Before the terror attacks of 2001 I would sometimes hang out near Logan airport fences, etc to try and get a glimpse of the action. This was most in evidence during lightning storms or interesting light such as with this foggy landing below. Needless to say, I don’t really do this too much anymore due to concerned, well meaning neighbors and an overburdened police force. In short, I don’t need the hassle either. This photo was always one of my favorites, even though there are some technical issues, such as high film (that’s right film) grain. I snapped this 11 years ago tonight. It shows moisture, or wake vortices, coming off the wing tips of this jet. According to Wikipedia: “Wingtip vortices are tubes of circulating air which are left behind a wing as it generates lift. One wingtip vortex trails from the tip of each wing. The cores of vortices spin at very high speed and are regions of very low pressure.” My photo was aided by the fact that another airplane facing me was backlighting the landing plane, so that the moisture coming off the wings really went “electric” once it was backlit. You can see the circles inside these vortices, not unlike a tornado. This was shot for the hobbyist website airliners.net where you can view a portion of my aviation photography images.
Tags: 757, Boston, foggy landing, Logan Airport, Mark Garfinkel, Masachusetts, moisture, vortices, wake turbulence, wake vortex, wing
