Loudest aircraft you have ever heard

[nomiddlemas]

What is the loudest aircraft you have ever heard in your life?

[HGjunkie]

http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/aircraft/fatalbert.aspx

[SarDragon]

AV-8B, doing verticals, about a quarter of a mile away.

[nomiddlemas]

Really? I have heard those make quite a sound when the engines hit the pavement.  The loudest I have ever heard was a F-18 with a 300 mph speed pass.  The B-52's were surprisingly quite for their size. 

[NIN]

5 or 6 F-106s making a "surprise burner pass" at the Selfridge Airshow about 40 years ago.

Oh, crap, I am that old now.

[SunDog]

 

RF-4C, ABs lit a few yards away. Long ago, and far away. . .some sounds will never be heard in the world again.

[PHall]

KC-135A on takeoff roll with the water injection going. About the only thing louder was an F-105 in afterburner!

[AirDX]

Loud: gaggle of F-111s MITOing at Hickam around the mid 70s.
Louder: Concorde doing touch-n-goes at Oshkosh about 1988.
Loudest: Standing on the LSO platform on the USS Carl Vinson in 1998 recovering F-14s and F/A-18s.

[Spaceman3750]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouga_CM.170_Magister

[unmlobo]

B-1 buzzing my dorms at Ellsworth AFB and then again on top of a ridge at Philmont Scout Ranch.  Lately one of the loudest was a flight of 8 F-15E's and 4 F-22's that were weathered in.  They wanted to leave and hit the afterburners hardcore, so glad I had earpro.

[Bayareaflyer 44]

Got to see/hear a SR-71 taking off from the side of the runway at Beale AFB.  WIWAC my ATCFC class was touring the facility, when they rushed us out there for us for that experience.  Fortunate timing, I guess.

[UH60guy]

Those friggin French Mirages that took off in pairs at 0200  on afterburners nearly every night at Kandahar. Can't a guy get some sleep?

[Huey Driver]

C-17s in full reverse thrust are pretty noisy when you're up close and personal!

[bosshawk]

I agree on the comment about the RF-4C: was at Bergstrom AFB one night and went out to the end of the runway to watch two of them depart.  Was in a staff Car about 100 ft from those two when they went to Mil Power and lit the burners.  The whole world shook.

Also, a BAC-111 passenger aircraft: the British make some of the loudest aircraft engines in the world.

[Flying Pig]

Was about 25 yards from 2 F/A-18s departing with afterburners. It was a psychologically altering experience.   The only close second would be the sound of my awesomeness emitting from whatever I'm flying.

[Storm Chaser]

The F-16 was loud, but I think the T-37 was much louder (at least it seemed to me that way ).

[Larry Mangum]

F-4D's in full afterburner during takeoff.  We transitioned from F-4's to F-16's and the F-16 is significantly quieter than an F-4.

[rugger1869]

Lear 20 with straight jets... It hurt your guts it was so loud.

[Al Sayre]

2 F-14's in full AB doing a supersonic low pass.

[SunDog]

On second thought, it might have been a C-172; it quit when I pulled carb heat opposite the touchdown point. That quiet was really, really loud. I could feel it in my "abdomen".

[JoeTomasone]

Got to see/hear a SR-71 taking off from the side of the runway at Beale AFB.  WIWAC my ATCFC class was touring the facility, when they rushed us out there for us for that experience.  Fortunate timing, I guess.

I am eternally jealous and compelled to despise you for your good fortune forever.

[avguy]

It may not have been the loudest decibel-wise but I was completely unprepared for the noise of a Vulcan low-pass flyover at Middle Wallop in 1986.  The air around me seemed to be pulsing in a way I've never experienced since.

[Bayareaflyer 44]

Got to see/hear a SR-71 taking off from the side of the runway at Beale AFB.  WIWAC my ATCFC class was touring the facility, when they rushed us out there for us for that experience.  Fortunate timing, I guess.

I am eternally jealous and compelled to despise you for your good fortune forever.

Oh, and I guess I'll not mention that I was an honor cadet, and flew in the Tweet...  (which is not that loud on the inside)   

[capmaj]

Easily....... any of the shuttle launches.

[MSG Mac]

From the inside the C-130. Never got off one without a bad headache and a cold.   

[FlyTiger77]

The Cobra...on the engine deck from about 6 inches away when it was running...without hearing protection. Probably not my smartest move, but at the time there must have been something important I really wanted to see.

What they say is true. Your hearing doesn't come back.

[Al Sayre]

On second thought, it might have been a C-172; it quit when I pulled carb heat opposite the touchdown point. That quiet was really, really loud. I could feel it in my "abdomen".

That would be your abdomen filling up with seat cushion...

[Brit_in_CAP]

It may not have been the loudest decibel-wise but I was completely unprepared for the noise of a Vulcan low-pass flyover at Middle Wallop in 1986.  The air around me seemed to be pulsing in a way I've never experienced since.

Man after my own heart!

Nothing quite like the Vulcan B2 at full power.  It was, I think, exceeded by the English Electric Lightening display, the highlight of which was to run in across the parking lot at St Mawgan, set off the car alarms, ignite the afterburner and then climb like a rocket (vertically) to 30,000 feet in 'nothing flat'!  Not it's bets time-to-altitude but certainly the most impressive.

On reflection, the pair of Buccaneer aircraft that made a zero-feet pass over our position during a defense exercise came darn close - both to us and the Vulcan's noise!

[Jaison009]

Blue Angels "Fat Albert" using JATO. It was quite bad ***.

[AirAux]

I am not sure, but the B-29 taking off over my head about 50 feet high was the loudest thing I have ever heard, but it may have been my heart pumping with American Pride.  It was so loud it brought tears to my eyes..  Yeah, that's the ticket..

[C/Awesomenesss]

I think the E4B on take-off roll or the blue angels taking off.

[SarDragon]

I think the E4B on take-off roll or the blue angels taking off.

The Blue Angels, in any iteration I've seen, are no match for the Harrier doing a vertical 1,000' away.

[LSThiker]

The CAP glider.  Holy crud, the pilots just keep yapping and yapping.  It goes on forever.

[Brit_in_CAP]

I think the E4B on take-off roll or the blue angels taking off.

The Blue Angels, in any iteration I've seen, are no match for the Harrier doing a vertical 1,000' away.

Yup, agree.  Saw the look of awe of my children's faces when I took them to the Hawker Hunter 5oth Anniversary air show and there was a Harrier display doing just that!  One of those children is now on a USMC seagoing deployment on a ship operating Harriers...different opinion!

[nomiddlemas]

Hahaha those things beat a fighter jet anyday haha.   :clap:

[cm42]

I was "lucky" on one occasion to be in the open near a hold short line as a C-5 lifted off. 300 feet away or so. It's a screamer.

[Garibaldi]

F-4, standing less than 1/4 mile from the runway at Dobbins. Took off right over me and I thought my chest and head would implode.

[SarDragon]

Vulture's Row, any aircraft carrier.

LOUD ! ! !

[Spartan]

We called for a B-1B that was on station in Afghanistan to boom the enemy as part of prepping the valley for our arrival.  It came in somewhere between 500-1000 ft. and sent the sonic boom down the valley which acted like a megaphone.  It left my ears ringing for a few hours even with earplugs.

[a2capt]

Vulture's Row, any aircraft carrier.

LOUD ! ! !

Oh. Yeah.

It left my ears ringing for a few hours even with earplugs.

.. the real sound of freedom making it's place.

[Cliff_Chambliss]

Loud but not the loudest but one of the most impressive.   Used to watch these as a kid. 

Six Turnin and Four Burnin

[nomiddlemas]

Wow what a howl that jet has.  Any jet is a good sounding one.  That is until they have the economy freaks come in and make the jets less smokey and loud 

[a2capt]

What were they chasing that B-36 with to film that? 
.. wonder if they'd ever do something like that again?


Quite a machine, but retired pretty quickly.. metal issues, no refueling ability limiting it's range ..

[bosshawk]

Not really limited in range: Castle AFB, Ca to North Africa and return without refueling???  Had a friend who was a flight engineer on B-36s out of Castle and he told me of flights like that.

[PHall]

The B-36 had some pretty long legs. It was slower then crap but it had range.
SAC did some pretty drastic things like eliminate all but the nose and tail guns and the gunners to try to get the weight down and to gain some speed.
Even with the jets, the B-36D was still a sitting duck against something like a MiG-15.

[bosshawk]

When I was in college, the school apparently was on one of the B-36 routes and a couple of times a week, while walking to class, I would hear one passing over at FL Infinity.  It took that plane forever to go from horizon to horizon.  Yep, slow!!!!  Now, the B-47 didn't have that problem.  There were very few fighters that could keep up with it, particularly at altitude.

[wuzafuzz]

What is the loudest aircraft you have ever heard in your life?

SR-71 demo at the NAS Point Mugu air show / "space fair" in the early '80's.  That was the first time I saw shock diamonds in jet exhaust.  That, combined with the noise and sheer SR-71 awesomeness left one heck of an impression.

[AlphaSigOU]

Any Russkie first or second-generation commercial jet - an Ilyushin-62 is unbelievably loud at full power, rivaling a Concorde lighting off all four afterburners!

[planenut767]

Strangely enough the loudest aircraft I've heard was the Fokker F27 Friendship. I worked on an airport ramp where the FedEx feeders would come in. They'd usually have to power up a bit since the ramp area was inclined and to maneuver into their parking spots. The first time they powered up on me left my ears ringing and that was with noise mufflers on my ears. They also shook our break room (trailer) the way no 727 could ever do. Very surprising since I've been around a lot of jets over the years, but I guess a first generation turbo prop will do that.

[Cliff_Chambliss]

http://youtu.be/H_ARSE8jEHQ

[scooter]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

[PHall]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

Didn't know the TWO Radial Engines on the B-25 were that loud...

Oh, you were talking about the B-52D with the 8 Pratt and Whitney J57-43WB turbojets? 
The D Model Buff carried about 1500 gallons of demineralized water for takeoff power. The water ran out at just about exactly 2 minutes.
This resulted in a 40% reduction in thrust. So you best be airborne with the gear and flaps up or it will be a rather short flight!

[SarDragon]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

When water is heated past its boiling point, the expansion is about 1200 times its liquid volume. You don't need to burn it to make thrust. 

[nomiddlemas]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

When water is heated past its boiling point, the expansion is about 1200 times its liquid volume. You don't need to burn it to make thrust. 

I have been under a bunch of B-52H and they are kind of quite. 

[Garibaldi]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

When water is heated past its boiling point, the expansion is about 1200 times its liquid volume. You don't need to burn it to make thrust. 

I have been under a bunch of B-52H and they are kind of quite.

Kind of QUITE or QUIET?

[stillamarine]

Was at Kadena when they still had SR-71s when I was a kid. Always thought they were crazy loud. Harriers off the deck of the ship I was in in the Med used to wake me up every morning. But by far the loudest sound I ever experienced that was produced by an aircraft came from an AC-130 on a mountainside in Afghan. Talk about rocked my world!

[PHall]

OK, my vote is for the old B25Ds heavy weight takeoff. 8 J57 jet engines burning JP4 and water which lasted about 2 minutes. Well over 160DB. Of course this was way back when men thought you could burn water.

When water is heated past its boiling point, the expansion is about 1200 times its liquid volume. You don't need to burn it to make thrust. 

I have been under a bunch of B-52H and they are kind of quite.

The B-52H has TF-33 Turbofan engines. They are much, much quieter then the J57's. Put out a lot more thrust too.

[SarDragon]

The B-52H has TF-33 Turbofan engines. They are much, much quieter then the J57's. Put out a lot more thrust too.

My sources say that the max thrust levels are about equal, depending on dash numbers.

[PHall]

The B-52H has TF-33 Turbofan engines. They are much, much quieter then the J57's. Put out a lot more thrust too.

My sources say that the max thrust levels are about equal, depending on dash numbers.

The TF33-P-9 engine puts out 21,000 lbs of thrust at the Maximum Continous Thrust setting.

The J57-43WB used on the B-52D puts out 13,850 lbs of thrust with water injection and 8,750 lbs without water.

Yeah, just a bit more thrust. And the TF33 burns a lot less fuel too.
But thats just because turbofans are always more fuel efficent then turbojets.

But what do I know. I just have about 25 years of experience flying on or maintaining aircraft with J57 and TF33 engines.

[SarDragon]

Oops. My bad I saw J79 when I read it. And you don't need to be so snarky. 

[PHall]

Oops. My bad I saw J79 when I read it. And you don't need to be so snarky. 

J79's were in F-4's weren't they?  You know, the smoke trail with an airplane in front!

[SarDragon]

Oops. My bad I saw J79 when I read it. And you don't need to be so snarky. 

J79's were in F-4's weren't they?  You know, the smoke trail with an airplane in front!

That was mostly the dash-eights. The dash-tens were much  cleaner.

[nomiddlemas]

Oops. My bad I saw J79 when I read it. And you don't need to be so snarky. 

Agreed.  Guys bring it down a notch.