What happens when you are in an aircraft that breaks the sound barrier?
Author: admin Category: 5
I was out waiting for Space shuttle Atlantis to pass over my work today when we heard the sonic boom, the news said they heard it from San Diego to LA. If it is that loud on ground, how loud is it when you are in the aircraft that does it? If you have been in a military aircraft or other sound breaking barrier machinary, what happens? Does the aircraft move wierd when it happens or what?
I'm a former F-14A RIO with almost 1000 hours in that jet, and have been supersonic dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
In the Tomcat, passing through Mach 1 is just a number on the dial. Down low, below 500 feet, the world moves by pretty quickly, and your vision tunnels a bit. At altitude, where most supersonic dashes are made, it doesn't look or feel much faster than a standard airliner (most of which cruise at about Mach .83, anyway).
One sound that does increase at high speed is the wind noise over the canopy. At Mach 1.5 in the Tomcat, I could hear the roar of the wind really well, even over the roar of the ECS (the air conditioner) and through my helmet ear cups.
The only other sounds that I've heard in the jet (that I didn't hear *through* the frame of the jet, like the braaaaap of the gun or the thu-thunk of bombs coming off) was the rocket motor noise of the AIM-54As I shot on missile shoots. Sounded like big, powerful, bottle rockets.
June 28th, 2009
I have heard that it feels like a small Earthquake in the sky, but it must a severe rush. I have been just UNDER breaking the sound barrier and that feeling was cool enough, but I'd love to experience that just once!
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June 28th, 2009
To create a sonic boom, the jet must be traveling faster than the speed of sound. Therefore, I would assume that the pilot would hear nothing, as they are traveling faster than the sound the jet is creating, so the sound would have no way to reach ahead of the jet and audible to the pilot. Again, purley an assumption, but I still hope it helps.
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June 28th, 2009
when you travel supersonic,the cockpit gets suddenly quiet.
There is some turbulence when you cross the barrier though. It is interesting to watch the compression waves just ahead of the nose of the plane when it makes Mach .. I'll see if I can find a video link.
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June 28th, 2009
You'll never hear the actual sonic boom in the cockpit, so I've heard, at least on acceleration. Now, DEcelerating from Mach 1, you may hear something, but I've never heard anyone mention that, only that you hear nothing after the initial Mach 1 punch-thru going faster, not slowing down. I'd suspect, as you're traveling WITH the wave, in front of it, that you wouldn't hear much, only if you're traveling in the opposite direction.
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June 28th, 2009
Naw, it's real disappointin'. Hell the last time I did it, I slid the canopy back a piece and leaned waaayyy over t'the left side, and hell I didn't hear a damnedable thang. Jus' like back in '47, nuthin'. Hell you ask me and I'll tell ya I don't think the damned (sound barrier) even exists………..
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I'm really Chuck Yeager, fastest sumbitch alive…………
June 28th, 2009
You don't hear anything in the aircraft, and no strange movement from the aircraft either. They're designed to attain the speed of sound quite cleanly.
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Eight years in the USAF, and one great trip to the UK on a Concorde.
June 28th, 2009
There is no sensation when it happens. When the Concorde hit mach 1 there wasn't so much as a ripple in your glass of champagne.
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June 28th, 2009
You are going real fast!!
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June 28th, 2009
I'm a former F-14A RIO with almost 1000 hours in that jet, and have been supersonic dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
In the Tomcat, passing through Mach 1 is just a number on the dial. Down low, below 500 feet, the world moves by pretty quickly, and your vision tunnels a bit. At altitude, where most supersonic dashes are made, it doesn't look or feel much faster than a standard airliner (most of which cruise at about Mach .83, anyway).
One sound that does increase at high speed is the wind noise over the canopy. At Mach 1.5 in the Tomcat, I could hear the roar of the wind really well, even over the roar of the ECS (the air conditioner) and through my helmet ear cups.
The only other sounds that I've heard in the jet (that I didn't hear *through* the frame of the jet, like the braaaaap of the gun or the thu-thunk of bombs coming off) was the rocket motor noise of the AIM-54As I shot on missile shoots. Sounded like big, powerful, bottle rockets.
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June 28th, 2009
What you are hearing when you hear a sonic boom is the shock wave that is traveling with the airplane.The shock wave is moving accross the ground at the same speed as the aircraft so you hear it only when it passes over you. If it passes over somebody a few miles from you first, they will hear the boom before you will. Actually you will usually hear two booms. One is the bow wave, or air compressing in front of the aircraft and the other is the shock wave created by the wings. If you'll think about the last time you heard one it was two beats, more like kaboom than just boom. That boom boom is the two shock waves causing the air to move all the way to the ground. But inside the aircraft, it's amazingly quiet especially at very high altitudes.
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