Who remembers when we used to have "sonic booms" all the time and they shook the house like crazy?

Answer 1

I remember sonic booms. I've tried several times in my 172 but just can't seem to get to mach 1 :)

Answer 2

Ahhh, the "good old days". They used to be heard all the time when I was a kid (1950's). However, the populous, not being as tolerant as us kids, got together and raised hell, and the government passed a law (or laws) which specifically prohibits supersonic flight over the US (I don't know whether it applies to other countries, however); or, if the altitude is so great that a sonic boom will not reach the ground (I don't know how high that is). Once you are out of the ground of the country (over the ocean, that is), you can fly as fast as you want (or as fast as your plane will go). At least, the whales and fish haven't got a lobby to prohibit sonic booms yet.

N.B.--When the Concord was flying, it could fly supersonic over the ocean. However, once it was over land, it could not fly at supersonic speeds, for fear it would cause a sonic boom. (Worries about that are moot now since the Concorde was the only civilian aircraft that could fly that fast.)

N.N.B.--The laws do not apply if a military aircraft has a reason to fly supersonic, as to intercept a missile or a rogue aircraft, however (i.e. 9/11). The pilot had better be ready to explain why he caused a sonic boom, however, or his career is over.

Answer 3

I've personally never withnessed a sonic boom but have seen and heard it on the history channel.

A sonic boom is the audible component of a shock wave in air. The term is commonly used to refer to the air shocks caused by the supersonic flight of military aircraft or passenger transports such as Concorde (Mach 2.03, no longer flying) and the Space Shuttle (up to Mach 27 - Note, this high number is largely due to the high altitudes, therefore low air pressures, at which the space shuttle flies). Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion; typically the shock front may approach 167 megawatts per square meter, and may exceed 200 decibels.

When an aircraft is near the sound barrier, an unusual cloud sometimes forms in its wake. A Prandtl-Glauert Singularity results from a drop in pressure, because of shock wave formation. This pressure change causes a sharp drop in temperature, which in humid conditions leads the water vapor in the air to condense into droplets and form the cloud.

Answer 4

I remember the sonic booms and really enjoyed hearing them. It reminded me that the military was staying ready in case we needed them.

The reason you don't hear them much, anymore, was that so many people complained about the noise. The military tries to keep the speed below the sound barrier. Sometimes, while the military pilots are training, to protect US, they will slip over the barrier and then we hear the double boom boom. Pops

Answer 5

I grew up in Los Angeles, which had a thriving aircraft industry in those days. Most of the flight tests and practice sessions were later moved to the High Desert where it would bug less people.

The sonic booms seemed to disappear about the same time we quit having A-bomb drills in school.

Ahhh--the good ol' days....

Answer 6

I do. But the Air Force doesn't do much super-sonic flying over inhabited areas any more, though, so sonic booms are seldom heard these days.

Answer 7

One such boom created interest was when i read our local papers 5 years back. A MIG-29 pilot has flown low with mac speeds near our shores shattering glasses of a 5 star hotel and pregenant woman giving birth on the fields and some mud houses cracked. This happened in Mahabalipuram, chennai INDIA,

Answer 8

W used to have them regularly, but it is now illegal for any aircraft to use reheat (afterburner) or to break the sound barrier over the UK (Unless of course in combat).

a French Mirage caused a sonic boom over Norfolk 10(ish) months ago. It was over the sea, but the sound wave reached land. It was like a large cannon firing.

Answer 9

How funny. I remember when we would get sonic booms sometimes. I wonder why we don't anymore. Kids are missing out.

Answer 10

yeah i do from about the 60's when i was a kid you don't hear them nowadays though due to public pressure about the noise levels and broken crockery (they REALLY used to shake the house )and so the RAF is restricted to overwater sonic booms although contrary to one of the other readers reheat is used by all military aircraft on take -off( if they have the capablility) and is one of the best spectacles at airshows