Typhoon breaks sound barrier over Shropshire

[harrogate]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/7188024.stm

Oops.

[LowObservable]

:ok:

It's the sound of freedom!

(Where can I find a lawyer named Hatchet?)

[Chicken Leg]

Typhon breaks sound barrier over Shropshire.

Is that Mike Typhon! :E

[Razor61]

I assume it was the one which declared a mayday with oxy cut off to the backseater.
If it was, travelling at that height, i'd want to get down very quickly too...

Only assume though, could have been a different one.

[harrogate]

From looking at another website, the oxygen event happened at 09:58 today, whereas the sonic boom even occurred at gone 4pm.

I think.

[ZH875]

Another caller to BBC Radio Shropshire said he saw two large aircraft flying very low near Haughmond Hill.

Typhoon is not big enough to be called large :hmm:

[harrogate]

It is to a moron.

A low Typhoon could easily be misconstrued as a massive plane at altitiude by a dork.

[aviate1138]

More likely he was p*ssed and seeing double! :rolleyes:

[Razor61]

Harrogate
The Mayday was called around 16:10 this afternoon. Around the same time as the Sonic Boom.

In an event of an emergency such as the Oxygen being cut off (which happened here) at high altitude then what are the chances of the Pilot getting a bollocking?

Of course, the time and area (and type) tally up with the news event but again, it might not have been the aircraft calling the Pan.

[harrogate]

Ah, I assumed the comms heard and reported on another site at 09:58am related to the oxygen incident.

Triplex flight going on about 'not feeling dizzy any more' and reporting a stiff neck.

[Beatriz Fontana]

The story even made it to national radio - reports of an earthquake at first according to an incredulous Peter Allen this afternoon, followed a few minutes later by a statement from the RAF. Nice to see they're on the ball!!

[harrogate]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/7188328.stm

Officialised.

[goudie]

BBC Shropshire missed a trick here. Didn't interview anyone who said 'I fort I was gonna die'!

[green granite]

Presumaly all the people in Shropshire who have had broken glass in their greenhouses for years will now claim compensation :E

[airborne_artist]

I think you will find that the officer was "familiarising himself" with its capabilities, just as this officer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/4559173.stm) did in Shropshire in 2003

[chicane]

Quotes from the report on the BBC website:

"Nobody knew what was going on, she said, and everyone poured out on to the streets".

"After the boom, the clouds just parted and the [smoke trail] is what I saw".

" We thought someone had driven into our building".

......... F000kin civvies! :rolleyes:

[RobinXe]

Clearly some fag-chariot driver demonstrating why his left hand was not deft enough to go rotary :p

[Al R]

In a statement, the RAF said: "We regret any anxiety this incident may have caused to the local population."

In a statement, the RAF should have said: "And? We value the lives of our employees far more than a bunch of crass, over sensitive lilly livered shoppers who, a generation or so ago, would have thrilled to the very idea of hearing the sound of the sound barrier being broken instead of running off to see if they could make a claim for stress. Frankly, we don't care if they thought the world was about to end - we have a job to do and we're getting on with it. We will not apologise for the laws of physics and for preserving the safety of our aircrews, so you can all just :mad: off and either return to your lattes or go and change your hemp underwear, you poor mites. In fact, we've just decided. We liked doing it so much that we're going to do it again next week too.

[ShyTorque]

It is to a moron.


In the circumstances, would that be an oxy-moron? ;)

[cribble]

:O Aw Gosh, Al . You have given this old jet guy a half-silly on for the first time in a long while!

[Al R]

We used to drive the armour back from Salisbury Plain at silly times, and if you got the revs just right and hammered down a gear at the same time, you'd get sheets of flame from the exhaust 3 feet long and a bark that made the High Street of Devizes sound like the end of the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. We really had to concentrate to make sure that we didn't go wrong at the roundabout, because if we did, we would invariably find ourselves having to go through town again. And we used to get really cross sometimes at our own poor navigation skills. As young rockapes, we were always acutely aware of the need to place the wishes and comfort of the civilian population over our own desire to have fun.

[Lurking123]

As a Shropshire resident, I was away yesterday and am deeply disappointed I didn't see a real aircraft in LFA9 for once. The problem with this part of the world is that you never see military fast jets at low level. If Flt Lt I M Hero ended-up at a few hundred feet over Haughmond Hill (otherwise known as the Poo Pile due to the large dog walking fraternity who utilise the facilities) then I'm not surprised Joe Public noticed it.

[Gainesy]

In the circumstances, would that be an oxy-moron?

Nah, that's a hypoxic Rock surely?:)

[harrogate]

"In a statement, the RAF said: "We regret any anxiety this incident may have caused to the local population."

In a statement, the RAF should have said: "And? We value the lives of our employees far more than a bunch of crass, over sensitive lilly livered shoppers who, a generation or so ago, would have thrilled to the very idea of hearing the sound of the sound barrier being broken instead of running off to see if they could make a claim for stress. Frankly, we don't care if they thought the world was about to end - we have a job to do and we're getting on with it. We will not apologise for the laws of physics and for preserving the safety of our aircrews, so you can all just off and either return to your lattes or go and change your hemp underwear, you poor mites. In fact, we've just decided. We liked doing it so much that we're going to do it again next week too."

Hmm. Although some of the people mentioned in the various reports of this incident will inveitibly be morons, I don't see anything about any of them complaining.

Confused, yes. Complaining, no.

[keithl]

Unusual to hear from "witness Andy Brooks". He usually saves himself for much weightier matters.

[spectre150]

Radio One reported this is as @a RAF Typhoon fighter was forced to make an emergency landing after the failure of one of its systems@. Hardly national news ffs.

[Acer101]

Yep, I heard it in the office just to the NW of Shrewsbury. A bit of a non-event really - I though that an empty truck had gone over the speed bump outside my window. No truck to be seen, so looked towards the airfield - no smoke and nobody running around - must have been thunder.

It wasn't until I got in the car to drive home that I heard the story. Radio Shropshire called the earthquake people (yes we do get a few here!) who said that there had been an event at the weekend, but were disappointed that nobody noticed. Then they call the police and fire who said "what explosion". Finally they called Shawbury!

I'm sure that this is just part of the ongoing PR plot for Typhoon, just like "Give the Russians a call and see it they would like to join us in a little air-to-air photo sortie, a Bear would be ideal" :)

"Biggles, pop over to the Welsh coast and drop a sonic boom on the way back, somewhere over Shawbury would be good" :D

[harrogate]

spectre150

Radio One reported it because of the sonic boom, which is newsworthy. They went on to talk about the systems failure afterwards.

You can download and listen to it again.

[scarecrow450]

heard sod all in Shrewsbury, must be getting deaf - pardon

The 2 large a/c were prob the 2 Merlins we had in Shaw for a refuel !!:confused::confused:

[Riskman]

Al R said

....In fact, we've just decided. We liked doing it so much that we're going to do it again next week too.

You present Top Gear don't you:ok:

[DX Wombat]

We liked doing it so much that we're going to do it again next week too.Ooh yes PLEASE! I missed it. :( Can you change location a little and make it over Shobdon on Monday? :E :ok: I haven't seen anything really fast and noisy over there for a while. As a child growing up in Liverpool I used to hear quite a few sonic booms. :)

[Phil_R]

What exactly is the !@#$ing problem?

Did anybody's windows break?

So long as they don't do it fifty feet over my head (I value my ability to hear) what's the big deal?

What are the limitations on this, anyway?

[PeteBee]

the limitation is that they are not allowed to break the sound barrier (where it can be avoided) and cause a sonic boom over populated places and where possible they should only do it out at sea

if I recall correctly

[harrogate]

There is no problem.

Absolutely nobody has complained.

Some people were worried, some were concerned and some were confused, which is fair enough. It was clearly loud, it was definitely out of the ordinary and it made people jump.

But if you watch, read and listen to the various news stories on the incident, nobody complained. The RAF even said they didn't receive complaints. They received enquiries, but not complaints.

Calm down, dears. You'll wet yourselves if you're not careful.

[Tiger_mate]

Absolutely nobody has complained.


Nobody complained because the RAF PR machine did a good job and local TV, Radio, & Teletext gave 'Answers to questions' very quickly. Tolerance is always higher when a logical explanation is given, especially when linked with an 'emergency situation', ie a one-off event. As it happens, there are prolific complainers in Shropshire, and frankly I do not believe that there were no complainers, and suggest that anybody who picked up the phone did so by way of protest even if vocally polite.

Do it everyday and watch the switchboard light up like Blackpool illuminations. It was loud, and it did make windows shake, and people did not like it an iota.

FWIW, I fail to see why even an emergency descent should have gone supersonic, unless of course there was a Pilot runaway up.

[L J R]

WHAT THE F*CK Is THE PROBLEM HERE - OVER!!!!!!!!!

[BEagle]

Very few people these days will ever have heard a supersonic bang. Yes, they were commonplace years ago - I have a 1954 RAF Merryfield 'At Home' programme which included in the flying programme 'Breaking the sound barrier by a Sabre of Fighter Command', fo example.

But a loud, unexplained bang in these days of lunatic suicide bombers - of course people will be concerned.

When did you last hear a supersonic bang? The last time I did was back in the late 60s / early 70s when an 892 Sqn Phantom dropped one over Somerset!

[Widger]

Being on the receiving end of a boom can be quite a startling event and we are not talking about a gentle rattling of the windows, by Concorde going up the English/Bristol Channel. I remember a certain Phantom dropping one on me in the early 90s and we all thought he had hit the mast. There is a tremendous amount of energy in a boom and it makes me think that some of the posters on here, who are saying "what's the fooking problem" have never actually experienced one.

Cheersnow!

[ORAC]

I can't understand, there should be hundreds of dead cows/sheep/horses; broken windows/vases/plates by now.

There always were after someone dropped one on East Anglia/Lincolnshire/Yorkshire/Northumberland in the 80s/90s..... :hmm:

[DX Wombat]

they are not allowed to break the sound barrier (where it can be avoided) and cause a sonic boom over populated places If I'm not mistaken, Shropshire is the least populated county in England. :ok:
I can't understand, there should be hundreds of dead cows/sheep/horses; broken windows/vases/plates by now.

There always were after someone dropped one on East Anglia/Lincolnshire/Yorkshire/Northumberland in the 80s/90s..... Plastic windows, plates and vases? Lots of plastic take-away containers? Much of the population already deafened by loud music from personal players and those horribly loud car radios? The animal life is probably either tougher or dimmer (maybe even both) than previously. :hmm:
Don't forget, the boom provided and excellent science lesson opportunity. :E

[Gainesy]

Anyone heard what the back-seater's oxy prob was? PEC disconnect or something?

[Phil_R]

> When did you last hear a supersonic bang?

'bout 18 months ago...

[Acer101]

If I'm not mistaken, Shropshire is the least populated county in England.

And that's the way we want to keep it - best kept secret and all that ;)

Shame we don't get more fast movers though :cool:

[Randomtox]

Wish the RAF would do that over south Oxfordshire !!!!

[Meldrew]

If you spend much time in France, you will hear sonic booms quite frequently, especially near the south coast. The French authorities have a different attitude, it seems, towards their general populace than our huggy caring government!

[Meldrew]

Don't misunderstand my last post! I have no problem with sonic booms. More power to their elbows I say!

[harrogate]

I hear distant booms sometimes off the east coast. Mainly when there's an exercise on. An F-15 did the deed a few years back while night bombing at Donna. The Beeb reported on that incident too. Same again - confusion, concern, but no reports of complaints.

What I meant in my earlier post about there being no complaints was that the reporting of the incident in the media didn't feature any complaints, yet some members of this forum were making remarks based on their assumptions that there had been some kind of complain-athon.

[XV277]

I think you will find that the officer was "familiarising himself" with its capabilities, just as this officer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/4559173.stm) did in Shropshire in 2003

Mmmm, seems a familiar excuse

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7186940.stm

[Lurking123]

Why do people still call it the sound barrier? :bored:

[XV277]

"In a statement, the RAF said: "We regret any anxiety this incident may have caused to the local population."





Actually quite a clever statement - 'We regret any anxiety' - we don't regret it happened, just that they got upset about it

[DX Wombat]

XV277, the major difference being that the Tornado, being so far above the M54, was far less likely to kill anyone else.
Some time ago I was chatting to the lads in the tower at EGBO. A day or so previously a Tornado had made a low level (Dead Sea QFE in use) :E pass over the airfield. It was great :) I was actually there to see it. However, I learned that some time after I had left one of the local miseries rang up to complain about the noise. The lads hands were tied and they could only explain politely that there had been nothing dangerous etc. I wished I had been there and able to explain a little more fully to the caller that they would have more cause to complain if the country had been invaded because the pilots skills were rusty as a result of people like them objecting to their every move so restricting practice opportunities. Twits! :mad:
More sonic booms and low-flying fast aircraft, as well as those lovely Hercules please!

[Al R]

Harrogate said: What I meant in my earlier post about there being no complaints was that the reporting of the incident in the media didn't feature any complaints, yet some members of this forum were making remarks based on their assumptions that there had been some kind of complain-athon.

That was to me I think? :E

I didn't say that anyone had complained. However, I was witness to something yesterday, which might have a bearing in this.

I was in the offices of a publisher and a punter had arrived to collect a prize. It was some piece of automotive tat, that clearly didn't meet the przie winner's expectations. So. Off he went, ranting and raving for a few minutes at the money he had spent in fuel getting there, the time he had taken off work yada yada. After a while, it went quiet. He screamed 'stoppage!!' dived into cover and upon inspecting his spleen he discovered it to be empty. I stepped forward, gazed in and advised. 'There is blood in the vessels, and no blood in the spleen.'. The receptionist opened a drawer and took out a form, and asked him if he'd like to quickly fill out a complaint form, which would be in front of the MD within 30 minutes and he could expect a phone call almost immediately. 'Ohhh no' said he.. 'I'm not the complaining type me, but I just wanted you to know love'. And stormed off.

You can complain and you can grumble, without actually committing anything to official means, and thats what I was referring to, possibly too obliquely in my haste. The people I heard on the radio were grumbling. Because, as I suggested, this was to many of 'em, a new experience. We live in a sanitised world where fear rules the roost. A bus tour operator I know has seen overnight stays to the West End almost dissapaear since 7/7, because people are afraid, and mainly middle aged/older types too. The hardy more senior types we associate with standing up to Hitler now seem afraid of their own shadows; a legacy of 1970s navel scrutineering maybe.

I accept that a whinging trooper might be a happy trooper, but by accident or design, we have become an insular and introspective nation, who talk over each other on the internet, but who don't listen on the phone. I dread to walk into Smiths next week and see on the front cover of Hello! details of a spread revealing in all its glory, the home of Mr CH Chadwick of Telford who wanted to know why the oxygen system wasn't checked properly before take off, why he had to be there in the first place wrecking the atmosphere (don't they have simulators nowadays?), why the pilot couldn't have pointed it in another direction, why he couldn't wait a few seconds, why his 28 year old son is now having difficulty sleeping and suffering violent mood swings etc.

You can grumble and complain without submitting a complaint, and the 2 people I heard were in a huff (possibly because they didn't know why the pilot had cracked one out) and the tone of the respondants was a little indignant. Well done to the RAF for getting the facts out so quickly though. Time and time again, we've seen nothing but a willingness on its part for the RAF to get the facts out about air related incidents as quickly as possible. And so finally, I apologise for any distress you may have felt as a direct or indirect result of the contents of my post.

:eek: And look! Why did that rock face have a rock on it?!! Why do we have gravity?!! Why did I have to be there?!! Why didn't anyone dive infront of me to save me?!!! Why was my jacket cut?!!! Why can't I do military adventure training on Wii?!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7192363.stm

[Snapshot]

Hi Keith and ALL the others that have been bustin my as* over me being 'the' cloud parting witness!:confused:
NOT ME! :=

Im in Cape Town and having the pleasure of seeing not cloud parting but now and then
one single line going vertically down from 40k over the sea to low level from one of Britan's finest aircraft sadly not seen in the UK any longer! :D

Brooksy

[barnstormer1968]

OK folks, I'll stick my neck out and openly complain about this.....
Why the hell did this have to happen over a sparsely populated area!. I'm out walking to the east of Bristol every day and never get to see/hear anything like this. I would pay good money to hear a sonic boom, and am feeling quite jealous. Maybe I should pop a complaint into the RAF to say that by not being subjected to this, my human rights have been denied to me!
I have not heard a sonic boom since the early 1970's, and still remember the excitement they brought to me (bearing in mind I was very young, and even the Gnats that used to fly over at low level seemed (to a six year old) like roaring Navy Phantoms).

BUT, on a serious note, although I'm glad everyone involved arrived home safe in time for tea, It also demonstrates what a sad and dreary life many of us lead, for this to be newsworthy in any way!. If only the government and media could or would care as much for our HEROES overseas, facing hardship and danger every single day

Sorry that this turned into a bit of a rant, but my childhood memories have brought back the recollection of a time whereby most Britain's seemed to have so much more pride in our country, and our forces were something to support, and not to cast aside.

Barnstormer1968 (possibly in need of a coffee, or a coup of Noo Labour, either will suffice) :confused:

[goudie]

Typhoon breaks sound barrier over Shropshire, resulting in............................................
storm in teacup!

[kkbuk]

I live near a Spanish Air Force training airfield and we have quite a few sonic booms, they make the windows rattle a bit, but hey, what a noise!!!! :E

[navibrator]

Hey Dirty

Are you a PILOT? Duh!

[PictureClear]

but hey, what a noise!!!! :E

In the good old days when Concorde was still flying we used to hear a couple of sonic booms a day on Jersey. Great stuff :ok:

[scarecrow450]

Some one has already said' it broke my old dining set and cracked a window. I want compensation' !!!

Can I say it broke my MP3,PS3,DVD,Video,Laptop, and my new car !!

I did'nt even hear it and I live in Shrewsbury, then again my missus sez I'm
getting old and deaf.:confused::confused: