Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration shock wave by a chase plane, the SSBD demonstrated a reduction in boom by about one-third. Several of the flights included NASA Dryden's F-15B research testbed aircraft following to measure the F-5E's shock wave signature close-up. During the flights, many shock wave patterns were measured by the F-15B at various distances and orientations from the F-5E. An unmodified F-5E flew a few seconds behind the demonstration aircraft to provide a baseline sonic boom measurement to validate the reduced boom produced by the demonstrator. A U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Blanik L-23 glider carrying a microphone on the left wingtip,
Shock tube is induced in the driven section before detonation). The test begins with the bursting of the diaphragm. Several methods are commonly used to burst the diaphragm. The bursting diaphragm produces a series of pressure waves, each increasing the speed of sound behind them, so that they compress into a shock propagating through the driven gas. This shock wave increases the temperature and pressure of the driven gas and induces a flow in the direction of the shock wave but at lower velocity than the lead wave. Simultaneously, a rarefaction wave, often referred to as the Prandtl-Meyer wave, travels back in