NW1's post is fascinating, esp "dancing shockwaves" (and asymmetrical too)..
I once sat over the wing in a window seat on a KT (Caledonian) B757-200 en route back from Eilat to Gatwick. From memory we were at either FL380 or 390. The only thing that kept my mind off the horrendous 28/29" pitch and the steamed rodent main course was the mesmerizing sight of an incipient shockwave hovering around the area of maximum camber from root to tip, looking like a sharply-defined transparent tube. I was very tempted to wander up to the flight deck, but fearing being made to look a complete plonker I convinced myself that we were way below a shock stall, and that even if it happened I was well insured.
I must have sat by a window with a reasonable view of the wing a thousand times, but that's my only sighting. No better place than the anonymity of a pprune forum to be rumbled as a plonker, so is this in fact rare/unusual/commonplace, or should I being seeking professional help?
