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Original poster

Have you ever heard Concorde's sonic boom?

166 replies

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 23/03/2023 10:28

I was watching a random YouTube video and the sonic boom was mentioned and the guy was saying that it couldn't possibly have been Concorde as they didn't go supersonic over land. Which is true, but they did speed up as soon as they were far enough from land for it to be a distant (and therefore quieter) boom. I used to hear it in my childhood when I was on holiday in Kerry. The video was specifically about a place in the west of Newfoundland so I think it's quite likely that they might have heard the boom there.

Anyway, it got me thinking that I'd never thought about how rare it might be to have heard a sonic boom. Where have other people heard it?

OP posts:
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 23/03/2023 12:20

Many times when we lived in Muscat, Oman. Some of the first words dd1 of maybe 18 months ever spoke were, ‘Goggok ban!’ (Concorde bang!’)
it was deafening - all the windows in our prefab house would rattle.

ScrambledSmegs · 23/03/2023 12:22

Yes, we were on holiday in N Devon and I remember it being a really odd experience. More of a boom-boom? But also a brief absence of sound, like pressure dropping or similar. It was ages ago though so I may be misremembering.

We lived under the flight path for years and were used to hearing Concorde after we'd seen it but never the boom until that point.

dizzydizzydizzy · 23/03/2023 12:24

No, but my school was right under the fly path and the playground used to
Go silent as we all stopped and stared up
At it . Every day.

StopStartStop · 23/03/2023 12:31

Rossendale Valley forty years ago. Military aircraft.

Boopydoo · 23/03/2023 12:31

ShagratandGorbag4ever · 23/03/2023 12:05

I flew on Concorde once and remember feeling the 'nudge' to my back when the plane went into supersonic mode.

Wow, jealous! I've been round one in a museum and so wish I could have flown on one.

premicrois · 23/03/2023 12:33

@WhisperingAutistic

I just came back to apologise. My original comment was petty and unnecessary. I'm sorry.

Also for the further response, totally out of line Blush

Boopydoo · 23/03/2023 12:33

WonderingWanda · 23/03/2023 12:12

It was always two bangs as well, like a dull thud sort of noise.

Yes, and the curtains would waft a bit like in a gentle breeze.

Lisbeth50 · 23/03/2023 12:35

Not Concorde but I have heard a sonic boom from a military aircraft. It was a huge bang. I thought a train or lorry had crashed.

notimagain · 23/03/2023 12:40

@ScrambledSmegs

More of a boom-boom?

Quite probably..in simple terms (apologies to aerodynamicists) there are usually two major shock waves generated by a supersonic aircraft.

One at the front end caused by the air molecules being smacked out of the way be aircraft arriving, the second one generated at the tail end as the air molecules smack back together..
.
One the ground the first boom is the nose shock wave going past you, the second is the tail shock wave.

They sometimes merge into one, and it's all a bit variable, but on a large aircraft it can result in a distinct "boom-boom".

TodayInahurry · 23/03/2023 12:46

Use to hear the Barbados flight when I lived in Jersey same time every day

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 23/03/2023 12:47

Yes, I grew up in Bristol, so heard it a few times.
It was incredibly loud!

nearly55 · 23/03/2023 12:48

Yes, as a child growing up in the south west we'd hear it pretty much every day. If the sky was clear we'd all rush into the garden to see if we could spot it. It was pretty special and we never tired of listening to it.

As an adult, I was lucky enough to go on a short flight on Concorde. Although it was not long enough to go supersonic, it was still an amazing experience. The force when it took off was something else!

HappyHolidai · 23/03/2023 12:50

Lonelycrab · 23/03/2023 10:41

Not heard it myself but around the time it was being decommissioned, I was at work in South London where we had a roof terrace, there were several Concordes (maybe 4?) flying into Heathrow and from the roof we could see a line of them coming into land, one after the other.

Just found it on YouTube.

Me too! Wonder if we were on the same roof terrace...

Used to hear it going over my office before, then I got sent to a client in Colnbrook right at the end of the Heathrow runway. The plane noise was pretty awful all day, but when Concorde came over it sounded like it was going to land on top of us: such a massive sound. I was glad I was only there for 1 day!

notimagain · 23/03/2023 12:56

The plane noise was pretty awful all day, but when Concorde came over it sounded like it was going to land on top of us: such a massive sound. I was glad I was only there for 1 day!

Used to be vaguely entertaining watching the evening Concorde take-offs from Heathrow.

Big roar, the aircraft would most days disappear westwards into the sunset..and then you were left with the howling/screeching/ peep peeping from all the car alarms in various the carparks adjacent to the runway....

Tuters · 23/03/2023 12:57

I grew up in the area of Filton Airfield it was tested every nigh in the mid 70's I think.I was either 7 or 8 pm every night, was loud as hell. I was at the same airfield on its retirement flight.
Also been in Concorde as most of our parents worked for them and we were invited every year!

NashvilleQueen · 23/03/2023 12:57

I do wish it was still around. I know how awful air travel is for the environment but it used to feel so glamorous and now it's all endless queuing and measuring your bag in case it's a centimetre too big.

SiobhanSharpe · 23/03/2023 12:58

I lived in St Margarets, under the Heathrow flight path, and we could hear Concorde as it made its landing approach coming up the Thames; it was bloody loud, far worse than anything else coming in to land at that time.
That said, it was a beautiful sight to see as it went over (while you were covering your ears).
I've heard sonic booms from military jets on occasion, sometimes at aeronautics fairs.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 23/03/2023 13:00

Boopydoo · 23/03/2023 11:30

Yes, every night growing up in Cornwall. I would be in bed reading and it would be my marker that I should be asleep for many years. I miss hearing it.

'that I should be asleep for many years.'

Are you Rip Van Winkle ?

MrsMoastyToasty · 23/03/2023 13:01

If you look at the photo of concorde returning to Filton in Bristol you can just about make out the housing estate (above the cockpit) where I grew up during the years it was being developed and tested. It was the the only plane that used to rattle the windows apart from the Red Arrows. Even when it wasn't coming into Filton we could hear the boom as it came over the Bristol Channel.

Have you ever heard Concorde's sonic boom?
Cornwallintherain · 23/03/2023 13:02

Yes - Cornwall at 8pm ish in the 90s

I was little and thought it was God angry that I wasn't asleep yet 😂

Cornwallintherain · 23/03/2023 13:03

@Boopydoo Oh my goodness. Look at our similar posts!!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 23/03/2023 13:03

Mincepieeyes22 · 23/03/2023 11:47

Yes it had a distinct sound and was quite loud, my Mum always had to turn Corrie up 😂

I used to live right under the take off path. Someone could be standing next to you talking and you wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying, the plane was so loud. We had a theory that they had early take-offs at the weekend to get everyone out of bed. It certainly worked for us - first time it went over we both sat up in bed going 'WTF was THAT??'

newnamethanks · 23/03/2023 13:06

It used to make a hellish noise when taking off, awful. That was not a sonic boom though, ear splitting though it was, the sonic boom was heard when it was flying fast enough to break the sound barrier, over an ocean. Different sound. So glad when they decommissioned it.

Snozzlemaid · 23/03/2023 13:06

Another one from Cornwall who used to hear it daily when growing up.

Topseyt123 · 23/03/2023 13:07

I've had sonic booms over my house which is on the approach to Stansted Airport (the UK's security airport). They happen when the RAF has been summoned from RAF Conningsby in Lincolnshire to escort a problem plane in to land. They are permitted to fly supersonic over land to get there in time.

It's a very unpleasant sensation, and indescribably loud. They are Typhoon jets, I believe.