Loudest military aircraft?

[Octane]

Assuming it would be afterburning aircraft on take-off? Guessing 1950's era SAC bombers would be candidates? Loudest I've heard would be the F111 I think.
Curious to hear your thoughts.
Cheers
Octane

[tartare]

I would have thought it would have been this or according to some intercepting QRA pilots who swore they could here it's engine noise inside the cockpit in flight, this.

[Octane]

Thank you Tartare. You reminded me I once heard a Harrier takeoff vertically from a carrier in Sydney harbour. I was a couple of kilometres away and it was LOUD!

[jwcook]

Vulcan bomber!!, once had one fly over me on take off, and I couldn't hear myself scream!!.

Must have been less than 100 feet above me, and I was 10 years old.

Example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djd1pPQZ_LE

[Buster Hyman]

Sorry, I know it's not military, but I stood on the tarmac whilst a DC-8-52 taxied in one day & I swear my fingers were touching as I pushed them into my ears! Never before, and never since, have I experienced such a painful noise!

[twb3]

Loudest in my personal experience is the Harrier. Part of the airshow routine in St. Louis was a hover over the Mississipi river opposite the arch (and below the top of it). The RR Pegasus screaming away was the loudest sound I've ever heard an aircraft make.

TWB

[Schnowzer]

The Tornado could be pretty loud with the chest vibrating away but the loudest I ever heard was at Scampton in the 70s when still in my teens. They had an exercise of some type and launched the wing in stream.....bloody hell!

Best of all not one noise complaint to my knowledge just accepted as the sound of freedom.

[BBadanov]

Mirage 4000 at Paris Airshow (c mid-80s) I thought was the loudest.

[Dash8driver1312]

I am saddened and surprised that on a forum for aviation enthusiasts and professionals, no one has pointed out that the 6-engined XB-70 is oft listed as the loudest built so far, or that the Thunderscreech turboprop induced vomiting at 100m due to sonic effects.

[Dan Winterland]

With the Bear, it wasn't the engine noise you could hear, but the 'beat' from the contra rotating props. In fact, you could feel it more than hear it.

[Rick777]

I don't know for sure but I would vote for the B52. 8 engines with water injection.

[longer ron]

The Bone is fffffairly loud LOL ; )

[SASless]

The Wokka Cockpit has to be the all time winner for noisy!:{

[TOWTEAMBASE]

English electric lightning

[Wensleydale]

Loudest inside - Shackleton.

[obnoxio f*ckwit]

Dealing with an RTA in the fog on the peritrack at Marham when a Victor briefly taxied out of the murk before turning away from us and disappearing again. We were unknowingly in the undershoot of the active, sitting about 100-ish yds behind 4 Conways at take off power can quite accurately be described as "loud".

[Motleycallsign]

Bergneustadt-auf-dem-duemple in Germany mid 70's. Airshow where a Vulcan 'rolled' on the grass strip then got airborn and climbed out vertically, not sure what was the loudest, the Vulcan or the earth rumbling.

[5aday]

The Nimrod MR1 when it first appeared at Farnborough. Even Raymond Baxter said so.

[ACW599]

Vulcan at full chat close-up must be a strong contender. Loudest civilian by a long way must have been the Comet 4.

[Mil-26Man]

Again, not strictly military, but I've stood 10km from a Shuttle launch and my chest vibrated with the noise. Loudest sound I've experienced since watching Slayer at Donnington in '91. Awesome.

[1.3VStall]

VC10 full-power take off!

[RetiredBA/BY]

Scimitar, military, Concorde, civil, on take off with all 4 burners lit !

Mind you, the little Jet Provost could make its voice heard, particularly if you were trying to sleep during night flying !!

[goudie]

I think we're all agreed that they're all bloody noisy...but we love the sound!

[xray one]

B1 at Mildenhall Air Show with 4 burners, deafening...

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

To be specific,the shags-only beat up at about 50 ft that the B1 crew did on the Friday before the 1989 Mildenhall Air Show. :ok:

[L J R]

Mirage 3 chasing an F-111 at an 'infamous' supersonic incursion at an Airshow in South Australia was 'satisfactory' unless you were onboard said aircraft, the debrief of which I understood was somewhat 'uncomfortable'.

[Just a spotter]

Is there any information on the racket made by the Me-163?

JAS

[INT ZKJ]

Night-time departures of the B1s from Thumrait were always pretty spectacular.

But I think noisiest would go to an E3D full of FCs & Navs – always a lot of loud whining there. :O

[Wensleydale]

"But I think noisiest would go to an E3D full of FCs & Navs – always a lot of loud whining there."


Especially when you added in the AE brotherhood!

[Maxibon]

Any of the display aircraft in their tacky paint-jobs. Theose clolour schemes - euuuuu!

[camelspyyder]

Oh God! Thumrait - the daily 6AM B1 departure was like being woken by a bl***y earthquake.

Which arse put our tents next to the point on the runway where the jets actually got airborne?

[KG86]

The Akrotiri early morning call was also very loud, especially as it was caused by a single-engined, non-reheat, motor-glider!

[dragartist]

Must be the Vulcan. I recall once as a teenager playing golf at Oakington having to lay down with my hands over my ears to save being blown over. I remember the near vertical climb.

We all get sentimental over the types we have been asscociated with.

Always could tell where the Nimrod was going out of Wyton by the sound it made at 6 in the morning and knowing how heavy it was. I lived over 6 miles away in Huntingdon.

Funny enough drove by there late last night. the hangar lights were on. didn't know whether to call in and give them a hand to fix something as I would have done 20 years ago. All gone now...

[SASless]

BAC 1-11 at Ground Idle even.

[teeteringhead]

Must be the Vulcan.

Particularly in large numbers.

Shawbury Gazelles used to have a recce "war role" associated with - inter alia - Vulcan stations. IIRC mine was Waddo.

The "survival scramble" approaching TACEVAL Endex was visually and aurally unbelievably awesome. :eek::eek::eek:

I sometimes think my dodgy port ear is due to that rather than many rotary hours ......... :(

[Wallah]

Not strictly military anymore, but the AN-225 that rocked up at KAF was a little on the bleeding eardrums loud side when it departed with a couple of tanks. Plus managed to kick up a dust storm that would have been visible from space...

[Dominator2]

Blackbird was pretty spectacular. Used to visit and do Full A/B Go-rounds. The vibration as well as the noise was astounding.

[langleybaston]

19 and 92 squadron lightnings multi-launch Gutersloh heard from Zeppelinstrasse, memory suggests at least 30 a/c .................

[Samuel]

Yes, I'll grant there are a few contenders here, but until you've spent two or three hours in the back of a RNZAF Bristol Freighter you don't know what real noise is! It took THREE days to get from NZ to Changi!

[Two's in]

I would imagine a C-130 landing wheels up must be quite loud...

[Octane]

Hi all,

It's a small world. I'm in bali and met "John" in the bar as you do. He's ex RAF Engineer, his vote goes to VC-10.
Where's Beagle?!
Cheers
Octane

[sandiego89]

Happy to report for those that not had the pleasure yet, the F-35B is plenty loud! Especially on take off. Have seen several quite close, takeoffs, pattern work, landing. Louder than the F-18C chase aircraft. Could not discern any special noise from the lift fan.

For those that I have personally heard/felt, it would be early KC-135's with water injection and a most impressive crackling sound, and the SR-71 in a burner pass. As others have stated, not just heard, but also felt.

Honorable mention to the last piston powered Miss Budweiser hydroplane. Late 1980's as many teams were transitioning to turbine power, the team had both. A close pass truly made you insides shake- awesome.

[LowObservable]

From my airshow experience:

The first and only time I was actually frightened by aircraft noise was an E.E. Lightning. In my defense, I was five years old at the time, and from reading these pages it appears that the Lightning scared lots of 20+ year-olds, particularly when they were sitting in the front and important bits fell off/stopped working.

Harriers are pretty loud, and persistent - most jets on full throttle move by default rather than sitting and growling in your face.

For some reason, though, it was M Dassault's products that always decided to sing you the song of their people during that once-only face-to-face interview opportunity.

[racedo]

Nimrod that went out of Gatwick in Summer 03, met some friends in Flight Tavern and siiting outside, was a WTF was that noise.

[Bob Viking]

Standing by the runway caravan at Coltishall (escorting a couple of friendly spotters) as two Polish Fencers took off was bone jarringly loud. That was before they even plugged the burners in. Then things got properly stupid. It felt like my internal organs were going to puree themselves from the noise and vibration.
Maybe it was the proximity to them as they went but I have never before, or since, heard noise like it.
BV:eek:

[500N]

Of the limited number of aircraft I have heard, I think all have been
mentioned.

BAC 1-11
SR71
F-111 that went vertical from about a couple of hundred feet above us
and had the full after burner on. Not only loud but quite warm as well.

[glad rag]

Loudest or Painful?

QqgheaJjWRU

Doesn't do the little b'stard justice. Even harrier compressor whine wasn't as painful as it.

[Lyneham Lad]

For mind-altering noise and the opportunity to levitate, try sitting under Phantom FGR2 in reheat on the tie-down pan. I was inveigled into helping a sootie run some checks/tests - never again.

Candidate number 2 is being up close and intimate with a full four-ship Vulcan scramble from the ORP.

Now, where did I put my hearing aids...

[VictorSR]

Agree about the noise - 3 years on exchange with these (friendly aeroplane) and poor noise attenuation headset left me with a happy grin and a hearing aid!

[Wander00]

What engine in the Magister - axial or centrifugal compressor?

[4mastacker]

langleybaston wrote:

19 and 92 squadron lightnings multi-launch Gutersloh heard from Zeppelinstrasse, memory suggests at least 30 a/c .................

Would that have been the 1972 TACEVAL?. I was working on No 6 BFI (over by Battle Flight) when they took off. That wall of noise seemed to go on forever.

[Roadster280]

Anything with Conways or Olympus engines.

VC10, Victor, Vulcan, Concorde (although Concorde obviously doesn't fit the "mil" bit of the thread title).

Of the 4, I only ever flew in the '10, but it was strangely quiet inside!

Not so in BB544 at Brize every morning though when the first one went down the runway at 0630 or whatever it was.

Why were these engines in particular so noisy?

[smujsmith]

Putting aside jets for a moment, and showing my age, but I seem to remember the old Fairey Gannet as being a very noisy bit of kit. I remember seeing them a few times at the B of B displays at Gaydon in the 60s. What they must have been like on board ship, in close proximity, is unimaginable. From the jet angle, I reckon the VC10 "guzzomie" bird, departing Akrotiri on a hot day took some beating, especially if you worked anywhere near the take off end of the runway.

Smudge:ok:

[GeeRam]

Again not mil, but wasn't the Fairey Rotodyne generally regarded as being one of the loudest things to ever fly...?

[awblain]

It's difficult to track noise, since the energy involved is very very low - something like a millionth of the energy in heat that's coming out.

All those engines have low bypass, meaning the fast exhaust is barely sheathed from making turbulence and noise against the ambient air. They're also quite a lot more powerful than the early noisy centrifugal engines, so have the capacity to make more total noise, even if not more noise per pound of thrust.

I also believe that the Vulcan Olympus and VC10 Conway both had a set of stator blades in front of the fans, which can't have helped to quieten things down.

[A A Gruntpuddock]

Been at quite a few airshows but one of the noisiest I can remember was a Vulcan departing Eastwards from Leuchars in the '60s; did what looked like a 45 degree pullup and went up like a rocket. Never knew a bomber could climb that fast and it was deafening, even though it must have been over a mile away. Could still hear it rumbling away for a long time after it had levelled off and headed South.

Second was Leuchars again. I was working in Guardbridge when a Lightning squadron did what I assume was an 'emergency exit'. Must have been about 1/2 a runway length or less between them and they all went vertical like a string of beads in the sky. Could hardly breathe for the noise as my chest was vibrating so much! Magnificent sight!

[mr fish]

Canberra in a steep climbout was always harsh.

[chiglet]

Neither military OR an aeroplane, the SRN4 Hoverspeed hovercraft wasn't that quiet either...

[tdracer]

For those that I have personally heard/felt, it would be early KC-135's with water injection and a most impressive crackling soundI don't know if the original KC-135 has the absolute highest db reading, but it gets my vote for the most startling. Usually, when you hear a really loud airplane, it's not totally unexpected. McChord AFB is about 60 miles south of Seattle, right on I-5, and departing aircraft often go right over the Interstate only a few hundred feet up. Many years ago I was driving up I-5, nice summer day with the windows open, blissfully unaware that a KC-135 at max wet thrust was about to overfly perhaps 200 ft. up. Nearly drove into the ditch it startled me so bad :mad:
A little more recently, I was on the flight deck of USS Constellation watching flight ops as part of a PR drill, watching A-6 Intruders takeoff from maybe 100 ft. away. Those A-6s were seriously loud - even with the (mandatory) ear protection in place :eek:

[Fishtailed]

Thirty years at Farnborough shows and forty at Warton, I have to say the Viggen for noise and spectacle, what a blowlamp!!

[gr4techie]

TU-95 Bear.
I've read that due to the TU-95's thirty two blades rotating at supersonic speeds, the Bears are so loud that they could be heard by submerged submarines and SOSUS sonar devices on the sea bed !

The loudest I've personally heard is Harrier. Even taxing past it made my ears protest.

Tornado GR4 seems variable noise constant speed. It was a shock moving from Kinloss to Lossiemouth. The locals at Cold Lake AFB Canada, told me "they knew when we were there on det by the noise".

[Octane]

Then there was the RAF chap on leave driving along somewhere in the ME minding his own business when he was bounced by a 'mate' in I think a Tornado. The pilot 'misjudged' and took out the car roof! That would have been LOUD! I wonder if the victim or culprit read this forum? Would love to have been a fly on the wall for the 'debrief'. As a CO, what on earth would you say to the driver of the Tornado?! How would one tackle that conversation?...!

[SASless]

"Did you signal before overtaking""

[500N]

"As a CO, what on earth would you say to the driver of the Tornado?! How would one tackle that conversation?...!"

Blame the Navigator :O

[BEagle]

For sheer noise and winner of the car park alarms award, I think that the Yak-141 at Farnborough takes some beating.

I remember a very spirited Viggen display at Paris in 1969. Full thrust reverse on landing, if not immediately beforehand, followed by a short reverse taxy and a full afterburner take-off. Excellent!!

As for the Rotodyne, the early prototype was quite noisy when the tip jets were running, but the noise problem had been more or less overcome with effective silencer design by the time the programme was sadly cancelled. When the aircraft flew into Battersea Heliport, there was a total of zero noise complaints, just a few people curious to know more about the aircraft.

A Vulcan scramble was always impressive, but a cell of 3 (non-R model) KC-135s flying the BDZ departure from KKIA at 500 ft over my hotel room certainly shook the building!

[RedhillPhil]

Then there was the RAF chap on leave driving along somewhere in the ME minding his own business when he was bounced by a 'mate' in I think a Tornado. The pilot 'misjudged' and took out the car roof! That would have been LOUD! I wonder if the victim or culprit read this forum? Would love to have been a fly on the wall for the 'debrief'. As a CO, what on earth would you say to the driver of the Tornado?! How would one tackle that conversation?...!


I believe that it was an Omani Jaguar.



https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqif5Q3bfNeFKdQ0nh1jbACXL3XCEtWBTrZ9P6pmr GDYOWgkZw

[RedhillPhil]

I hadn't - after experiencing the usual suspects viz 1-11s, Sea Vixens, Harriers - known what a really noisy aircraft was until I was reasonably close to a Typhoon in full 'burner. That really was painful.

[BBadanov]

Quote:
I believe that it was an Omani Jaguar.


I think it was a Jag. That guy looks like W--.

[Rocket2]

Gosh - 69 posts & no-one's mentioned TSR-2.......

[Octane]

Redhillphil
How on earth did he survive that?! What would have been fair "compensation". Free beer for life?
Thank you Beagle, was waiting for your input, I had to google the Yak...

[JPI33600]

What engine in the Magister - axial or centrifugal compressor? Turbomeca Marboré VI / centrifugal compressor

Turbomeca Marboré - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbomeca_Marbor%C3%A9)

[brokenlink]

Octane, I think you might be referring to the Omani Jags v Hunters incident where an Omani Hunter pilot was driving along a desert road minding his own business when he was suprised to see a Jaguar from another unit "overtake" his car. Fortunately he ducked which was a good job as the Jag that went over the top misjudged the height a bit and heavily modified the vehicle roof! Used to have some piccies somewhere but think they got deleted a while ago but are probably on the net somewhere.

[Offshore Addict]

Got close to an EA-6B Prowler at takeoff power once, so loud it rattled my family tree.

[Wensleydale]

I suppose that it could be argued that the aircraft that was responsible for the loudest noise was "Enola Gay"?

[Old Ned]

Wensleydale, that's cheating! http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif


Some years back (decades actually) I blagged a trip on the USS Independence during a NATO Exercise. The deck landing in the C-2A Grumman Greyhound COD was an experience never to be forgotten too, especially as the TACAN went TU halfway out in the fog.

The following day, at dawn, the carrier was "buzzed" by the Bear at what must have been less than 50 feet above the top of the island's radar antennae. Now that was noisy!

[spamcanner]

I always found that the Andover gave an excruciating scream when running on the ground. With 4 Rolls Royce Darts instead of two I'd imagine that the Viscount must have been even worse (if that's possible!) The Comet was also a noisy beast on the ground.

[FrustratedFormerFlie]

Starfighter? Wasnt just the sheer noise, it was the sensation of one's chest exploding!
:D

[chksix]

Viggen ops. A lost era. :(
bZkYnr58DOw

[awblain]

Enola Gay was doing quite well, but then Bocks Car trumped it a few days later.

There's a Bear somewhere that dropped almost 2000 times more artificial sunshine with the "Tsar Bomba" in the Arctic in 1961.

[Pontius Navigator]

Vulcan at full chat close-up must be a strong contender. Loudest civilian by a long way must have been the Comet 4.

Thing about the Vulcan, if it executed a high angle climb at low airspeed it would sit there at full chat and not going up very fast.

Wensleydale mentioned the inside of the Shack. The inside of the Nimrod demonstrating its Cat A performance was something else.

Two engines, 200 feet, one engine throttled back and a climb initiated to 1000 feet. 8 minutes at full chat on just one was f***ing noisy.

[Pontius Navigator]

I suppose that it could be argued that the aircraft that was responsible for the loudest noise was "Enola Gay"?

Nonsense, that was a squib.

The Bear that dropped the 51MT bomb that was heard hundreds if km awy, not THAT was noisy.

[Wensleydale]

Yes, but more people know what Enola Gay did! Can't keep everything that serious you know!

[Boslandew]

Not sure if it qualifies but back in the sixties I stood about 100 metres away from an Honest John when it was fired. The motor only fired for about four-five seconds but the noise was louder than a squadron of jets put together.

[awblain]

Rocket engines are another thing altogether. In terms of raw power, exhaust speed, and abrupt change from exhaust to ambient air, it doesn't get much more effective at generating noise.

Now that the Space Shuttle's stopped flying, Ariane V's solid boosters are probably the loudest thing around.

[threeputt]

Gulf War1; In Dhahran, sitting in a COLPRO tent, during a Scud attack, quite close to a battery of Patriots when one was launched, now that was loud.


3P

[RedhillPhil]

Redhillphil
How on earth did he survive that?! What would have been fair "compensation". Free beer for life?
Thank you Beagle, was waiting for your input, I had to google the Yak...



Word is that the manoeuvre had been threatened and chummy was keeping a close eye in his rear view mirror. The original and much clearer photo shows him a little bloodied - but not seriously though.

[Flugplatz]

I will admit (having heard them) that the SR71, B1, Harrier, Lightning, Vulcan etc are definitely extremely loud, as are many of the pure turbojets, the small ones disproportionately so.

However the loudest aircraft noise I ever heard was the Canadian Starfighter team in formation at speed at Biggin Hill (late 70s/early 80s?) (at least I think it was Biggin). In close formation, low-level and I am sure over the crowd, at speeds well in excess of the 250kts nonce-sense of today (must have been near supersonic)! It was an earth-shattering experience where I felt like I could barely breath with the vibration and with my head like a tuning fork; it just went on and on!

Then... silence (or it felt like it for a few seconds)! broken eventually by the crying children and astounded swearing of the adults (those that could speak).

Just above the crowd, out of a clear blue sky, a tiny single cloud had formed (300-500m across) that slowly dissipated over the next half-hour..

Thems was the days!!!:ok:

[Airey Belvoir]

There might well have been a few decibels from this when it "landed"


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/FairchildB52Crash.jpg

[TBM-Legend]

Loudest I recall was a four-ship of CF101B Voodoo's from Comox doing a routine with a low cloud base. All four in AB was awesome...

[typerated]

B-1 and the Backfire on full AB get my vote - they are noticeably louder than any fighter or the Vulcan IMHO.


Makes sense as they have much more powerful engines!

[ian16th]

Can't hear any of 'em now.

My ears got buggered up working too close to too many of them in the days before ear defenders.

[EyesFront]

For some reason my mind turns to Fred's Five and Simon's Sircus (Sea Vixens) bomb-bursting at Yeovilton in the '60s. Ten Avons in close formation always sounded good!

[zetec2]

Interesting seeing the B52 heading in, looks like a panel or something ? above the aircraft, did one of the crew try to get out/eject ?, is that a panel/cover being jettisoned, I always thought that sadly all the crew died in the crash ?, PH

[awblain]

That's the ejected roof hatch going that would allow Bud Holland's colleague to the right to exit next in his seat, but it was too late. That frame is probably 4-5 seconds after the direness of the situation became clear.

[zetec2]

Thank you for the info re the panel etc, much appreciated, PH.

[glad rag]

He was the chap they couldn't ascertain was in the aircraft or not IIRC :sad:

[DITYIWAHP]

In my humble opinion the Backfire wins by far. I remember almost every car alarm being activated at Fairford after its departure (awesome!) in 1990 (IIRC).

The prize for the most pointlessly loud aircraft goes to the F-35 for the volume of noise it produces at mid-range power settings.

[RAFEngO74to09]

zetec2,

Here is an interesting description of the background to that crash:

1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash)

The impact was close to the "special" storage area seen in the background.

[awblain]

It could indeed have been much worse at Fairchild. Although, it's to be hoped that the special compound is at least substantially fireproof. If the turn had been less tight and the aircraft had overflown the prohibited area, then the accident probably wouldn't have happened.

The history of that incident is a very sobering account of institutional issues leading to an unsurprising outcome. Then again, the same sort of thing happened in Alaska on a C17 practicing for a display only a few years ago.

[gr4techie]

The impact was close to the "special" storage area seen in the background.

Is that where they store the buckets of sunshine, used for making glass?

[RAFEngO74to09]

gr4techie

Yes.

[SPIT]

I remember in the 60s when they use to have a display at the OLD Liverpool (SPEKE) airport a Lightning flew over the crowd on arrival and he plugged in the burners.
I think it was the loudest thing since the 1941 Blitz and the reaction from the crowd "who did not expect it" was so funny ????:ok::ok:

[Machinbird]

I've measured 118 db in the cockpit of the C-1A on takeoff. Those big prop blade tips are just aft of your head and inches from the side windows.

[glad rag]

Is that where they store the buckets of sunshine, used for making glass?

:ugh::ugh::ugh:

Seriously, you didn't know that? go refresh your service history.

[seadrills]

Surely the Sea Harrier.....

..... The only aircraft which made a whining, droning noise long after the engine had been shut down !!!!!!!

[SASless]

That were Sharky you heard.

[seadrills]

That were Sharky you heard.

Spot on......

[BEagle]

Nice to hear the Price of Freedom earlier today, when a pair of GR4s flew past BEagle Towers on their way to the Covert Oxonian Aerodrome.

I've neither seen nor heard a proper military aircraft for quite some time now - thanks, chaps!

[woodvale]

It's got to be the Lightning, about 20 yards away in full burner at the start of the take off roll at Farnborough in the time of "Fly Hunter forget Hawk". Wonderful! And I've flown and heard a lot.

[con-pilot]

I would hazard to think that the B-58 would be right up there with the loudest. Talk about rattling windows all over the base when they would takeoff.

The B-36 must have honorable mention, six a turning, four a burning.

[Pontius Navigator]

Given the name Con-Pilot may I suggest Concorde might have been a tad noisy.

[con-pilot]

Given the name Con-Pilot may I suggest Concorde might have been a tad noisy.

Well must say that the time between hearing a B-58 takeoff and the Concorde takeoff was rather long, I'd still have to give the edge to the B-58.

And the question was, "Loudest military aircraft." ;)

Watching a night time takeoff of a B-58 was truly awesome. Especially on a wet runway. Noise, fire and smoke (steam).

But the loudest aircraft (okay, okay heavier than air vehicle), by far, with no competition, was the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo Space program.

[Kluseau]

It's been said before, but the Lightning must be a strong contender. Do I really recall formation aerobatics by nine of them at the RAF Gutersloh airshow in 1975, or maybe it was only(!) five Lightnings and four Hunters...

Suggesting the Vulcan is also not original. A stream take off from Finningley following a simulated scramble at an airshow there in the early 1970s is one of the noisier memories of childhood.

An honourable mention must go to the Soko P2 Kraguj, a single piston trainer of Balkan origin which apparently exhausts through megaphones rather than silencers, and which made a lasting impression on arrival at a Leuchars airshow a few years back.

And, of course, Concorde, which amongst its many achievements probably brought more noise into the lives of more people than any other aircraft. You never had to look up (but always did, just to appreciate the beauty) to identify one flying over on arrival or departure.

[dmussen]

4 Su 30's Surabaya Indon. 300ft full burn.:eek:

[Airey Belvoir]

I remember one day walking down the high st in Reading when Concorde was on the climb-out. It was pretty much aligned with the length of the street and you could see virtually everyone on the street with their eyes cast heavenwards.

[Thrust Augmentation]

I may have missed it, but I don't seen any votes for the Tu-160.


Never heard one, but with lit thrust being that of Concorde + 3 Harriers (or a Bone + 4 or so Harriers) put together, it must be a contender?

[Dennis Kenyon]

Not sure my report counts as the loudest, but in the late 1980s when the Poyle Intersection on M25 was being completed, I was tasked with the progress photography of the work by Cementation-Costain who had the contract. The time was circa 07.00 hrs. LHR ATC instructed me to hold clear of the climb-out path on the elevated slip-road section while Concorde departed. As that wonderful machine passed overhead 'twas the only time I had ever heard the sound of another aircraft while flying a helicopter.

More tittle-tattle on request! DRK.

[Octane]

Thanks for the responses. Made interesting reading. I should get out more and hear more aircraft, the ones still flying that is..
Dmussen, I should visit Surabaya, I spend enough time in Indonesia. How often do they manage to get that many aircraft in the air at one time?!
Cheers
Octane

[dmussen]

Octane,
Beware, this place is not the cleanest spot on the planet.
We were in PT Pal shipyard as was President Bang Bang Thingy. It was his birthday and the Su 30's were preceded by 4 X F 16's. That makes eight all at once. Not bad, eh?:cool::cool:

[OldAgeandTreachery]

For me: Definitely the Phantom. 8 Sqn were boltholed to Leuchars and our QRA Shack was parked on the 09 ORP. I was doing the necessary walk round post servicing when 43 Sqn launched two jets from the 27 end. They went by me at around 100ft. I thought my time had come. I have never experienced anything like it since and wouldn't want to again. My whole body seemed to be melting with the sheer noise and vibration. Very,very uncomfortable.

[John Eacott]

In no particular order: the stream takeoff by some 8 or 9 EE Lightnings of 74 Squadron in full burner at Farnborough in 1962 (or thereabouts) when the crowd line was rather close to the runway.

B47 takeoff seemed a lot noisier than the B57. Especially with the RATO during display at Lakenheath sometime around 1960 :cool:

The Intruder winding up on the waist cat seemed incredibly noisier than any of our F4K's, but the F4K would stop any intercom chatter when sitting off the carrier on planeguard.

The F104 on takeoff had the most piercing wail which could be heard for miles. RNAS Gannet/819 NAS at Prestwick was in a far corner of the field but the take off for air tests of CF104s (in for heavy maintenance) was enough to stop conversation anywhere indoors as they hit that 'blue note' :ok:

As that wonderful machine passed overhead 'twas the only time I had ever heard the sound of another aircraft while flying a helicopter.

Having flown on the wingtip of an RNZAF Andover, you can't hear yourself think over those Darts screaming a few yards away ;)

[Heathrow Harry]

as said a B47 on RATO or a "Bear" at full throttle - it's not just the absolute volume- it's all the additional side lobes and vibrations rattling your teeth out of your head

[PPRuNeUser0139]

Those Farnborough Lightnings are at 11:13..:ok:
2M-iax7UnXA

[Kluseau]

The 16 Hunter display that follows the Lightnings is even more impressive in some ways, though perhaps it wouldn't have been to those who had seen 22 Hunters loop there four years earlier. The odd thing to modern eyes is the scatter of people right up to the edge of the runway during proceedings.

[Wander00]

SV - brilliant thanks - oh, the nostalgia. A year later I was a cadet at the Towers. Thought the RN display pretty impressive, and noted the Wallis Autogyro had a military serial - was it tried out at Boscombe Down for military potential?

[MAN777]

Loudest jets

fully loaded B1s leaving Fairford on the way to Libya (1st time round)

Backfire departing Farnborough

Most painful to the ear in my opinion is the ALOUETTE helicopter in the hover.

[typerated]

Without a doubt, the winner is :-


BN Islander from anywhere in the cabin!

[zetec2]

Quick subject change ! just got all excited, seeing on the Farnborough clip the 2 Argosies XN817 & 819 the trial aircraft, I was there with them, & yes they were B noisy, only Darts could make a noise like that outside the aircraft & inside, PH.

[Wensleydale]

Not military perhaps.....


http://www.famouslogos.us/images/led-zeppelin-starship.jpg


But it was loud during band practise!!

[Willard Whyte]

X-37B. At launch. Bit quieter after 8 minutes or so.

how long before some insufferable smartass says it's not an aircraft?

[pulse1]

For me it has usually been a case of the louder the better when it comes to the chest crushing noise of things like Concorde, Vulcan or the old BAC111 using methanol injection. But the most excruciating aircraft noise I have ever heard was being in a hangar, with the doors open at both ends, and the high pitched whistle of two Vampires at each end doing engine tests. It felt like your brain was being drilled into from both sides, really painful.

[RetiredBA/BY]

Don't forget the Jet Provost with a Viper, the most efficient machine (pound of fuel per decibel) ever devised for turning fuel into noise, and not much else.
On a more serous note the Scimitar was incredibly noisy ! ( was the RN Scimitar team known as Fred's Five or was that Vixens? ) :uhoh:

[glad rag]

http://www.fly-navy.de/jets/fouga_f1.jpg

The little thing at the front.

[John Eacott]

The Alouette noise is associated with the steel cables linking the blades roots, hence the rattling sound.

Fred's Five was the RN Sea Vixen team, not Scimitars. Before that was Simon's Sircus, also Vixens.

More useless information (looking at the Farnborough 1962 video opening) was the VC10 tailplane was the same span as the Scimitar wing. When we had a visit to the factory and shown the mainplane milling by tape control, a screened off area at the far end was 'secret' and spotty youths not allowed. TSR2 was being put together there, what a spotter's paradise there was to be had in those days!

[andytug]

Harriers are extra loud when close up and going away from you. F-111s going up Loch Ness at zero feet render conversion impossible for some time....but the loudest one I've heard was a B-1 at a rainy Woodford airshow, having found out that the next scheduled display (a Liberator) was unable to get in due to the weather, the B-1 pilot filled the slot by going round again, doing a slow touch and go, then nailing all four burners as he passed the crowd and climbing away. So loud it was felt rather than heard!
Honorable mention for the Typhoon, which regularly sets every car alarm in Southport off at a range of over half a mile whilst displaying over the beach.....
The best loud noise though.....the BBMF with the Canadian Lancaster as well, flying right overhead us at about 500ft...ten Merlins!

[AreOut]

Caspian Sea Monster. Archives - AirlineReporter : AirlineReporter (http://www.airlinereporter.com/tag/caspian-sea-monster/)

I don't know if this is considered military (or aircraft at all), but witnesses say it was bloody loudy inside as well as outside...

[27mm]

Folks at Marham have it easy now with Tonkas. Once F-35 arrives, get some extra soundproofing, as it is reckoned the noisiest jet ever......

[RedhillPhil]

Never heard one but people I know who have reckoned that you didn't really appreciate what noise was until you were runway-side to a B-58 "Hustler" lifting off. I always thought that Harriers were loud until I heard a Typhoon at Dunsfold a couple of years ago.

[GlobalNav]

The A-6 Intruder may not be the very loudest, but it could convert a little jet fuel into a lot of dB's and must have given many Marine/Navy retirees 10% or more disability for hearing loss.

[West Coast]

Concur on the A-6. Add in they were sooo slow the noise stayed with yu for awhile.

[Stitchbitch]

Griffon Spitfire at a Goodwood revival stream take off. At takeoff power about 20 feet away. The prop was sucking water from the grass like an F16 sucks puddles off a wet taxi way. Second would be Omani Jaguar but without the benifit of being in a car... :)

[treadigraph]

Some years ago heard a loud, deep, reverberating drone of a turboprop overhead - peered out of the window expecting to see an AN-12 at perhaps 8000 on it's way out of Heathrow or something. Nope, only thing immediately visible right above was a vapour trail. Grabbed the binos and had a look - AN-22 at 30,000+. Remarkable sound, heard it again a few months later as it passed overhead at about 18000 on its way into Bournemouth - not sure I'd be exaggerating much to say the crockery started to rattle!


Someone mentioned the Space Shuttle launching - I heard the same from the beach alongside Patrick AFB - it was loud, wish I could have witnessed a Saturn V launch though.

[Dominator2]

What about a Blackbird flypast in Full A/B?

Has anyone got any video?

[A_Van]

IMHO, trivial physics and arithmetic works here, when we talk about mil. a/c and when nobody really cares about sound suppression and decibel reduction. Or, at least, sound is very low in the priority list.


Therefore, the more thrust the engines produce, the more loud they are, very roughly speaking. As each of 4 engines of Blackjack/White_Swan produces 245 kN (55,115 lbf) with afterburners engaged, with these nearly 100 tonn of thrust it is indeed quite loud:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-160


Then come issues like sound spectrum, because human ear perception varies along the range 20 Hz - 20 KHz.
And of course rockets are totally different. Space Shuttle with some 2500 ton of thrust is worth of 25 Blackjacks taking off simultaneously with afterburners engaged.


General public that used to watch launches from KSC standing on the bank of the Banana river (a spot just after the bridge along A1A entering Port Canaveral) is especially shocked while seeing how the sound wave produces the wave on the river surface that quickly runs towards you in silence and then comes something like an explosion, awesome. Though Shuttle is retired, to those who never saw the launch I really recommend to come and see at least heavy Delta IV or Atlas taking off, it is also quite impressive.

[Bill Macgillivray]

Stichbitch,


You need to use the rear view mirror in the Corolla to avoid the Jaguar in your six o'clock (and the odd other aircraft!!)

Bill.

[Finningley Boy]

I can't truly recall, even though I've been present and correct while this type has been aloft or taxying close by, but the Gloster Javelin is a worthy candidate!

From personal recollection; Four Vulcans in a scramble at numerous Finningley Battle of Britain Days among other memories there was the formation break by by four Phantoms of 43 Sqn directly overhead in full reheat at Leuchars BoB display September '72. More recently, Fairfoed IAT '95, the departure of five SU-22s of the Czech display team Rainbow!

FB:)

[Stu666]

Luftwaffe Phantom displaying at Fairford '93 is quite possibly the loudest thing I've ever heard. I'm not sure if it was down to favourable wind conditions or something, because I've heard supposedly louder aircraft since, but it genuinely sounded like it was tearing a hole in the sky :ok:

Sadly I was born in the wrong decade and just missed the boat on Frightnings, SR-71 et al :{

[Heathrow Harry]

I remember The Who playing in a converted multistorey garage in 1967.... the ceiling was only about 8ft and the nosie was inhuman - had to leave everntualluy as my inards were threaenting to come apart

[morton]

Having stood 10 feet laterally from a Lightning F56 doing reheat runs was pretty good but standing under a Vulcan doing a cross-bleed start was a great way of checking for loose fillings!

[TBM-Legend]

A four ship of CF-101 Voodoos doing an air display at Everett with a low cloud base...

[innuendo]

A four ship of CF-101 Voodoos doing an air display at Everett with a low cloud base...

It would certainly rank very high, the Voodoo burner was a brute force piece of equipment.
When you lit those you were going flying, no choice.

[Buster Hyman]

It may be a symptom of ageing, but the F/A-18 Hornet at the Oz F1 GP the other day actually made one ear ache! It's not the loudest I've heard but sub 1000kph at 250ft it was loud enough! Also made the F1 cars sound a little like Scalextric.

[wanabee777]

The Republic F-105 Thunderthud had the hardest, (meaning noisiest), lighting afterburner that I ever heard.

During their takeoffs they would, literally, knock us out of our bunks in the alert shack.

[BBadanov]

The one I remember was Mirage 4000 at Farnborough, I guess in 1986.
2 x M53s at 22,000 lb each. At that time, I reckon that was the loudest.

[Argonautical]

Sadly, never heard one myself, but in its era, the B-58 Hustler, was said to be the loudest.

[lasernigel]

Second would be Omani Jaguar but without the benifit of being in a car...

You need to use the rear view mirror in the Corolla to avoid the Jaguar in your six o'clock (and the odd other aircraft!!)


Very quick flight back home I heard. He went with BA.

[Schnowzer]

1992, a 10 ship of Tornado F3 at Akrotiri in 5 second stream. Thorax vibrationtastic👍