Most distinctive and charismatic engine sound?
As a teenager at RAF Finningley in the late 1950s (I think) Battle of Britain Days. Four Olympus when two Vulcans took off in quick succession and on lifting from the runway went up almost vertically. The roar and esp the vibration shook the ground for miles around, and so violently that grandads teeth fell out.
About 30 years ago I used to work as a line engineer at a very busy night-time freight hub and most of the aircraft coming and going on the apron were HS748s and Handley Page Heralds. Plenty of whistling and growling going on; I'm surprised my hearing is still normal after that Dart battering..
About 30 years ago I used to work as a line engineer at a very busy night-time freight hub and most of the aircraft coming and going on the apron were HS748s and Handley Page Heralds. Plenty of whistling and growling going on; I'm surprised my hearing is still normal after that Dart battering..
I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the Dart and a few others mentioned, but the Merlin is a joy. In my area, there used to be a Connie that flew regularly, and was unmistakable. There is a pair of Avanti based locally that sound like nothing else, but I suspect the props are what are making the unique racket. The T-6 was mentioned, but again, the supersonic prop tips. They truly grate on my ears, and I duck for cover when they are flying. The Old Shakey my dad flew, 4 x 4360s. Agreed on the MU-2, but I’ve never heard overflight, only on the ground. How about the shrill T-37? No props disguising that cacophony. The heli world has some very characteristic sounds, but those are rotor noises: the iconic Huey, the no-doubt Chinook, and the Bell 47, often used as the soundtrack for ANY helicopter on the wretched television.
Mostly happy days (nights), but I remember the night the BAF Viscount crashed near Uttoxeter.
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No question about that one. Supposedly it would make ground crew nauseous when working around the aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republ...Thunderscreech
I don't about charismatic, but talking loud the Fairey Rotodyne was reportedly excruciating.
They were working on reducing the noise, with some success but whether it was likely to be enough I don't know.
As so often in the 50s and 60s, national airlines and various ministries meant development was stopped.
They were working on reducing the noise, with some success but whether it was likely to be enough I don't know.
As so often in the 50s and 60s, national airlines and various ministries meant development was stopped.
As a child in the '50s and '60s living in Chiswick under the extended centre line of 28R Darts were the music of life along with Tynes on Vanguards.
That said, I can't help thinking that sounds are not necessarily purely engine related. These days I live not far from Yeovilton and, apart from all the helicopters we seem to get regular visits from A400Ms and the sound they make is distinctive and I'm pretty certain that's a combination of engine, prop and airframe.. The other sound we hear occasionally which isn't engine related is a Chinook. I sometimes mistake them for an old 2 blade big Bell but the Chinook blade slap is pretty distinctive.
That said, I can't help thinking that sounds are not necessarily purely engine related. These days I live not far from Yeovilton and, apart from all the helicopters we seem to get regular visits from A400Ms and the sound they make is distinctive and I'm pretty certain that's a combination of engine, prop and airframe.. The other sound we hear occasionally which isn't engine related is a Chinook. I sometimes mistake them for an old 2 blade big Bell but the Chinook blade slap is pretty distinctive.
The ghostly cry of a Vickers Viscount overhead at about 5000 feet is a sound I haven't heard in thirty years or more, but it's one I'm not likely to forget. Living close to Leeds Bradford Airport all my life, I became accustomed to hearing it as the aircraft of British Airways and British Midland pounded the hold, waiting for the visibility to improve! Similarly, that same aircraft on final approach had a distinctive operatic calling card that you could hear and identify from miles away. The HS748 had a quieter but not hugely different sound on final. Other Dart-powered aircraft sounded totally different.
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I just love the sounds of post war heavy reciprocating engines in line or radial and turbojets and early turboprops screaming defiance at the laws of gravity and rules of drag.
From higher level and my misspent youth C-133 and TU-114 blue one ‘doggar’ towards ‘Wallasey’ Lower down various DCs Argonaut, Viking Viscount Comet York Hermes etc etc etc into Manchester.
From higher level and my misspent youth C-133 and TU-114 blue one ‘doggar’ towards ‘Wallasey’ Lower down various DCs Argonaut, Viking Viscount Comet York Hermes etc etc etc into Manchester.
After taking a break from PPRuNe, just stumbled on this super thread. There are just too many distinctive and charismatic engine sounds in my head, but I'll start with the P&W R-1830 Twin Wasp (well, I guess one should say a pair of them) in the C-47, the proper name of the vast majority of DC-3s flying post-war. Nearly 70 years after becoming acquainted with them in Africa, and half a century after doing a spell on them as a co-pilot, I still find myself dropping everything to tumble out of the house at their most distant sound. Except that, sadly, for a few years now, that hardly ever happens; except when a rare Dak is going into or out of Biggin. The only other engines that have that effect are Gipsy Queens (Dove or Heron); Merlin or, better still, several of them; and the faraway slapping of Chinook rotors.
Yes! But don't forget the B-17 has Wright R-1820 Cyclones, not P&W R-1830s. Which reminds me: the Wright Cyclone has one row of 9 pots; the Twin Wasp two rows of 7. So there are only 28 cylinders on a C-47; not 36, as KCode suggests. The R-3350 and R-2800 are the ones with two rows of 9: Maybe more on those later..
That drone of those four P&W radials on a B-17 going overhead is music to my ears (although I'd probably feel differently if I'd been at the receiving end of a mission).
The two P&W radials on the DC-3 also sound wonderful to me - there is a vintage DC-3 based at the Historic Flight museum at Paine field just a few miles from my house. It flies overhead occasionally during the nice weather months. Whenever I hear 'that sound' I rush outside to take a look at listen.
The two P&W radials on the DC-3 also sound wonderful to me - there is a vintage DC-3 based at the Historic Flight museum at Paine field just a few miles from my house. It flies overhead occasionally during the nice weather months. Whenever I hear 'that sound' I rush outside to take a look at listen
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I'd question whether any sound can be charismatic - perhaps the OP meant 'charming'? However I'd also vote for the A400M as having a charming sound; Dart Heralds, 748s, F-28s etc are evocative for me but not charming. However I do recall the Argosy sounding a bit more tuneful than the Viscount, despite having basically the same engine/prop layout. Again, charming, not charismatic.
I'd question whether any sound can be charismatic - perhaps the OP meant 'charming'? However I'd also vote for the A400M as having a charming sound; Dart Heralds, 748s, F-28s etc are evocative for me but not charming. However I do recall the Argosy sounding a bit more tuneful than the Viscount, despite having basically the same engine/prop layout. Again, charming, not charismatic.
Then I have memory of the comforting sound of the big radials fitted to DC3s or Bristol Freighters droning overhead my house at 1 am on their way to Tasmania from Essendon, pushing into a 50 knot headwind on a Melbourne winter's stormy night as they made for Bass Strait. I say comforting as I was tucked up in bed.