Originally Posted by
malcolm380
I'm pretty sure back in the pre-Concorde days (1967, 68 maybe?) some trials were done by RAF Lightnings or maybe F-4s, flying over London at Mach 1+ to study the effects of sonic booms over the city. I was only in my early teens at the time but I'm as sure as I can be that it happened.
Lightnings did definitely do SS runs over London prior to Concorde entering service.
I heard one and thought it was a boom of thunder until Honeymonster RIP (who was posted to Farnborough before me) told me it had had launched from Farnborough and done a SS run from Reading eastwards.
The only other Supersonic runs over land in the UK were from RAE Bedford along a 'corridor' following the Bedford Levels. This was still an approved procedure until RAE Bedford closed although it was rarely (if ever) used after about 1974.