A Beautiful Noise
To Lyman:
I used to live in South London, directly under the flightpath. Every now and then a Concorde would come over. The noise could be heard even if you were in your house with the TV on - it would only be at a few thousand feet by then.
In winter it was even better, with the powerful light stabbing into the darkness.
As far as I know, no-one ever complained about the noise; we all just looked up and stared in wonder at this beautiful thing in the air.
I actually built some of the components used, so I suppose I had a sort of proprietorial connection, along with thousands of other people, and it still saddens me to this day that she is no longer around.