We frequently see condensation trails over the desert, but they almost always appear in straight lines or showing a minor dog leg over an airways facility or when vectored. Today, Damsel called me out to the courtyard to witness these circular contrails being painted as we watched.
All I can figure is that these were military aircraft making high-altitude maneuvers. The aircraft involved were due south of our location, possibly directly over Luke AFB or one of the outlying training facilities near the Northwest Valley of the Sun.
Shortly after our morning observation of these unusual sky circles, they all sublimated away and have not been seen again. Click on Damsel’s image to enlarge.
Kinda what I thought, too. I once saw military jets flying in cirrus clouds at or just above the speed of sound. I could see the shock waves follow the planes through the clouds. That was pretty cool!
With a pair of binos you would see these are transport category military aircraft practicing aerial refueling. They’ll fly circles, elongated ovals, or figure eight patterns. I’ve seen each of those.
Each time I have seen these maneuvers they have been in roughly your same location. That is interesting because Luke has only a fighter wing (no heavy lifters). Also, such maneuvers are not limited to Restricted SUA (Special Use Airspace). That is, they do stray outside R-airspace. This would be expected since these types of maneuvers eat up the miles.
That’s very interesting, ‘R.’
Next time we see this, we will get out the binoculars and the telephoto lens to try and take a closer look.
Thanks.