Sonic booms!

Yes, they are awesome to watch. When they cut loose with that 30mm, it is a sound you will never forget.

 

800MPH, just above the tree tops?! Hmmm...

 

We aren't far from Robins AFB. When I was a kid, we were in the flight paths of the F4 Phantom. Buzzed our tree tops all the time. About made me jump of the tractor 1 day......
Now they target the town where I work...

 

Late in February of last year, we heard a sonic boom and the next day I read an article that said the F-15EX was being tested that day out of Lambert airport. The F-15 is one of the best jets ever made, a few of my friends were involved in it's production at McDonnell Douglas.

 

Man, my local reporter annoyed me today. Been a multi county complaint about an explosion. There is an army reserve base that had a fire, but reports no ammunition explosion.
A Friend who was a Bat on an Air Force Bomber said it was likely multiple sonic booms, which would account for the range of complaints.
Are they loud enough to be heard that far, or do you all in the know, think people in different areas heard different sonic booms.?

do a Google on booms heard across Indiana. I am sure you can find an account.

 

From a couple Facebook groups around here, yes people from different counties comment on hearing it. I don't know what the regulations are, but when they happen here the jets are at a high altitude, we're usually only hearing their engines and see the contrail, but not the jet itself.

Edit: also sonic booms are very distinctive in the way they sound, the best way I can describe it is a very loud Boo-Boom, it's like two explosions very close together.

 

No sonic booms here, but we get plenty of A-10's flying low over our house and shooting their guns about 5 miles away. BRRRRT! Also, we live <10 from Ft. Indiantown Gap where the PA National Guard shoot live fire artillery. When they are firing, our house literally shakes. The price of freedom.

 

Yes not far from my place is Crane Naval Base. About anything the military has that goes boom is made there. They will detonate old stuff sometimes. Entertaining.

 

I remember the 80’s and probably into the early 90’s we had lots of sonic booms, a lot of complaints were lodged and they severely limited overland supersonic flights! We started hearing sonic booms again last fall. Sometimes multiple per day.

Sound of freedom and I’m glad to hear them within reason! I don’t want 200 overnight unless they are defending our airspace!

 

We ised to live on a lake. There was an airport right on the other side of it. The sound of the jets would come through the trees and it sounded great. You would hear the jet and it would sound like it was about half way down the runway and then it would shoot up past the trees about a mile away. I loved it.

 

They are only a single event to those who hear them. A sonic boom is a constant wave behind the jet. Theoretically if you could stay at just the correct speed on the ground you would hear a continuous sound. At least that's how I understand it. So yes, everyone at every location heard their own version of it at a fraction of a different time.

 

Not sure what kind of training they may do at that base, but in general....there are a multitude of ways/reasons there could be a fire and not involve "ammunition explosion". Artillery (which depending on ype of round, location, atmospheric conditions, terrain and ground characteristics [bed rock etc] can be heard from long distances at times), mortars, demo, uxo clearance etc..... To me, "ammunition explosion" would equate to bad, an unplanned event... The events I stated above are "normal occurrences, at least where I am.

This all may be mute depending on the location.... Have only heard a few sonic booms around here, we dont get that many fast movers, they do get your attention in a different way. But we have lots of other window rattlers all the time...

 

That speed would be 750mph? Would you have to put the window down to hear it?

 

In my theoretical scenario you are able to jump on the RoadRunners back and hold on as he blasts across the desert.

 

What windows....?

 

While scanning youtube for a good sonic boom recording, I ran across this video of a guy that flew as a first time passenger in an F16. Other than the gauges jumping some, they don't even know they broke the sound barrier, and breaking the sound barrier at a high altitude, with the thinner air, takes place at a slower speed than low to the ground. It's an interesting video, describes the G force on the body and such. If anyone gets a 1/2 hour to watch it, it's very interesting.

 

Love the images when there's lots of humidity.

 

On the western side of Death Valley National Park is Father Crowley Overlook, and F-18's out of China Lake navel air station used to fly through the overlook, and into Jedi Canyon. We were fortunate to see one of them fly through when we were there in 2018, the jets would fly low enough you were looking down onto them, you could see the pilot. Really cool. Sadly the following year an F-18 crashed there, injuring some sightseers, and killing the pilot. They stopped doing that show.

I was hoping to find some of my pics, but not sure where they are stashed. Found this video on Youtube though.