# Fallstreak Hole: Photographers capture rare cloud formation in Victoria's east



## Meanderer (Nov 4, 2014)

The Fallstreak Hole, or hole punch cloud, occurs when part of a cloud's water droplets freeze into ice crystals and fall below the cloud layer, according to the Cloud Appreciation Society.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-...llstreak-cloud-formations-in-victoria/5863482


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## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2014)

Wow! Beautiful.

... it looks like a giant iPhone floating over the town.


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## Just plain me (Nov 4, 2014)

Thanks for posting. Never knew anything like that existed! Beautiful!


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## oldman (Nov 4, 2014)

Clouds are something that airline pilots keep an eye on. Most clouds are friendly, but then there are those that don't want any company. This is only a portion of what a person learns when they are being taught aviation engineering. If you have never heard of a microburst, check that out sometime. If you are landing or taking off and the plane's or airport's radar shows a microburst is present, it presents a whole new challenge and may delay takeoffs or divert your landing location. 

Fallstreak Holes can be caused by passing aircraft, if all other conditions are right. They have also been misidentified as UFO's on occasion.


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## Pappy (Nov 4, 2014)

oldman said:


> Clouds are something that airline pilots keep an eye on. Most clouds are friendly, but then there are those that don't want any company. This is only a portion of what a person learns when they are being taught aviation engineering. If you have never heard of a microburst, check that out sometime. If you are landing or taking off and the plane's or airport's radar shows a microburst is present, it presents a whole new challenge and may delay takeoffs or divert your landing location.
> 
> Fallstreak Holes can be caused by passing aircraft, if all other conditions are right. They have also been misidentified as UFO's on occasion.


. 

This is is what caused, microburst, the crash at Dallas, Fort Worth many years ago. Reason for me remembering, my wife flew into Dallas, FW, the day before.


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## oldman (Nov 4, 2014)

DFW is usually a good place to fly in and out of, except the spring. With the cold air coming down off of the Rockies and mixing with the hot air over Dallas-Fort Worth, it can be challenging at times because of the unusual wind patterns that come from this combination.


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## Jackie22 (Nov 4, 2014)

Pappy said:


> .
> 
> This is is what caused, microburst, the crash at Dallas, Fort Worth many years ago. Reason for me remembering, my wife flew into Dallas, FW, the day before.



Pappy, my friend and I had just boarded a plane for a trip to London when this crash happened, it came on the news on an overhead screen as we were sitting on the plane...the crew never told us what had happened, we had to get off and waited 3 hours to depart, I'll never forget seeing the crash as we took off.


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## oldman (Nov 4, 2014)

I had to Google this accident. I saw that it was a Lockheed L-1011, which is a heavy plane. Supposedly, the L-1011 had a great reputation for safety, but nothing can beat a Microburst. I encountered 2 or 3 in my flying days. If the airport was reporting conditions or actually experiencing Microbursts, I would slow the aircraft and hope the weather would change before I got to the airport. I never minded being late to the gate in the name of safety. I do remember diverting once for a Microburst, which really upset the business clients because they wanted to keep their appointments. However, after we would announce over the PA system as to why we were diverting, it would stop the moaning.


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## Meanderer (Nov 4, 2014)




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## QuickSilver (Nov 4, 2014)

My husband used to work for United customer service and ticket reservations.  He would field a lot of calls from passengers annoyed with delays or cancellations.  His stock response?   "It's a lot better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here!"   Worked like a charm.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 4, 2014)

Cool pic and cute joke there!


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## oldman (Nov 5, 2014)

QuickSilver said:


> My husband used to work for United customer service and ticket reservations.  He would field a lot of calls from passengers annoyed with delays or cancellations.  His stock response?   "It's a lot better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here!"   Worked like a charm.



I flew for United-Continental. Great company, but some people will choose to talk about the days of the strikes and concessions and how horrible things were. I loved to fly and made a good living at it. Safety was always priority one. Some would just talk about safety while others would take it serious and act accordingly. My passengers comfort and safety went hand in hand. 

I was flying from Washington, DC to San Francisco non-stop. We were approaching the Rockies and I was in radio contact with Denver Center. They reported heavy turbulence at 32,000-34,000 feet. I was flying a B-767 with 240 souls on-board. I asked the tower if I could go down to 30,000. They said they were experiencing heavy traffic at that altitude, so I stayed at 33,000. After all, we were a heavy aircraft. It was bad, but not dangerous. The problem we encounter when we get into heavy turbulence is calming the passengers and convincing them that the plane is safe. On this trip, we had one new flier that completely freaked out and had to be taken to the rear of the aircraft and an FA (Flight Attendant) had to sit with her until we got through it. 

It always seemed to me that when we had to announce over the PA system, "Flight Attendants, please be seated", that people took that to mean the plane was having an issue. In reality, the FAA states that we cannot have anyone up, including FA's, when the turbulence is considered a danger to passengers and cause them to be knocked down.


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## Ameriscot (Nov 5, 2014)

QuickSilver said:


> My husband used to work for United customer service and ticket reservations.  He would field a lot of calls from passengers annoyed with delays or cancelations.  His stock response?   "It's a lot better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here!"   Worked like a charm.



Good one!


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## Shirley (Nov 5, 2014)

Beautiful picture.


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## 911 (Nov 5, 2014)

oldman said:


> Clouds are something that airline pilots keep an eye on. Most clouds are friendly, but then there are those that don't want any company. This is only a portion of what a person learns when they are being taught aviation engineering. If you have never heard of a microburst, check that out sometime. If you are landing or taking off and the plane's or airport's radar shows a microburst is present, it presents a whole new challenge and may delay takeoffs or divert your landing location.
> 
> Fallstreak Holes can be caused by passing aircraft, if all other conditions are right. They have also been misidentified as UFO's on occasion.



I'll tell you what, oldman. My wife and I flew out of Honolulu a few years back and we were maybe two hours out over the Pacific when the plane started shaking so bad that the flight attendants were told to be seated by the captain and the overhead compartment doors were flying open and some people were screaming and some guys were yelling and one flight attendant was crying and then all of a sudden, nothing. Now, I ask you, what the hell was that? Oh, then the captain comes on over the intercom and said he was sorry about that, but we went through an invisible storm. I Googled it and can't even find what he is talking about.


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## Lyn (Nov 5, 2014)

i have never seen such a cloud formation.  I think it would be scary to actually see one.  It looks ominous.


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## oldman (Nov 6, 2014)

Without knowing more, my best guess would be that you may have crossed though the "jet stream". If the jet stream is loaded with cold air and is crossing over hot air, very hard turbulence will result. The pilot will then hand fly the aircraft (not use the autopilot) and normally slow the speed. Once the aircraft is through the jet stream, so it is at his back, he will benefit from the push or 'tailwind' that will be experienced. Yes, I would guess it was a jet stream. Sorry, but I have never heard the term invisible storm, but pilots make up all kinds of terminology to express their feelings of what things feel like. 

What do you think, Falcon?


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## 911 (Nov 6, 2014)

oldman said:


> Without knowing more, my best guess would be that you may have crossed though the "jet stream". If the jet stream is loaded with cold air and is crossing over hot air, very hard turbulence will result. The pilot will then hand fly the aircraft (not use the autopilot) and normally slow the speed. Once the aircraft is through the jet stream, so it is at his back, he will benefit from the push or 'tailwind' that will be experienced. Yes, I would guess it was a jet stream. Sorry, but I have never heard the term invisible storm, but pilots make up all kinds of terminology to express their feelings of what things feel like.
> 
> What do you think, Falcon?




Hey, thanks for that information. I will have to research what you are talking about with the jet stream, but it all makes sense. Sounds like you were a good pilot.


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## Just plain me (Nov 7, 2014)

Oldman I would love to hear more of your flying stories. I never have flew but I have watched children and grandchildren's arrivals and departures. I remember my oldest grandchild telling me while on a trip overr the ocean, the plane started shaking and the pilot announced they were returing to the airport they had just left. She said people were crying, holding hands and praying. She said I stuck my head in a book (reading) and thought well I might die but I won't die stupid! They made it to land safely. I would rather trust the passengers input who were praying myself.


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## oldman (Nov 7, 2014)

Keep reading the forum. I throw one in now and then. When a person is as passionate as I was about doing something that they truly love, the stories flow. It's like living it all over again. I met so many movie and TV stars and pro athletes. One of my most favorites was Debbie Reynolds. She is just a little thing, but still beautiful at the time about 15 years ago.


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## QuickSilver (Nov 7, 2014)

oldman said:


> Keep reading the forum. I throw one in now and then. When a person is as passionate as I was about doing something that they truly love, the stories flow. It's like living it all over again. I met so many movie and TV stars and pro athletes. One of my most favorites was Debbie Reynolds. She is just a little thing, but still beautiful at the time about 15 years ago.



Oldman.... have you ever flown into Midway Airport?    It's called the Bullseye.. I'm told.. as it's surrounded by residential streets.  We used to take the kids and stand on the sidewalk  at the end of a runway and watch the jets take off over our heads... We were so close we could look up into the wheel compartments. Very thrilling..


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## oldman (Nov 8, 2014)

Midway in Chicago? No, I never did. I did fly into O'Hare on many occasions. O'Hare is a major hub for United-Continental. State of the art runways with all the buttons and whistles for safe landings and takeoffs. I think O'Hare now has 7 or 8 runways in operation, but not all are fully Cat I.


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## QuickSilver (Nov 8, 2014)

oldman said:


> Midway in Chicago? No, I never did. I did fly into O'Hare on many occasions. O'Hare is a major hub for United-Continental. State of the art runways with all the buttons and whistles for safe landings and takeoffs. I think O'Hare now has 7 or 8 runways in operation, but not all are fully Cat I.




Yes.. Midway in Chicago.. Much Smaller than O'Hare, but much more convenient for us South Siders..  There are four runways... 4 left, 4 right,  13 left and 13 right


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## oldman (Nov 8, 2014)

QuickSilver said:


> Yes.. Midway in Chicago.. Much Smaller than O'Hare, but much more convenient for us South Siders..  There are four runways... 4 left, 4 right,  13 left and 13 right



If I am not mistaken, I don't believe Midway can handle the big jets, do they?


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## QuickSilver (Nov 8, 2014)

oldman said:


> If I am not mistaken, I don't believe Midway can handle the big jets, do they?



The biggest one that can be handled there is the 737.


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## Happyflowerlady (Nov 8, 2014)

*Lenticular clouds*

One of the most amazing cloud formations to me is the lenticular cloud. I don't know exactly what causes these, but to me , they look like huge flying saucers ! 
Often, you see pictures of them hanging over the top of a large mountain, such as Mt. Rainier in Washington State.


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## oldman (Nov 8, 2014)

I flew B-737's, 757's and 767's all into O'Hare. I remember flying by Midway to the south.

Pilots try to avoid lenticular clouds, if possible. Too much turbulence.


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## Just plain me (Nov 8, 2014)

Oldman,  Debby Reynolds was a favorite of mine and hubby's.  Anytime you get ready to write a blog, just be sure to post the url. I for one would love to read your stories!


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## oldman (Nov 9, 2014)

I never thought about writing a blog. Maybe I will do that. I have written one blog for our high school class using blogger.com through Google, but I was told that WordPress is better.


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