Dropping a Bang (I heard it called once)

[charliegolf]

From my local rag"

Eight out of the 16 sonic booms recorded in the UK in the last five years were over Wales - with four heard in Ceredigion alone.

Car windows have shattered, roof tiles have fallen and greenhouses have been damaged because of the booms, which are caused when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier.

The information has come to light following a Freedom of Information request submitted to the Ministry of Defence.


Broken a car windscreen? Really? I'm sure a zoomie or former zoomie will be along soon to put a realistic view.

Whilst on the subject: what is the relationship between the aircraft and the 'hearer'? When does the hearer hear the bang? Is it dependent on aicraft height, Mach number etc?

Only interested. Ta.

CG

[Kluseau]

The best objective study seems to have been during "Operation Bongo II" (apparently) when 1,253 sonic booms were generated over Oklahoma City during the first half of 1964.

The Wikipedia article on the tests is fairly good:
Oklahoma City sonic boom tests - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_sonic_boom_tests)

Perhaps the best quote is: "An FAA-hired camera crew, filming a group of construction workers, were surprised to find that the booms signalled their lunch break."

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

On the occasion that a formation I was part of dropped a boom at low level over land, it apparently cracked half the windows facing the boom within 5 miles. Luckily it was a remote area and there was only one house.

*Coasting in on a hazy day chasing down some Jags, as I remember. Probably around Mach 1.15. Naturally the formation leader owned up..

..the other three of us...?
s6jYoagXmZE

[NutLoose]

[QUOTE]*Coasting in on a hazy day chasing down some Jags, as I remember. Probably around Mach 1.15. Naturally the formation leader owned up..[/QUOTE

Well there is 1/2 your problem, you should have been looking for them in your mirrors.]

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

One of the best things about the F3, at low level, was never having to look in the mirrors. Fox 1 in the face, good long check down threat, haul it round, wind it up to 750 kts and the rest (Leon has seen 870 kts; I've seen well over 800 kts) and you could chase down anything...


..and blow out windows. Oops. Teach 'em to live on the ground.

[NutLoose]

Well you wouldn't see a jag then, because it would be a long way back :p

[LowObservable]

Death By Bongo?

[wokawoka]

MythBusters: Sonic Boom Sound Off Angle 1 : Video : Discovery Channel (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/sonic-boom-sound-off-angle-1.htm)

[charliegolf]

But what about cars windscreens? They are tough ish.

CG

[TyroPicard]

The article quoted said car "windows".....

[Halton Brat]

In those halcyon Concorde days, I was living just west of Cardiff airport, au bord de la mer. The jet's 1030 LHR departure would, in summer, cause a series of booms which were clearly audible in this area about 15mins BEFORE the jet was overhead, westbound.

Concorde would light the burners as it crossed the Welsh coast en-route to NY, passing M1 rapidly off-shore. The jet was often clearly visible overhead, day or night (burner flames).

The most plausible explanation I could find for this seasonal but often daily phenomenon was that shock waves from the fwd fuselage & fin root were being generated by the jet at high IAS, though the jet was obviously subsonic between LHR & the Welsh coast. These sound waves were then preceding the aircraft.

Thoughts, anyone?

HB