Sonic booms!

We live on a flight path for F15 fighter jet testing, and we get about 15 sonic booms a year. Last week I was splitting wood with ear muffs on, and I stihl heard and felt one. There was another one about 10 minutes ago, just sitting here in the house, and all of a sudden a loud BA-BOOOM, and things in the house rattle. The best one, a couple years ago I went out to our travel trailer to test the furnace, as soon as I flipped the switch on the thermostat, there was one. I literally thought the trailer blew up, but all was good. My wife even came running outside to make sure I was ok. They really catch you off guard and startle you, every single time!

 

The first one I ever heard was when I was in 4th grade I think. The windows rattled and the doors flew open and flapped. We didn't even hear the plane.

 

I never hear them coming, but almost always hear them afterward, can usually see their contrail also.

 

When I was in high school on the East Coast (NH) the Concorde I guess didn't slow down enough over the Atlantic and shook the entire town. It definitely isn't like anything else.

 

When my wife was in high school, one of the students that graduated several years before her became a pilot. He was in the area and told her he would fly over. He did...just above tree level and BOOOM! Her dad was cooking on the grill and it scared him real bad. My wife said the whole house jumped. She thought it was going to fall down.

The pilot did the same thing to her cousin, just above tree level.

 

I couldn't imagine that, at tree level!

 

They buzz the tops of the trees every so often on our house property and the lot I cut on most of the time, we've gotten use to them and we're just glad they're ours.

 

We spend a lot of time on the lake, and it's been a long time, but the Missouri National Guard used to fly Phantom jets over the lake. By the time you hear them, they're screaming overhead and gone. As startling as it is, I appreciate they're ours also.

 

That is an awesome way to look at it!

 

It is but I can't take credit for it, I was on the porch with my FIL when they were in this area over the river across the road, he was saying how some people were complaining on our local news about the noise and that's when he said I'm glad they're ours.

 

WIWAK, I heard them all the time. We lived 7 miles from the big Boeing plant and McConnel AFB (Wichita KS), and were regularly along the flight path anyway. That was before they put in all the laws into place, and before the military started doing that kind of thing in more remote areas.

 

Cool! We only get occasional A-10's and lots of commercial traffic here. Lotta helicopter activity but not lots of military.

F-15 is an awesome jet. This story stands out in my mind:

 

Back in the 60's, we used to here sonic booms all the time. Now-a-days, very very rarely.....not even once a year.

 

I used to hear them when I was a little kid. Always thought that it was neat. Haven't heard any in years.

 

This story was on some show just a couple days ago. That was some story, I can imagine the double take and look of disbelief of the pilot when he first saw that. Amazing. Those A-10's would be cool to watch, they're incredible, a flying tank.

 

We used to live near Lambert airport in the St. Louis area, they flew F-15's out of there a lot. I remember the first time I saw one take off, it was low and flying straight up, I seriously thought it was a missile taking off, until it moved to be able to see it's wings. It kind of scared me, I thought a war or something was happening. Turns out, as soon as they cleared the ground, they had to fly them straight up to direct all the noise back at the airport, instead of all the neighborhoods around it.

My brother in law was a pilot in the Navy, he flew the C-130's. He's got some stories. He's the first one I heard say those jets sound like freedom.

 

I remember hearing them all the time growing up. I think it was the Happy Hooligans out of Fargo ND. Back in the late 80s I think they passed a bill that military was supposed to limit super sonic speed over mainland US. Hadn't heard one for a long time. Then shortly after the 9-11 attacks I was watching a softball game and there were a couple military jets, couldn't tell what, practicing. One broke the sound barrier and BOOM! I was sitting next to a high school girl I had known since she was a kid and she had never heard one before. She grabbed my arm and trembling with tears in her eyes asked "where we should go to be safe, we are under attack!" I put my arm around her and settled her down and proceeded to tell her about sonic booms and how we used to have them all the time, and a little about the cold war. She thanked me and asked "weren't you always terrified of attack?" I guess we were so desensitized I never really dwelled on it much because I knew that with 2 nuclear bases in North Dakota, that if it went down we wouldn't be here to worry about it in about 5 milliseconds after detonation.

 

They are still making F-15’s. Wasn’t too long ago I heard of the first flight of the advanced eagle. 40 some year old design still better than so many other competitors. Pretty cool!
Boeing: F-15EX