US and NATO Military Hardware. MilitaryAircraft.de - Aviation Photography. Faster Than Sound. As an airplane flies faster than the speed of sound, it "pushes" on the sound waves in front of it.
But sound waves obey the speed limit—they can't travel faster than the speed of sound. So the waves pile up against each other as they are created. These "piled up" waves are called shock waves. 2009 Sioux Falls Air Show - Ken Cheung. Stick & Rudder Aviation Photography by Chris Luvara.