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Most distinctive and charismatic engine sound?

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Most distinctive and charismatic engine sound?

Old 9th Feb 2021, 19:31
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Discorde

Same era other end of LHR, my two schools in Stanwell Village were very very close to 28L /!0R and the 60s jet sounds are with me to this day, crackling Caravelles for one. But you are right about the Fan Jet 707s inbound over Hounslow , scream was the only suitable word for them when on final approach
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Old 9th Feb 2021, 20:00
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One of our erstwhile EROPS B757”s had an 535E4 engine that made a most distinctive growl on the selection of take-off thrust. That engine ran day after day over the N Atlantic, but when its overhaul time was up, off it went to Derby, where RR modified the noise out of it. On the ground, if that ship was taking off, there was no mistaking its identity. From the flight deck, the noise was equally unique and I found it very distinctive. On reflection, the RR engined 757 had a history of making such a noise, buzz or racket, but perhaps we had one of the last to have whatever produced that happy sound prior to it being modified out.

Looking sideways, but the question was only about engine sound, so herewith tongue in cheek. On the reciprocating front, apart from the Bristol Centaurus, may I suggest the English Electric 8SVT power unit? It possesses 2 Napier turbo-blowers (the last gasp of the company that manufactured the Sabre aero engine) which make a wonderful whistling sound. The engine block and its associated accessories weigh about 19 tons and it produces approx 1000 noisy or at full chat, very noisy HP. Bombproof though and it will produce that power forever. Also, the machine it is bolted to is generally locked into LNAV, so you don’t have to steer it.

Both of the above wonderful to operate.
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Old 10th Feb 2021, 14:51
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Just about any radial engine catches my fancy! Especially the R2800 on the P-47.

And of course the sweet sound of the various Merlin V12 series.

Can't say the same about any turbojet engine. As others have noted, the Piaggio Avanti has a unique sound.
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Old 10th Feb 2021, 15:47
  #204 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by Rocking Grate
Looking sideways, but the question was only about engine sound, so herewith tongue in cheek. On the reciprocating front, apart from the Bristol Centaurus, may I suggest the English Electric 8SVT power unit? It possesses 2 Napier turbo-blowers (the last gasp of the company that manufactured the Sabre aero engine) which make a wonderful whistling sound. The engine block and its associated accessories weigh about 19 tons and it produces approx 1000 noisy or at full chat, very noisy HP. Bombproof though and it will produce that power forever. Also, the machine it is bolted to is generally locked into LNAV, so you don’t have to steer it.
Ah, well, if we're allowing railway machinery, there's nothing like an English Electric 16SVT for character -- or two Napier Deltics at full chat for sheer glorious bedlam!

Some of the modern freight locomotives don't sound bad to my ears either. The Class 70 is very impressive with a decent load up a gradient.


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Old 11th Feb 2021, 01:57
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2 P&W 2800’s on an A-26 Invader, doing a low ’n over, fast, METO, props fine..
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Old 11th Feb 2021, 02:38
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Of the modern options, I know of people who used to make the 10pm pilgrimage to either 23 or 05 at YAPD on a semi-regular basis just to hear the howl of the GE-90s on the EK-441 B777 departure.

I say 'used to' because it hasn't happened for a while now - something to do with a 'Covid' thing....

Sadly it's barely noticeable inside the tube - at least in the cheap seats where we get to sit.
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Old 11th Feb 2021, 13:49
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Originally Posted by ACW599
Ah, well, if we're allowing railway machinery, there's nothing like an English Electric 16SVT for character -- or two Napier Deltics at full chat for sheer glorious bedlam!

Some of the modern freight locomotives don't sound bad to my ears either. The Class 70 is very impressive with a decent load up a gradient.
The old Paxman Valenta engined HSTs deserve a special mention.
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Old 11th Feb 2021, 15:43
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I had a jolly in Concorde, sat aft of the engines, we did a display at RIAT. A couple of passes down the runway in different configurations then the final pass slowiish over the threshold then Mr Bannister poured on the coals. It wasn,t so much the noise as the vibration deep in my belly, never forgotten. Minutes later we were blatsing down the Bristol Channel and minutes later gave Cornwall a bit of a bang.
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Old 11th Feb 2021, 17:13
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707...always and till eternity <3
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Old 11th Feb 2021, 19:58
  #210 (permalink)  
 
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Some of the Russian turboprop transports that operated in and out of Zaire made one hell of a racket but the dirty exhaust smoke lasted longer than the sound did. I got to be rather fond of the AN2's ASz621 engine clatter that we operated. Twas a metric version of the R1820 Cyclone and it had the pleasing whine of inertia starters.
Radials always do it for me, even the 9-blade pre-start turn over by hand.
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Old 12th Feb 2021, 11:38
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The GE90 ... for the shear violence of the energy being produced ...

Particularly when at high thrust, as the experience is felt as much in the chest as the ears !!

I. Duke
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Old 12th Feb 2021, 18:15
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I'm going to nominate the JT8D in the B727 as the most distinctive sound, due to the fact that when a 727 was approaching or departing Adelaide Airport (when such things were allowed) one didn't have to look out the window to identify the aircraft type

Recently heard the audio of a Bristol Centaurus engined Sea Fury idling and it sounds EXACTLY like a 1973 Torana GTR XU1 (race homologation special) with a 3.3l pushrod i6 and triple strombergs. EXACTLY. A big "cammy" high compression racing engine soundsound (with of course NO cams).

And I always get a laugh out of seeing people talking on the flight deck or cockpit of a piston engined AC in films. Even in the cargo area of a C130...
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Old 12th Feb 2021, 19:26
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Originally Posted by EvaDestruction
And of course the sweet sound of the various Merlin V12 series.
To my ears, just about any V12 piston gasoline engine sounds pretty glorious - aircraft, auto, doesn't much matter - they sound great (Diesels not so much ).
Back sometime in the 1980s, a racing buddy and I had gone to watch an IMSA race in Portland. At the time, Jaguar was campaigning a prototype powered by a big V-12 (6 liter if memory serves). First time it went by full chat, that sound was so musical my buddy and I just looked at each other and smiled. It's the sort of sound you sort of want to record and play it through your road car exhaust .

Originally Posted by EvaDestruction
Can't say the same about any turbojet engine. As others have noted, the Piaggio Avanti has a unique sound.
Agreed - while many jet aircraft have distinctive sounds, I can't say I find any of them particularly pleasurable or musical.
There used to be a company at Paine Field that did heavy maintenance on old JT8D powered 727s and 737s. When the conditions are right, I can hear them doing engine runs at Paine - especially during summer evenings when it's quiet and the windows are open. I could readily tell the difference between the sounds of the big turbofan engines on the Boeing Everett flightline, and the JT8Ds that were at that maintenance facility. Boeing would rarely run engines after 10pm - they had a curfew and could only break it for specific circumstances. OTOH, that maintenance facility would often run those JT8Ds in the middle of the night - correctly assuming that most everyone would blame the noise on Boeing.
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Old 12th Feb 2021, 21:03
  #214 (permalink)  
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This is an aero but non-engine sound: The BAe 146 (and later models of RJ) make a very distinctive sound when the flaps are in transit. Silent at extension and stowed but, when travelling? I can pick this up when they are at 5,000 feet. I like the sound as I like the aircraft. I am sad that it arrived too late to be become well established.
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Old 13th Feb 2021, 03:05
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Originally Posted by gileraguy
I'm going to nominate the JT8D in the B727 as the most distinctive sound, due to the fact that when a 727 was approaching or departing Adelaide Airport (when such things were allowed) one didn't have to look out the window to identify the aircraft type

Recently heard the audio of a Bristol Centaurus engined Sea Fury idling and it sounds EXACTLY like a 1973 Torana GTR XU1 (race homologation special) with a 3.3l pushrod i6 and triple strombergs. EXACTLY. A big "cammy" high compression racing engine soundsound (with of course NO cams).

And I always get a laugh out of seeing people talking on the flight deck or cockpit of a piston engined AC in films. Even in the cargo area of a C130...
Heheh beat me to it! The 737-200s we have out here also have JT8Ds - people often mistake them for turbojets because of the cigar shape and the shameless noise. They are absolutely obscene when heard from outside. Glorious music to anyone's ears, they sound like a dragon wants to eat your soul, you feel the violence in your body. And keep in mind, these ones have silencer kits on them.

Another great spirit in this thread mentioned the Hawker Hunter also. That one straight up makes me weep with emotion.
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Old 13th Feb 2021, 08:58
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Originally Posted by gileraguy
And I always get a laugh out of seeing people talking on the flight deck or cockpit of a piston engined AC in films. Even in the cargo area of a C130...
The film soundtracks that amuse me are the occasions when a turboprop spools down to the accompanying sounds of a big piston engine stopping.
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Old 13th Feb 2021, 14:01
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Diversion ...
Films/TV. Saw a so called documentary that said 'Turboprops were a new kind of engine that was a hybrid of jet and piston'.
You see the external shot of the aircraft and then cut to the flight deck - to discover that the film/tv company could not afford the interior of the external. Possibly the external was stock footage!

Last edited by PAXboy; 14th Feb 2021 at 03:58. Reason: typo
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Old 13th Feb 2021, 17:31
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No wonder I’m deaf ....

Merlin on a Spit is 1st aviation memory in ‘58

74’s Lightnings’s Avons at Colt BoB 1960

Hercules on Nav. training Varsities out of Stradishall Mid 60s , rising rumble from the West , overhead , turning over Gt Yarmouth , to fade away Northbound . Followed by a second , third , .... by then I’d fallen asleep dreaming of Wellingtons and 1000 bombers .

RR Continental O-200 on 1st solo 1971.

1974 Junior F/O on V. early turns . LHR just skylarks on an early spring morn as walkround commenced , a slow turn building to a screaming crescendo as our T1’s Garrett APU wound up . By the time I was around the a/c , 1st of Viscount’s 4 Darts would be winding up , followed , by the sewing machines of BAC S111 Speys . Later that year the big diesel sounds of Rb211-22bs of our 1st Tristars , rumbling away on start up . Only a/c I’ve been on which sounded the same inside and out .To round it all out from inside , last manual throttle, full power t/o into retirement of 4 Rb 211-524Hs , more about thrust than noise . A farewell walk around afterlanding has the clattering of fan blades on a summers breeze etched into memory .

At the moment any a/c gets our heads turning skywards , especially an Hunter’s Avon blue note a few weeks ago .

Rgds condor
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Old 13th Feb 2021, 21:44
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Originally Posted by tdracer
Oh, you just reminded me - back in the late 1980s, they did a flying test bed of an unducted fan as proposed for the (stillborn) 7J7. GE engine IIRC - fitted to a DC-9 airframe - counter rotating props driven by two free turbines at the back of the engine. Not only supersonic tip speeds, but counter rotating so you have one prop chopping through the vortices of the leading prop.
I never heard it, but people who did said it was indescribably loud and obnoxious. No one cared about the fuel efficiency as it quickly became apparent that the noise made it a non-starter.

Never had the opportunity to hear a B-36, but that would have been interesting
I was at Farnborough when this aspirant mixmaxter was demonstrated. Incredibly, it was sequenced such that it followed some very quiet demo aircraft, including a glider! It was a glorious and still summer's evening - one could hear the birds chirping.- and then the sound demon of the "future to be" appeared. One note, very, very very loud, and most very obnoxious. Memory ( aging) tells me that one set of noise making external devices (blades) were attached to the rotating turbine to go that a away, while the other set of noise makers were attached to the turbine vanes, which - amazingly - were allowed to freely turn in the other direction than that a way. Most unusual to have a part (vane)that is normally static be repurposed as a high speed rotating device- an a critical one as well.. Mind you, GE did amazingly well with the "blucket" aft fan.. Great thread by the way - my music is 1) any engine that continues to provide power to an aircraft that i happen to be inhabiting at the time 2) RR Merlin in Spit and/ or Hurricane and 3) R1830 powered DC-3s ...melody in 36 cylinder harmony
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Old 14th Feb 2021, 03:22
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Originally Posted by DHfan
The film soundtracks that amuse me are the occasions when a turboprop spools down to the accompanying sounds of a big piston engine stopping.
I remember when I went to see the parody movie "Airplane" back when it first came out (~1980). I'm sure it was intentional that when they showed the 707 flying through the clouds, the sound was for a big multi-engine prop aircraft. I found that so funny that I laughed out loud - my then girlfriend couldn't understand why I was laughing
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