GrahamEM Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Yes, you may be right, but people do seem to over-react (Brits or otherwise). It was a loud(ish) noise, and not inherently frightening. I do remember the first time I heard a sonic boom - late 60s, early 70s, living on the south coast, when Concorde first started being used commercially. The reaction, and not just mine, was, "wonder what that was?" Also Concorde would have made the sonic boom at a higher altitude than the EF Typhoon on a descent ? this would have been much louder and reverberating to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahut Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 3 Apaches in echelon flew overhead the other day, and I rushed out of doors, too. I waved the flag, gave a Hurrah' and was glad to see them. I wish there were more of them about - what a sight. I said it once and say it again... we need more of such things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fea Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 AYUP dAHUT... Couldn't agree more. It's about time the majority of Brits reclaimed the 'Jack from Loonies and morons ! And be proud of Britain. Our Government needs to sort its poo-poo out too and spend more on Defence and provide 'Da Boyz' with proper equipment that works first and every time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 The Concorde sonic booms were pretty tame though - sounded like a distant thunderstorm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalguru Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 (edited) Hmmmm- yes- I would like to agree... Please dont go for my jugular on this but... I have a collection of Giles annuals going back to the very first- and I distinctly remember a whole tranche of cartoons in the fifties, referring to the combined nuisance of the RAF and USAFE sonic booming all over the place- so obviously it was a fairly newsworthy hot potato at the time. I think windows were easily broken by low flyers combined with booming, and it got to the point it was generally considered to be a major nuisance by Joe Public. Also- there is the reaction of livestock to be considered- I think booms and the like can badly affect livestock and stuff- scare the poo-poo, milk, and unborns out of them I have been on the receiving end of a pair of ultra low RAF phantoms (200ft on reheat) while driving a fully laden truck around a lane in Hertfordshire- and I basically thought my world was about to end. Something like that could easily cause a MAJOR RTA through basically scaring the poo-poo out of somebody if it were to happen over any road- let alone a busy one. Deep breath- BUT YEAH_ for christsake why can't they be allowed to just a few small planned ones at places like Fairford for the crowd- Edited January 16, 2008 by Mentalguru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J35 Draken Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 The Concorde sonic booms were pretty tame though - sounded like a distant thunderstorm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy K Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Must admit that living in a town that has a major petro-chemical industry around it, hearing a loud bang like that would probably make me soil myself! We did have a major incident a few years ago when we were 'seconds from death' and we're still a bit twitchy about loud noises Still I'd love to see military stuff fly over here rather than Easyjet 737's.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perry Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I have to add to Mr. Mental's post. We used to have a local airshow here at Hucknall every year. back in the mists of time, I remember going there for what was to be the last airshow there. The American Blue Angels were flying Phantoms at the time and displayed there. Brilliant as anyone here would imagine! That annual airshow at Hucknall ended that year because the noise of the Phantoms had panicked animals at the local zoo. Many killed themselves running into fences and breaking their necks. The zoo had to close down shortly after - we lost the local airshow and the zoo that year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Laidlaw Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Yup, that's pretty much what I remember... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Laidlaw Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 That annual airshow at Hucknall ended that year because the noise of the Phantoms had panicked animals at the local zoo. Many killed themselves running into fences and breaking their necks.The zoo had to close down shortly after - we lost the local airshow and the zoo that year That's doubly sad . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahut Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 (edited) Lets ask this: Would we prefer a strong airforce, sonic booming in purposeful, albeit annoying noisiness? Or would we prefer, instead, to slowly disarm, disable and dull ourselves - and begin reciting the Koran, Manifesto or Socialist Doctrino on a daily basis? The choice, I suppose, is ours. Convenience or purpose? I'll take sonic booms, any day. Edited January 17, 2008 by dahut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeEaton Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 In before the lock... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perry Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Lets ask this:Would we prefer a strong airforce, sonic booming in purposeful, albeit annoying noisiness? Or would we prefer, instead, to slowly disarm, disable and dull ourselves - and begin reciting the Koran, Manifesto or Socialist Doctrino on a daily basis? The choice, I suppose, is ours. Convenience or purpose? I'll take sonic booms, any day. me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Draken, the Concorde booms I remember were tame because they were always a long way off. You only heard a distant rumble so it wasn't very exciting - just amusing! Close-up fast-pass booms are much more impressive but as you know, they're strictly illegal, so you only catch the odd "accidental" one. I can only recall two in the UK in fairly recent years - one being an MFG2 Starfighter at Fairford on a rehearsal day, and the other being a Tornado at St.Mawgan. I guess there must have been others though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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