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The first sonic boom is created by the shock wave coming off the front of the aircraft. The aircraft displaces a large volume of air, and creates a vacuum trailing the craft. The tail end of this vacuum cavity creates a second shock wave. On smaller aerodynamic craft, the cavity might be right behind the tail of the craft, and the separation between the shock fronts is not enough to be able to discern them as distinct booms. On larger and faster aircraft, the cavity can trail significantly behind the tail, and thus create a significant enough separation that two distinct booms are heard.

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15y ago

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