Subsonic, Transonic and Supersonic Flight - Airgun Ballistics 101, pt. 10 

Thank you for this knowledge. I hate feeling like a smarty pants when I try to explain these thing to shooters. Now I can just avoid the frustration and send them to your video..lol...you have a better way about explaining things anyway, plus having illustrations helps a lot also. Thank you keep up the great work bud. Love it.

I'm an aerospace engineer. Trans-sonic is difficult because not every part of the vehicle or project beaks the sound barrier at the same time. Shockwaves bounce around and interact with other parts and cause them to create shockwaves but they can cause the original shock to disappear. Those shocks were only there because the original shock was there. If it's not there then the second shock disappears. Then the cycle repeats. The peak of transonic drag is M=0.85 (950 ft/s sea level) in general. Go with the heavier projectile because the rifling minimizes precession (the inherent wobble you see in a top), drops the muzzle velocity and is more resistant to the cyclic effects mentioned above. Supercritical aerodynamic bodies are a very well area of active research but I don't see them saving the projectile body because they depend heavily on the pressure gradient across a shock. Supercritical aerofoils work because we can manipulate the airflow downstream of the shock. We are getting to the point where we have things like active boundary layer techniques where the back half of the aerofoil is porous and we pull a vacuum to essentially suck the shockwave down to the wing. Of course, technology will get there one day but the $/shot when every shot has a microchip and a battery in it is going to skyrocket. Though sign me up. I would love to put some of those down range.

Thanks for having me 😎 was fun!

Wow, this is great information. You should really consider becoming a school professor. I'll bet your class will be the most popular in school. Thank you for your public service.

Bloody excellent videos mate. Thanks for being at the head of the crowd at helping the rest of us understand what is going on with our air rifle accuracy issues. You have the knack of explaining things very well. All ears here!

This video helped me a ton to understand how bullets can be affected🙌I have a .243 win rifle that I love, I only have a little hatsan breakbarrel airgun , but it is still good to know and so interesting. Oh and btw I am really looking forward to .300wsm videos next😎😎😎

I'm officially impressed by your knowledge. And, not for nothing, this video was just fun to watch, especially with your sense of humor. Keep 'em coming!

Agreed with you on the 1200 feet per second Springer advertising although most do hit that number with a light pellet if you go to a heavier pellet you will bring down the speed and increase the knockdown power

Love this video and now I know what I was missing! It explained to me why we haven't seen faster slug shapes yet. We would need stability in the transonic range as well as super sonic because we simply don't have enough power with air to maintain supersonic flight over long distances.

The inner geek in me loves your 101 series. Very well explained for both experienced and new. The real problems with transonic envelope estimation is that it varies with altitude, pressure and temperature hence if you live at sea level your gun may be fine but take it up to Utah or the high Velt and its time to rethink the speeds and back to trial and error to find what works or some stupidly long mathematics.

Wow Matt, just wow! So much knowledge in one video, I wish this was the introduction video when someone buys a PCP, (like an Impact) so they can understand more speed is NOT the key. Now obviously there are heavier projectiles to lower the speed, but there is always a maximum point, which this video describes very well! I think I can speak for the community to say this was a very needed video and everyone appreciates all of the hard work and research you put in to making these videos 👍

Really informative and "easy to chew" - and "nerding" vids are not only informative but will help improve the avarage shooter in his game. - Well done !!!

Matt is not only an excellent marksman, but very intelligent and knowledgeable about the physics involved in projectile flight.

Took me several tins of pellets but I came to the same conclusion on my benjamin marauder. Without measuring the speed I lowered it from maximum until I got the best groupings i could. Then I measured it and found I was shooting right at about 900 fps. I primarily shoot after black birds at 60-80 yards at the fishing camp. Use 7.4 grain crossman pointed due to less bullet drop. For closer stuff (fur not feather) I shoot the 10.5 grain crossman heavy domed at about 850fps with no changes to the air setting. Adjust the scope dope of course. Been pleased with this versatile setup. A video a while back from Ted's Holdover showed the erratic pattern of supersonic/transsonic path of a pellet and I quickly adopted the advice. This video helps me understand it even more.

Thanks for a great year of airgunning! Merry christmas and a happy new year!

Brilliant, totally accurate AND interesting.... can't get any better than that!

All I can say is thank you Matt. Thank you

Outstanding video and content. And you also really have the personal ability to reach out through the screen. Thank you!

Thx a lot Sir Matt... Always bringing us viewer on the right way to ulitimate precision and consistent accuracy🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦💪👌👍

complicated enough but educating at same time. Thanks Matt.

Spectacular info there Matt! Well put! Quote of the year: "we climb the mountain of trial and error only to find science waiting for us at the top the whole time." SOMEBODY WRITE THAT DOWN!!!!!

Thank you so much! I learned more about bullet and pellet aerodynamics than ever in the last 15 minutes.

Fantastic stuff, Matt. The high speed camera work would be outstanding to see. I'm honestly surprised manufacturers don't already employ this method to visually see flight characteristics.

Thank you Matt. Gotta add this vid to my favorites!

Epic video!! Please do more of these. Thank you

Love that T-Shirt, Donnyfl really are awesome moderators/suppressors.

thanks for your contribution to the airgun industry!!

Thank you sir for this video. One of the best way to explain the balistic behavior.

Great info, thanks Matt. Merry Kwissmuss to you too.

Very informative video. I'm just getting into extreme long range big bore air rifle shooting using the airforce texan in .457 and your video has answered many questions I had about sub and transonic ballistics. I've been using the chair gun ballistics app for some time now but I now have a much better understanding of things overall. Thank you for the great video it's time to put some lead down range.

Thanks for the education Matt, great video, well explained for all levels.

Awesome video!

This is an excellent video, and the explanation of external ballistics given is really well done, very easy to understand, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this area of ballistics.

Merry Christmas to you too Matt.

Hope you had a good kwistmas and new year Matt, great video and very informative. 👍

Excellent video this will help out a lot of the beginners out there and thank you for putting up all the graphs showing the subsonic transonic and Super Sonic speeds this will help me explained do some of the beginners in my area where I live I have gotten quite a few people to look at airguns as a tool to keep their skills up and a alternative for backyard Pest Control and hunting especially when they find out how powerful these new air guns are and thank you and keep up the good work and I believe yes on the high-speed camera I think we'll find out a lot of surprising results as one person has said in the past there is no such thing as a failed experiment you'll still learn something from it

Thanks for the education on ballistics on airguns!

Merry quiz_miss and a happy new year! And thanks for the informational videos, I like them a lot.

Well done Matt! I would have been happy to have contributed being an Airbus Instructor and a GA instructor since 1984....Mewwy Quismass!

Very interesting video! Thanks Matt!

Happy New Year thanks for fantastic video

I'll need to watch this excellent tutorial a few more times to soak it up.

Interesting. Thanks for that detailed explanation. Pete

I came away learning something from this video, on that note that was good! Gotta sub!

Did not know about about the affects transonic on the pellets. Great information.

Great info. Merry Chwistmas and Happy New Year!

Another great video. Thank you

Love your videos!

Brilliant Matt thanks For the information 👍

U rock bro. Very good video. Well made.

Thanks Matt.

The data and education imparted here is critical to be learnt by all shooters who want to achieve accurate target shooting. Once again many thanks for this video. God Bless

You helped me a lot. Luv ya bro

Interesting video learnt a lot... And Merry Christmas too

this is a great video!

Happy new year to you 🎄

Great vid, very educating. I was intrigued till,”Christmas”😄🤙🏽🍍🍍

Great job!! Very informative!!! And Mewwy Chwismass to you too...:-)!!!

Great info.

fascinating. this really explains things for me that I did not truly understand many many years ago. when I was in high school, I was one of a team of match shooters. We used springfield 1903, but the load and bullet were matched to be subsonic. We shot at 10 meters. standard peep iron sights. The armory chief did all the loading, and gunsmithing. I just assumed this was the typical match rifle setup and the subsonic was to eliminate the need for sound reduction/moderator/silencer. But I do remember doing some 'field work" with my rifle and trying to place rounds out at 100 meters. Oh man, I tried everything ...I could not hit anything, not even from a rifle clamp! Yet, I can use my .22 LR with a decent scope and place shot within 3 inches at 100 yards from prone...It never occurred to me at the time, that the match rifle was detuned specifically for the range and the weight of the bullet to consistently move just above supersonic around 1400 fps...and it never encounters transonic in the 10 meter range. But at 100 meters, that same match rifle breaks back down from super mach to trans sonic and then subsonic. this video reminded me of that experience..I had never been able to fully digest what is exactly going on at those mach ranges. Now I own 4 air rifles...all break barrels. ironically, the least powerful .22 caliber 49 dollar hatsan with a decent scope shoots just as accurately as the hw30 at 40 yards. both are shooting sub sonic. I am convinced this is due to other variables other than subsonic and pellet weight. I am convinced that this 49 dollar air rifle simple does not experience the same level of barrel and piston barrel resonance as the higher end....and thus more accuracy and consistency. Science is fun and confusing. experimental science in the field is a blast!

Esse cara é fera meu, o rei das airguns!

Great video, very informative.

Very good information. I can explain to others better now and I now have a video to send people to.

Excellent video, very well presented. I am a retired pilot (civilian therefore subsonic flight only) but I'm getting further into rifle shooting (17 HMR), so thanks very much.

Have enjoyed your series immensely but for this episode, as an aeronautic engineer, please understand a few things. First up. Trans sonic area is way way way harder to explain, for the layman, than is done here. I appreciate that you´ve tried to make it understandable and coherent to masses. That resistance for instance increases from v2 to v6 in the transonic area is for rather hard to comprehend reasons. Other side of the wall, as you´re probably aware,we in turn see v1,5 approx. Point still is that the understanding of the trans sonic area is way way more involved than most think and we´ll do ourselves, as shooters,a great disfavor if we regard it simple. Second up. Mach is a relative flight speed. No matter if an aeroplane or a bullet.Imperative word being relative. It is dependant of a few variables why discussing hard fact speeds in Mach numbers simply isn´t done. Speed,to us as shooters, should thus always be in either fps or m/s to avoid mix ups.

Been shooting for 48 years now this information is dead on something I always have known thanks for sharing 🎯🔫✌️

Nice video. Happy new year✌🇵🇷

Ya might try saying XMASS. Love your work!!

One of your RU-vid video follower all the way from Philippines..nice and informative video Sir

Nice video...👍👍😁

Major video!

I love this, i have seen all the credit videos before, must be follow the same channels.

VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON

Matt, this is a great channel you have. Very interesting technical info and great cinematography. I particularly like your respect for your quarry, in contrast to many American channels with blaring metal music, inappropriate weapons for the animal and whooping as a wounded animal crawls away. I hope we in UK have a similar calm, respectful approach to yourself. I had one of the original Daystate Midas and re-engineered the valving and trigger. 40FtLbs and very accurate (for its simplicity). Due to your channel, im looking at an FX Impact now as love to ‘fiddle and tune’. Keep it up. Would love to see more sloMo vid of your theories of projectile stabilities. Team up with ‘So Mo Guys’, for a vid perhaps?

Matur nuwun

mewwy cwismass! Baie nice video, dankie dat jy video's soos die maak! Hulle is BAIE interessant!

Wow i know youre all videos best brother

This is Discovery Channel presenting, very well made

This answers a lot of questions i had about airgun slugs. I'd be willing to venture a guess that the transonic region of a projectile is partly dependent on its shape, i.e. a pellet would have a larger transonic speed region than say a boat tail bullet. Possibly allowing one to push the subsonic speed of a slug a bit beyond was is accurate and stable for a pellet.

Merry quizmas to you too ✌️😁

I have found that FX STX barrels shoot JSB HEAVY DIABOLO pellets in .177, .22, and .25 calibers awesomely accurate at 950 fps. All flat stable and straight...

Merry Chwistmas mate😊

What a coincidence, just watch the other episodes one ou two weeks ago

Thank you very much I learned A lot And a And a lot made sense

I beg to differ about how fast planes go. I know the lower end of transonic speeds in unsustainable and makes the airplane uncontrollable. Though the “not too many commercial planes than fly transonic” (5:04) can operate at the higher end of transonic speeds due to a decrease in drag after the initial increase at the lower end of transonic speeds seen at 5:35. The decrease in drag happens when the shockwaves are no longer over any surfaces but in front and behind them which means no loss of laminar flow. Though the chart at 5:35 only shows the drag from normal shock waves, there’s also the oblique bow shock at the front which happens when a plane exceeds Mach 1 and drag from this shock wave skyrockets once you reach Mach 1.2. This is why airliners never at TRUE supersonic speed where all the air flowing around the plane is also supersonic.

Nice

This explains why different pellets react differently from different rifles. Each need to test what is best for them.

Cwismas that's Sylvester from the old Looney tunes cartoons from when I was a kid lol, very informative video thanks much... Napa valley California

Adoro seus vídeos Matt Dubber são ótimos não perco um, adoro quando você faz participação no Air Hunters é muito show faz um vídeo com uma participação do Ted Holdover

Great video. Meywy Chwismas.

Thanks, Matt your information is appreciated. Let me ask something is possible I use slug for my wild cat mk2 twist x, original barrel.

hello , the 22-250 is not soft on the barrel , it wil wear out sone compared to 223 or so . i load the 22-250 to moderate pressures and then it is a long accurat gun. if jou want the muzzle energie of a 223 in a airgun ,jou have to switch to the monster kalibers like 15 mm or more.and in that caliber is a firearm stil king a good vid did you made happy newyear

In the phantom the critical Mach number was very high due to the coke bottle shaped fuselage. .98. So. Going to Mach you just noticed the altimeter flip around and that was it. Meant to go fast especially thru the number. …Mach 2 is very fast. Doable in a slick phantom going downhill.

Great video with lots of detail. Do you have a background in engineering/physics or is your learning all based on a love of the technical aspects of precision shooting? RE: high speed camera -Maybe reach out to the SLO Mo Guys and see if they would be willing to do a collaboration?

What about needle like rounds in smaller diameter ultrasonic velocities. Very good Good presentation.

İ watched most of this series and found it quite informative(still some went over my head :D)! Dankie! I am actually interested in buying my first pcp, was wondering if you could point me in the right direction, it would be mainly for (extreme) long range but still want a calibre that has a punch at the distance to ring a gong or if i ever decide to hunt at shorter distances (which eliminates .177 and .20). Having trouble finding the right balance between calibre and power.

More 101 videos please

I have that gamo. Couldn’t hit a barn door from 10’ with it 🤦‍♂️🙈 well not the same spot every time anyway 🤷‍♂️. This video explains why not. Gamo just sits in the corner now 😕 I use my aa s200 all the time now ( fantastic little pcp) hopefully I’ll get an fac impact next year, if my fac ticket ever turns up 🤷‍♂️

👍

My gun just want use Jsb Heavy .177 pellets... 😁😁👍🇮🇩🇮🇩