Loudest military aircraft?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
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Honest John
Not sure if it qualifies but back in the sixties I stood about 100 metres away from an Honest John when it was fired. The motor only fired for about four-five seconds but the noise was louder than a squadron of jets put together.
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Rocket engines are another thing altogether. In terms of raw power, exhaust speed, and abrupt change from exhaust to ambient air, it doesn't get much more effective at generating noise.
Now that the Space Shuttle's stopped flying, Ariane V's solid boosters are probably the loudest thing around.
Now that the Space Shuttle's stopped flying, Ariane V's solid boosters are probably the loudest thing around.
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Gulf War1; In Dhahran, sitting in a COLPRO tent, during a Scud attack, quite close to a battery of Patriots when one was launched, now that was loud.
3P
3P
Last edited by threeputt; 25th Jan 2014 at 06:06.
Word is that the manoeuvre had been threatened and chummy was keeping a close eye in his rear view mirror. The original and much clearer photo shows him a little bloodied - but not seriously though.
I will admit (having heard them) that the SR71, B1, Harrier, Lightning, Vulcan etc are definitely extremely loud, as are many of the pure turbojets, the small ones disproportionately so.
However the loudest aircraft noise I ever heard was the Canadian Starfighter team in formation at speed at Biggin Hill (late 70s/early 80s?) (at least I think it was Biggin). In close formation, low-level and I am sure over the crowd, at speeds well in excess of the 250kts nonce-sense of today (must have been near supersonic)! It was an earth-shattering experience where I felt like I could barely breath with the vibration and with my head like a tuning fork; it just went on and on!
Then... silence (or it felt like it for a few seconds)! broken eventually by the crying children and astounded swearing of the adults (those that could speak).
Just above the crowd, out of a clear blue sky, a tiny single cloud had formed (300-500m across) that slowly dissipated over the next half-hour..
Thems was the days!!!
However the loudest aircraft noise I ever heard was the Canadian Starfighter team in formation at speed at Biggin Hill (late 70s/early 80s?) (at least I think it was Biggin). In close formation, low-level and I am sure over the crowd, at speeds well in excess of the 250kts nonce-sense of today (must have been near supersonic)! It was an earth-shattering experience where I felt like I could barely breath with the vibration and with my head like a tuning fork; it just went on and on!
Then... silence (or it felt like it for a few seconds)! broken eventually by the crying children and astounded swearing of the adults (those that could speak).
Just above the crowd, out of a clear blue sky, a tiny single cloud had formed (300-500m across) that slowly dissipated over the next half-hour..
Thems was the days!!!
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Loudest aircraft the B52 ?
Interesting seeing the B52 heading in, looks like a panel or something ? above the aircraft, did one of the crew try to get out/eject ?, is that a panel/cover being jettisoned, I always thought that sadly all the crew died in the crash ?, PH
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That's the ejected roof hatch going that would allow Bud Holland's colleague to the right to exit next in his seat, but it was too late. That frame is probably 4-5 seconds after the direness of the situation became clear.
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In my humble opinion the Backfire wins by far. I remember almost every car alarm being activated at Fairford after its departure (awesome!) in 1990 (IIRC).
The prize for the most pointlessly loud aircraft goes to the F-35 for the volume of noise it produces at mid-range power settings.
The prize for the most pointlessly loud aircraft goes to the F-35 for the volume of noise it produces at mid-range power settings.
1994 B-52 Crash Fairchild AFB
zetec2,
Here is an interesting description of the background to that crash:
1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The impact was close to the "special" storage area seen in the background.
Here is an interesting description of the background to that crash:
1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The impact was close to the "special" storage area seen in the background.
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It could indeed have been much worse at Fairchild. Although, it's to be hoped that the special compound is at least substantially fireproof. If the turn had been less tight and the aircraft had overflown the prohibited area, then the accident probably wouldn't have happened.
The history of that incident is a very sobering account of institutional issues leading to an unsurprising outcome. Then again, the same sort of thing happened in Alaska on a C17 practicing for a display only a few years ago.
The history of that incident is a very sobering account of institutional issues leading to an unsurprising outcome. Then again, the same sort of thing happened in Alaska on a C17 practicing for a display only a few years ago.