passage of non-lifting surfaces like the fuselage?

We all know it happens. I'm just one of those weirdos that wants to know
WHY it happens. As a result of this thread, it appears that nobody
knows. It's an unstudied regime of flight. I find THAT interesting!
Perhaps it could lead to some super-terrific drag reduction technique,
like surfing on your own wake? After all, that's why geese fly in "V"
formation.

Rip

As you correctly point out, we all know that it happens because we have all
done it; and when we flew eights around pilons, we hit our own wake quite
decisively each time we crossed the center point.

Thus, clearly, it doesn't matter whether we might have found a more
impressive bump lower down; the salient point is that a portion of the wake
was above the flight path when we returned to that place in the atmosphere.

Actually, most of the writings about wakes and sinking air, insofar as I can
tell, only discuss the motion of the central portion of the wake.
Additional writings, regarding the (very reall) potential for upset discuss
the central area of the vorticies--which settle at a lesser rate and expand
as they settle. Our actual experience strongly implies that the vortices
expand at least as rapidly as they settle.

I see that Snowbird has already posted links to my favorite illustration of
this, plus quite a few more, so I'll stop.

Peter