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"Engulfed in vapor as he got near us, we heard the crack of the sound barrier being broken as he raced past the ship. I heard later on that he hit MACH 1.1."
(Continued from page 23) Just about that time an F/A-18F Super Hornet from VFA-106 “Gladiators” Super Hornet Demo Team met up with us and performed their full air show demonstration. One big notable difference however was during his high speed pass, they played the cockpit audio over the loud speakers and we heard he was clear for a supersonic pass. As I looked way out to my right I could see the vapor building up on his jet. Engulfed in vapor as he got near us, we heard the crack of the sound barrier being broken as he raced past the ship. I heard later on that he hit MACH 1.1. I was surprised by the crack sound, as I had expected more of a boom. It was very cool to see my first supersonic fly-by.
(Continued on page 30)