Thread: Sonic Boom!

And no, I don't mean Guile's move from Street Fighter.


I live a few dozen miles away from the cape, and that shit always makes me jump. Feels like two bombs going off. When I was back in Houston, I lived even closer to Johnson Space center, and all the windows and blinds and sliding glass doors would rattle. I've always been fascinated by the sonic booms. It's just awesome that something can travel so fast that it makes a sound like an explosion.


Can any of you hear it, where you live, or have any of you heard one before?

The Shuttle landed there, right? You heard and felt that boom???

When I was a kid, we would vacation every summer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There were two (and maybe three) very active air force bases up there, and you would often hear and feel sonic booms. They were pretty amazing.

That doesn't happen anymore. There's maybe one base left up there (if that,) and they don't fly supersonic over land anymore.

Originally Posted by pj

The Shuttle landed there, right? You heard and felt that boom???

Yeah. I'm sitting right by my window, too, and it scared the hell out of me. LOL. I completely forgot the shuttle was coming back today.

I'm not sure if I've ever heard the the sonic booms from fighter jets. Some friends and I went camping out in Ocala and there is a test bombing site not far from there, so we did hear jets flying overhead and bombs dropping in the distance, but I can't really say whether or not there were sonic booms mixed in with the blasts.

If so, though, there were very light, compared to the shuttle. When the shuttle comes back, DAMN that shits loud. I mean it shakes your whole house, and there are always two blasts. It's crazy that something so small, so high up, can make such an enormous sound.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

If so, though, there were very light, compared to the shuttle. When the shuttle comes back, DAMN that shits loud. I mean it shakes your whole house, and there are always two blasts. It's crazy that something so small, so high up, can make such an enormous sound.

The energy dissipates according to the Inverse Square rule. I wonder what the actual distance is for you? (I seem to remember you having filmed a night shuttle launch through your window last year, so it can't be all THAT far.)

Our getaway in the northern lower peninsula about 30 miles from a huge National Guard base, which is surrounded by a bombing range. We often hear the bombs and see the jets, but they do not fly supersonic so there are no sonic booms. I'd love to hear one in the valley! Thunder is an amazing experience there. Imagine something with the impact of a sonic boom.

Originally Posted by pj

The energy dissipates according to the Inverse Square rule. I wonder what the actual distance is for you? (I seem to remember you having filmed a night shuttle launch through your window last year, so it can't be all THAT far.)

Our getaway in the northern lower peninsula about 30 miles from a huge National Guard base, which is surrounded by a bombing range. We often hear the bombs and see the jets, but they do not fly supersonic so there are no sonic booms. I'd love to hear one in the valley! Thunder is an amazing experience there. Imagine something with the impact of a sonic boom.

Do you know if the sonic boom occurs when the shuttle first enters the atmosphere, or when it gets within a certain range of whomever is listening? I checked a map and I'm about 30 miles, straight across, from the cape, but I don't know how far downrange, and at what altitude, the boom actually occurs. I'd like to find out, though. I should know these things, considering I've lived here for like the past 15 years. Heh.

Did you know that, when the shuttle goes up, it travels in excess of 27,000mph. Cheezus. That's fast.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Do you know if the sonic boom occurs when the shuttle first enters the atmosphere, or when it gets within a certain range of whomever is listening? I checked a map and I'm about 30 miles, straight across, from the cape, but I don't know how far downrange, and at what altitude, the boom actually occurs. I'd like to find out, though. I should know these things, considering I've lived here for like the past 15 years. Heh.

A sonic boom doesn't really "occur," per se. Not like a bomb going off. Everybody hears the boom(s) when the shock wave(s) reach their ears. The shock wave travels with the shuttle so long as it is supersonic. I put the (s) in there because the double thing you heard is two separate events, one occurring at the nose and the other at the tail.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

I'm not sure if I've ever heard the the sonic booms from fighter jets.

That's the only sonic booms I've ever heard - from fighter jets flying over when I lived in a very rural area.

We went to an airshow at Wright-Patterson Airforce base in 2005 and you could actually see the energy building up around the wings. They're not allowed to boom in populated areas like that though, so you could see the energy acculumation, but they weren't allowed to break it. I didn't get a good pic with my crappy camera at the time, but this is what it looked like. Very strange to be able to actually see energy like that!

I have a video of it from my old camera but it wants me to download Quicktime to play it and I don't want that crap taking over my computer

PJ: Ah, ok. I understand now. So it's not a single event (the boom) but it is the wave that actually follows along with the craft, as long as it's moving at supersonic speeds. Cool.

Burns: I think that would be really cool to see in person. I've seen pictures and video of that energy built up around fast moving jets, but I never quite understood what it was. That's awesome.

Originally Posted by Burns

That's the only sonic booms I've ever heard - from fighter jets flying over when I lived in a very rural area.

We went to an airshow at Wright-Patterson Airforce base in 2005 and you could actually see the energy building up around the wings. They're not allowed to boom in populated areas like that though, so you could see the energy acculumation, but they weren't allowed to break it. I didn't get a good pic with my crappy camera at the time, but this is what it looked like. Very strange to be able to actually see energy like that!

I have a video of it from my old camera but it wants me to download Quicktime to play it and I don't want that crap taking over my computer

That reminds me: In Chicago a while back, one of the blue angels ripped through the city blow the skyscraper roof line at 400kt/h+, and blew out a bunch of windows. And that was the last time that guy flew .

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

at 400kt/h+

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

And no, I don't mean Guile's move from Street Fighter.


I live a few dozen miles away from the cape, and that shit always makes me jump. Feels like two bombs going off. When I was back in Houston, I lived even closer to Johnson Space center, and all the windows and blinds and sliding glass doors would rattle. I've always been fascinated by the sonic booms. It's just awesome that something can travel so fast that it makes a sound like an explosion.


Can any of you hear it, where you live, or have any of you heard one before?

Yea, I heard it today, and the last time. I even saw the chaser 747 the last time it came down.

Cool thread O . I'm actually a little surprised that you could hear the space shuttle's sonic boom from so close to the runway, I would have thought that the shuttle would have been well subsonic by then... I know that you guys can hear it when it takes off though.

Anyways, I've only heard a sonic boom once, from a CF-18 flying overhead at about 10 000 feet, one of the loudest things I ever heard... It wasn't supposed to be doing that too, if I recall, you aren't allowed to fly supersonic over urban areas here, and you must stay above 30 000 feet anywhere else. I've also seen the cool visual effects on planes like in Burns' pic. The technical name is "Prandtl-Glauert singularity", but all it really is is a cloud formed by a sudden drop in pressure on the leading edge of the supersonic cone.

Also, thunder is actually a sonic boom too . The ionized air becomes superheated and expands at supersonic speeds.


Cool videos :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEftDfjzNRo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VzVjcBKs-o

Weird experiment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahom...nic_boom_tests

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Cool thread O . I'm actually a little surprised that you could hear the space shuttle's sonic boom from so close to the runway, I would have thought that the shuttle would have been well subsonic by then... I know that you guys can hear it when it takes off though.

Anyways, I've only heard a sonic boom once, from a CF-18 flying overhead at about 10 000 feet, one of the loudest things I ever heard... It wasn't supposed to be doing that too, if I recall, you aren't allowed to fly supersonic over urban areas here, and you must stay above 30 000 feet anywhere else. I've also seen the cool visual effects on planes like in Burns' pic. The technical name is "Prandtl-Glauert singularity", but all it really is is a cloud formed by a sudden drop in pressure on the leading edge of the supersonic cone.

Also, thunder is actually a sonic boom too . The ionized air becomes superheated and expands at supersonic speeds.


Cool videos :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEftDfjzNRo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VzVjcBKs-o

Weird experiment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahom...nic_boom_tests

I saw that first video before. Those are badass.
Amazingly enough, though, I can't hear any sonic boom from the shuttle, when it takes off, only when the orbiter comes back down to Earth.

I hear a lot of crazy stuff since I live inbetween 2 of the largest military bases in the country. Everyday I hear tons of bombs, and a few times a year I hear a sonic boom. They are hella crazy and shake my windows a lot.

If you have heard of MOAB- Mother of All Bombs, it is even louder than a sonic boom. I almost get airborn from how powerful it is. lol.

I was inside work today though, so if it was noticable around here in the panhandle, I missed it.

Originally Posted by Michael

I hear a lot of crazy stuff since I live inbetween 2 of the largest military bases in the country. Everyday I hear tons of bombs, and a few times a year I hear a sonic boom. They are hella crazy and shake my windows a lot.

If you have heard of MOAB- Mother of All Bombs, it is even louder than a sonic boom. I almost get airborn from how powerful it is. lol.

I was inside work today though, so if it was noticable around here in the panhandle, I missed it.

O.o I've never heard the MOAB, but i live by the Ocala National Forest Bombing range.