Noise at Brize Norton
 

Having been SDO, and subjected to a tirade of abuse about the noise of a VC10 doing night circuit training in the mid eighties, what is it like for the SDO at Brize Norton now. Having lived in Carterton for over thirty years, the noise of the C130's propellors is much more intrusive than the noise of four Conways was, it's the never ending drone, you can hear it clearly on the golf course in Burford, some six miles away! I know this sounds Nimbyish but I do wish they had never closed Lyneham, Start up, to taxy, seems to take for ever for an Albert, I'm sure there must be a technical reason why it takes so long. I briefly lived in Melsome Road married quarters, Lyneham, in 1972, which was much nearer to the flight line than I live at the moment, so I do feel able to comment!

It's the sound of freedom. I have no probs when the secret Oxon heli base is on night flying in summer.

It really is a non-issue. I once fell asleep on Albert before take-off, despite being togged for a jump at WoG.

Having lived in a single none double glazed room facing the main Runway at Brize during the 80's, one often found it amusing people in the local area could complain, my attitude was you bought a house near an Airport so live with it, as I indeed had to working and living there.

Every man and his dog got in the act of ban times, even the Station Commander had one during the God Slot on Sunday while he was at church, if God hadn't intended man to make a noise, he wouldn't have given us the facility to build the VC10 in the first place.

I do agree though, a turboprop hangs around longer and is annoying noise wise, but hey ho, back to the live near airports expect aircraft noise..

I think you have both missed my point, why does the drone go on for so long! I am not moaning about aircraft engine noise per se, just why does it have to go on for so long?

Years ago I was at Coningsby. I remember laying in bed on hot summers nights with the window open. The silence would be broken by a distant "merrrrr" of a warning horn as someone on the night shift closed a canopy of a Tornado F3 sat on the line, quite some distance away. It wasn't loud or intrusive, just haunting how far the noise carried in the night.

Bizarrely, every night when the fire section went to duty supper. The fire engine always changed gear at the same point outside by my window. You could set your watch to it.

I often used to follow my own dead head check list on Albert (In the days before the H&S Nazis took over the asylum) Gear Up, Flaps Up, Hammock Up and asleep well before TOC. In a former life I lived in the junior ranks blocks next to the runway at BZN and was never kept awake, likewise in the Mess at LYN. Now I live under the finals turn point for WOTG and always get a better nights sleep when I've got the lullaby of four Allisons humming overhead. No complaints here, happy to have more. :ok:

I wish I had never asked! Start up and take off from Victoria Falls to 10000' took ten minutes.

When I lived in Carterton a Brit used to land around 06.30 hrs some days.
As reverse thrust was selected there was a popping sound then the roar of the props in reverse thrust. I heard this as I lay in bed contemplating getting up for work. I found it a comforting, familiar sound. After leaving the RAF and moving to N.Herts, for quite a few months, I used to lie in bed early in the morning still expecting to hear it!

I always found the sound of the Albert quite relaxing. Conversely, the whine of the VC10 as it taxied followed by a mini-earthquake as it took-off was really rather irritating.

Nothing beat the F4 for real 'jet noise the sound of freedom'.

Is the question about the propogation of sound waves through the air, the harmonics present in the sound or aircraft making a noise?

Having lived on airfields pretty much all my life, I find it more interesting to consider why on certain days the wonderful sounds are so clear and of others so muffled and distant. Same with Buckingham Church's bells. And the cars at Silverstone.

I'm repeatedly told it's the wind direction, but I fail to see how a 10 kt breeze in any direction can have any significant effect on sound travelling at 600kts, or so.

One of the things that I'm very interested to learn about the area of France that I'm moving to is, do the Mirages and Rafales low fly there. I really hope so.

Airborne_Artist, you were almost right. It's "The SWEET sound of freedom." :ok::ok::ok::ok:

Isn't it to do with air pressure? On Summer days when there is minimal wind and the air pressure is high, the sound of an aeroplane is far more distinct.

Haltonapp,

Just curious about your observation on the noise of Albert, as I understood that the new (J Model) was a quieter beast altogether. Could it be that you are experiencing the high use of what's left of the K's in an attempt to get full value for money?

New C-130J model to reduce KMC flying noise

This suggests that the J is certainly quieter than the E ( of which I believe the K is a derivative). Just a thought that your noise problem may abate after 8 November. Personally, the K is my favourite sounding version of the mighty Albert.

Smudge :ok:

Although the Mirage 2000 base at Orange (Base Aérienne 115) is 30km NW of here, I can still hear their arrivals and departures when the wind/temp/humidity are all in favour. Being on the extended centreline of the main runway also helps.
During the winter training season the PAF also provide overhead entertainment.

It probably lasts longer because it is a slower aircraft, therefore the time period you hear it lasts longer, a Ten though noisy tended to be a brief affair as it moved and climbed quicker. Also one would think the noise footprint on the Ten would be narrower and more direction orientated than the Herc.

Incidentally rumour has it at EGNX a few years back they used to have 727's regularly getting fined for failing the noise limits even though they were using noise abatement procedures ( reduced power ) take offs. They soon discovered as the sound monitoring equipment was off site that they could do full 100% power take offs to the detriment of the locality, climb like a dingbat, then throttle back as they whizzed over the sensors... Thus defeating the object of it all, but passing the checks.

Having kipped within the bounds of BZN for many years (before Albert was based in my case), the early morning crackle of a departing Funbus was a noise I grew to love, as was the reverberating bass-like boom of a slowly (sometimes very slowly!) spooling-up RB211.

The one sound I found genuinely haunting (especially on a still, misty night) was the whine of the C5, which became a scream at high power - they were plentiful during GW1 and a sound that I won't ever forget.

Odd isn't it, used to be a Seneca nearby and I used to lie in bed about midnight and hear it going through it's mag checks before departing to Dublin, you would sometimes hear it cough and know I had work in the morning, they could never figure out how I knew it was U/S.. It was a comforting noise and when it stopped I missed it to.

The Ten Dulles flights were the memorable ones for me as they were always that bit heavier so rotated that much later and virtually opposite my window, rattling them as it went by, followed as you say by the crackle and as you say, in its way that too was soothing.

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Noisy? Now Concorde doing rollers at BZ, that was noisy.....

All to do with wind gradient. Downwind the air above the surface moves faster, and a pressure wave is refracted downwards, in effect the sound 'hugs the ground'. Upwind the reverse effect, sound waves are deflected upwards.

I have very fond memories of standing in the schoolyard at EM watching this along with the Brits and Belfasts in the early seventies.

Later years, Duchess Junior wouldn't go to sleep until she'd said "goodnight" to the early evening Concorde departure out of LHR.

Aircraft noise.... love it. Almost as much as the smell of jet-fuel!

Ah, right; with that ability, she'll be senior negotiator somewhere now ;)

Living in Earith in double glazed house, the sound of the Wyton Victors appeared to come from the fireplace.
SWMBO still casts up my decision to buy a house in b***dy Earith! Good point actually.