Loudest / more painful airplane sound?

[Tulio]

The thread on the Phantom, got me to think a little...

Yes, I have heard the F-4 in full AB, and it is loud.

In my personal experience however, the most painful airplane sound, was the noise caused by a T-6 propeller at what I could only guess, was full rpms.

This happened at the West Houston Squadron Open House, back in the day. I was standing close by, they were trying to taxi the airplane out from the soft grass / mud into the concrete pad; I know the propeller tips go supersonic, and the level of pain not only in my eardrums, but also in my body, was unbearable.

So, given this experience, and discounting bombs, rockets and machineguns and other assorted ordnance, what is your experience in this regard?

Saludos,


Tulio

[Russ popel]

Grumman Albatross on TO in the cockpit, worse than a PBY

[Speedy]

It sounds kind of funny, but the loudest jet I ever heard was the EA-6B. They flew every day out of NAS Whidbey when I was flying out of there, and for whatever reason their 'crack' was louder than any other engine noise I ever heard.

A Tu-95 Bear has a "wall of noise" from the turboprop tips going supersonic constantly on all 32 blades, though.

[JohnB]

The Tornado...The Euro one, not the NA B-45.
The B-1 in certain conditions.

[DoraNineFan]

There was another discussion regarding this a while ago. I remember one plane mentioned was the Republic XF-84H "Thunderscreech."

A quick read says that the small prop could be heard for 25 miles and the vibrations and harmonics would make the ground crew sick and nauseous. And apparently Edwards AFB was concerned about the noise damaging ground equipment.

[hbtcoveralls]

I got to witness one of the last flights of the Vickers Viscount at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum. Flyable Viscounts are extinct and few are preserved anywhere, but let me tell you, with 4 Rolls Royce Dart Turboprops that plane was a screamer. The intakes are around the prop and are tiny so that the volume of air going through makes a scream you had to hear to believe
Tom Bowers

[CoastieJohn]

Can't say I've been around anything really loud in the planes I've been up close to....maybe an HU-25 ATF turbo fan doing test runs.

I can say the worst "vibes" I've been in was under an H-60 doing sling ops up by International Falls, MN in the winter. The ultra frigid wind chills and rapid pressure fluctuations from the MRB's on your sinuses are painful.

[Jimmy mcgee]

In Newfoundland it was the scorpion known as the led sled, slow and very loud, later the phantom.

[Xray]

I've always made it a point of pride not to block my ears under jets taking off, made me feel girly.

The only aircraft that made me almost involuntarily block my ears was an older KC-135 [before they were reengined] taking off under full load, that shriek made me think my ears would pop unless I blocked them.

2nd was the Phantom, didn't help that it actually took me by surprise.
Was watching 2 USMC Phantoms take off and we were right at the end of the runway, as usual they had a long, smokey roll and were very impressive.
Combined with the smoke from the 2 Phantoms and the heat mirages on the runway, we didn't know there was a 3rd Phantom probably about 15 seconds behind the 1st two. As we were watching the pair climb out and roll I caught some motion out of my peripheral vision from the runway, turned my head and there he was, I doubt if he was 20 ft over the fence, seriously low.
I had time to slap my uncle on the back and I hit the deck, he didn't even look to see what I was reacting to but followed suit. I had binocs so I couldn't block my ears, I was on my back and looked up and could count the rivets, then closed my eyes and rolled over, anticipating the blast that followed.

[Cutlass]

With over 3000 hours in the Dart-powered Convair 640, I can attest to the scream of the darts.... Downright painful! I left my David Clark at home on one trip and vowed to never do that again..... My head hurt for close to a week after and I'm sure I did some permanent damage.....

[CJAM427]

For me personally the loudest I've ever heard is the Harrier when they hover. I can remember as a kid seeing one fly in Oshkosh and what sticks in my mind most was not how cool it was that a jet was hovering in front of me but how ungodly loud it was. Seeing three hover simultaneously last year only cemented that further for me. I should mention that I have seen an F-4 fly in person and it is loud, but the Harrier's "loudness" is sustained for so much longer which I think makes it worse.

Harrier Arrival by Connor Madison, on Flickr

From all the stories I've read, I think the award for loudest aircraft ever goes to the XF-84H Thunderscreech. It was cool to be able to stand right next to it (and not puke my guts out).
XF-84H in Profile by Connor Madison, on Flickr

XF-84H Wing by Connor Madison, on Flickr

[quemerford]

For me there can only be two candidates: A-6 Intruder and Fouga Magister.

U-2 is also LOUD, but doesn't seem painful like those two guys: ditto the SR-71, Tornado etc.

I was told that the F-35B was loud, but seen it in the hover a few times and it sounded much like the Harrier.

Oh - just thought of another: that guy with the jet pack! That was also loud, but thankfully I was far enough away to avoid bleeding eardrums.

[Matt Gunsch]

the sounds of the prop hitting the ground just before the belly of the plane does.

[JimH]

The Mustang when the gel seal fails and you are 50 miles from the airport...worst 20 minutes of your life.

Jim

[Tom Moungovan]

In the 3 years that I was at Edwards AFB, I was able to experience a great many aircraft sounds, given the variety that we had on base. Can't argue about some of those birds being very loud, but the one that was the worst to endure, and I kid you not, was the little Cessna T-37. It had a high pitched whine that was the hardest on the ears. I remember others agreeing on this.