Hokulea
5th Dec 2010, 07:10
I recently flew on a 757 from Boston to London and was sitting right over the wings and main gear - not a place I'm used to (I normally sit right at the back), so the noises were certainly different.
On takeoff I heard and felt a very loud bang just as the gear left the runway - it was almost as if we hit something. For a minute or two I was a little anxious as I'd never heard this before but the flight carried on as normal. I was in a window seat and didn't see anything abnormal. On searching pprune a couple of days later I'm pretty sure I know what the noise was but can't find the thread now so forget the terms used! Anyway, it was something to do with what I understand to be the equivalent of a shock absorber reaching its limit as the weight of the plane is removed from the main gear. Apparently this is quite normal and is only obvious to those sitting above the gear. I'm more than happy with the explanation although a little surprised I've never heard it before, it was quite loud.
On landing, however, a fraction of a second after touching down, there were four loud bangs in rapid succession. The noise wasn't as loud as on takeoff but very noticeable and again I "felt" them through the seat. I don't think this was the wheels hitting the runway as it was literally a fraction of a second after touching down (and the landing was quite smooth).
Again, I've never heard the noise before and it was a little startling. I'm assuming it's related to the noise I heard on takeoff (i.e., something hitting its limit and quite normal) but this time there were four bangs, not just one.
Anyone with an explanation of what it was? I haven't found anything using the search function.
My appreciation in advance.
On takeoff I heard and felt a very loud bang just as the gear left the runway - it was almost as if we hit something. For a minute or two I was a little anxious as I'd never heard this before but the flight carried on as normal. I was in a window seat and didn't see anything abnormal. On searching pprune a couple of days later I'm pretty sure I know what the noise was but can't find the thread now so forget the terms used! Anyway, it was something to do with what I understand to be the equivalent of a shock absorber reaching its limit as the weight of the plane is removed from the main gear. Apparently this is quite normal and is only obvious to those sitting above the gear. I'm more than happy with the explanation although a little surprised I've never heard it before, it was quite loud.
On landing, however, a fraction of a second after touching down, there were four loud bangs in rapid succession. The noise wasn't as loud as on takeoff but very noticeable and again I "felt" them through the seat. I don't think this was the wheels hitting the runway as it was literally a fraction of a second after touching down (and the landing was quite smooth).
Again, I've never heard the noise before and it was a little startling. I'm assuming it's related to the noise I heard on takeoff (i.e., something hitting its limit and quite normal) but this time there were four bangs, not just one.
Anyone with an explanation of what it was? I haven't found anything using the search function.
My appreciation in advance.