Most distinctive and charismatic engine sound?
Will any of us ever hear a Napier Sabre in our lifetime? Its distant diesel cousin, the Deltic, made a wonderful racket in the eponymous railway locomotives.
Otherwise it has to be the Merlin, or a Griffon when taxying past -- that dot-and-carry-one rhythm is unmistakeable. Or perhaps the RB211s in a 747 spooling up to take you home after a wearisome business trip.
Otherwise it has to be the Merlin, or a Griffon when taxying past -- that dot-and-carry-one rhythm is unmistakeable. Or perhaps the RB211s in a 747 spooling up to take you home after a wearisome business trip.
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I've always enjoyed the combined engine/airframe noise from a Centaurus powered Sea Fury during a fast flythrough. Unfortunately whenever I hear a Merlin some dirt seems to get in my eye!
Not just pure engine noise and as other have already mentioned, Vulcan howl, Hunter blue note, Goblin whistle and Olympus 593 crackle all grab your attention, but for me the most impressive noise ever was produced by the massed take off of Lightnings at Farnborough in the 1960s - I've heard nothing like it since.
Not just pure engine noise and as other have already mentioned, Vulcan howl, Hunter blue note, Goblin whistle and Olympus 593 crackle all grab your attention, but for me the most impressive noise ever was produced by the massed take off of Lightnings at Farnborough in the 1960s - I've heard nothing like it since.
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As for distinct, the MH-53's flying from Norfolk, USA give a very distinct rattle/vibration to my house windows!
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A couple of Centaurus Tempests are closest to flying I think, though it seems to have been the case for a very long time! More than 40 years since they first arrived back in the UK...
I am not sure about charismatic but the A400 military transport has a very distinctive sound in the cruise when it flies over my house. I suspect the noise may be more prop related. But I know straight away what it is. Russian turboprops are even louder, but the A400 is more noticeable than the A380s and other jets that fly directly overhead.
As CJ has said, it was/is the tips going supersonic. When the pilot selected fine pitch on the downwind leg the note and volume would change upwards dramatically, but I don't know if that was for that reason.
Well maybe not an engine in the accepted sense but an Avpin starter was something to behold, say Wheeeee for seven seconds then Boom as the blooming thing exploded (happened twice to me on Hunters) & the smell was awful too even on a good start! Oh & let's not forget the scream of the palouste's used to start various Naval aircraft & Vulcan's etc. Happy days.
The whine of multiple Darts - Viscount, Friendship, Argosy, the long slow rumbles of Griffons - Shackleton and the whistling arrival of the F-1004 - my younger daughter could always tell when a 104 was in circuit and would gallop outside enthusiastically crying St'fighter !
2 Darts WHINE on Heralds, F27s and 748s, but 4 Darts SING on a Viscount or Argosy.
I spent a bit of time spannering on cargo Heralds and used to make a bed on the boxes as far back as possible to get away from the noise.
One of our captains announced one night that he had just clocked up 10,000 hours on the Herald. He was a bit deaf.
I spent a bit of time spannering on cargo Heralds and used to make a bed on the boxes as far back as possible to get away from the noise.
One of our captains announced one night that he had just clocked up 10,000 hours on the Herald. He was a bit deaf.
The C-5A had a pretty distinctive howl on take off or when reverse thrust selected - those TF-39s...
The Harvard was banned from Biggin for a bit, but there is one based there again now - another aircraft I occasionally hear in the circuit from five or six miles away when the wind is right.
The Harvard was banned from Biggin for a bit, but there is one based there again now - another aircraft I occasionally hear in the circuit from five or six miles away when the wind is right.
I think all the C-5s still flying have been retrofit with CF6-80C2 engines - so now they sound like a 747-400
Paxing All Over The World
My father sat between the Twin Hercules in the Beau and the Twin Merlins in the Mossie, he was a Radar Op/Nav. With just those thin leather flying caps, the noise was astounding he said. You could be up for 6 or 8 hours. His hearing was damaged beyond repair. He lost high frequency sounds first and landed up with two hearing aids. He did not complain about it. I have no idea what he thought about those sounds when he heard them in later years. He would be aproaching his 98th birthday.
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One I remember is the sound of teeny weany airways on an early winter morning starting their cold Bell 47 Sioux’s at Aldergrove.
But any blue notes, or Merlin / Griffon... plus years of running the VC10, the mighty Conways at full chat, also the Puma and Wessex, especially when doing a running refuel.
But any blue notes, or Merlin / Griffon... plus years of running the VC10, the mighty Conways at full chat, also the Puma and Wessex, especially when doing a running refuel.
Last edited by NutLoose; 4th Feb 2021 at 20:56.
The three aircraft most memorable to me, for their engine sound, are the Douglas C133 in the cruise, the Boeing Stratoliner on take off , & the Lockheed F104 - at any time at which power is applied.
and of course there was a piloted version Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg - Wikipedia
2 Darts WHINE on Heralds, F27s and 748s, but 4 Darts SING on a Viscount or Argosy.
I spent a bit of time spannering on cargo Heralds and used to make a bed on the boxes as far back as possible to get away from the noise.
One of our captains announced one night that he had just clocked up 10,000 hours on the Herald. He was a bit deaf.
I spent a bit of time spannering on cargo Heralds and used to make a bed on the boxes as far back as possible to get away from the noise.
One of our captains announced one night that he had just clocked up 10,000 hours on the Herald. He was a bit deaf.
