picture this

August 09, 1999

Sonic Fast BreakSure it's a reach for a sports magazine, but we couldn't resist showing you a supersonic highlight from the mid-Pacific Division. Civilians seldom see a plane at the moment it breaks the sound barrier, but Ensign John Gay spotted an F/A-18 Hornet at just the right instant and snapped this photo on July 7. Moving at about 750 mph, the low-flying fighter created a small vapor cloud as it broke the barrier off the coast of Hawaii.