I don't doubt that you could get all sorts of jumps on pressure instruments in the transonic region but I don't see that this mean you've either gone supersonic or dropped a boom. Likewise, pressure waves will form on various parts of the aircraft where the air is supersonic, typically over the wings but well before a sonic boom is caused - some of these cause Mach buffet but not a sonic boom. I expect the mach whiskers over the wings grow when G is pulled but I don't see how these can cause a boom. I've also heard of the 'don't put the airbrake out at high IMN or you will cause a boom', brigade. I've always thought this more BS and just another excuse for failing to notice the jet's gone through M1.0 and dropped one. Who can prove me wrong?
Beagle's 'Yes it is' doesn't do it for me. Rigger1's thoughts are more interesting but I don't think a sonic boom is just a large bit of localised supersonic air. It's a shockwave caused by he first bit of supersonic material to hit the air and forms at the leading edges.
There are two aspects here. Air made supersonic around the airframe, this can happen at quite slow IMN. A Tornado in 25^ can be made to mach buffet quite dramatically at VNE (M0.85 plus a tiny bit!), a Jaguar won't do it at all due to the decent fixed sweep. The other aspect is stuff moving through the air at supersonic speed. I contend that it is objects at supersonic speed that cause a boom and not supersonic air about the aircraft. If this is the case, then pulling g, opening airbrakes and all the other stuff you hear that might, 'cause a shock-wave to detach' are urban myths.
So, if you dropped a boom the aircraft exceeded M1.0 - or did it ??!!!?
