Ant

Anyone hear this today?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22926813




"Loud explosions" heard across the east of England were caused by a sonic boom when a jet broke the sound barrier.

The noise, at 11:30 BST, caused shaking and smashed windows and prompted calls to police in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Hertfordshire.

The Ministry of Defence said a Typhoon jet from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire was launched when communication was lost with a Heathrow-bound plane.

It is understood the plane, travelling from the USA, landed without incident.

Air traffic controllers had become concerned but communication was re-established with the passenger airliner and there were no problems on board.

'Whole house shook'
Speaking of Sunday's sonic boom, Insp Matt Snow of Cambridgeshire Police said: "We've had reports of windows being smashed.

Continue reading the main story
What causes a sonic boom?


When an aircraft approaches the speed of sound (768mph), the air in front of the nose of the plane builds up a pressure front because it has "nowhere to escape", Dr Jim Wild of Lancaster University explained to the BBC.
A sonic boom happens when that air "escapes", creating a ripple effect which can be heard on the ground as a loud thunderclap.
It can be heard over such a large area because it moves with the plane, rather like the wake on the bow of a ship spreading out behind the vessel.
"One man who rang us from St Ives thought something had hit his roof because the whole house shook.

"It was so loud another person thought his neighbour's house had blown up.

"People have said they'd never heard anything so loud in their lives.

"Even people driving on the A14 have been calling us."

Elaine Mason, of Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire, told the BBC: "I had just got on my horse and was walking around the arena, when I heard a thunderous bang.

"I couldn't believe it was thunder, it was about 10 times louder than that.

"I thought it might have been an explosion. She [the horse] reacted immediately."

Her husband, Tim, who was gardening nearby, said he thought the "almighty bang" could have been a crash.

Jets from RAF Coningsby were scrambled last month to escort a passenger plane over the UK.

The airliner from Pakistan, heading to Manchester, was diverted to Stansted and two men on board arrested by Essex Police.

The BBC understands the incident was not terror-related.

Jafo666

Wow, i have a fascination with sonic booms as weird as that may sound! Would love to witness one first hand though!

hodgy0_2

Yes, it was pretty much over my house,

I initially hoped the new town development a few miles up the road had been vaporised, but then I heard the jet, so guessed what it was

Ste RB5138

Would love to have heard that, thats some db to be heard over three counties!

Dr Hu

This is what fcuked over Concorde - it could only go supersonic over the clear ocean....

The americans banned it from flying over their territory..... thus closing most of the lucrative flying routes.

AFAIK anyhoo

hodgy0_2

Concorde went supersonic at 35,000 feet and you could certainly hear a dull thud

this Tornado was well under 10,000 feet and the noise was unbelievably loud

think of the loudest thunder you have ever heard then treble it

Leslie

Its even more fun to make one!

Les

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

If only I was so lucky

Leslie

When I was a lad my dad used to take me to the Farnborough Air Shows. Every year Neville Duke used to project a sonic boom straight at the airfield in his red Hunter and one or two others used to do that too.

One year was that awful disaster when the DH110 flown by John Derry broke apart just as he started a high speed run over our heads at very low level. It broke up as he was turning over the black sheds to line up for his run. I was watching him and saw the aircraft pitch nose up and cracks appearing all over the fuselage. I remember seeing the engines fly over our heads and the nose section landed just in front of us in the 10 shilling enclosure. The shock made both my feet come off the ground! It was a very frightening episode and many people were killed by the wreckage.

When it all settled down after that,Neville Duke was announced to be lining up at height to make the sonic boom. Most people were terrified and everyone was looking for cover in case the Hunter broke up as well! I know I was frightened anyway!

It all went off alright of course,we went up on the hill where the DH110 hit the ground to get back to our car later. It really was an awful sight to see the damage. It was after the crash that they forbade low flypasses over the crowd any more and now you have to fly a minimum of 1500 feet away from the crowd line and never towards them if you are doing a flying display.



Les

Turbodanc

iTrader: (1)

Amazing! I would love to hear it too

*BADGER*

iTrader: (3)

we get them all the time at sea bloody pain in the ****
the use the fishing vessels as targets as there slow moving as we end up with are radars jammed from time to time then when you think theyve gone BOOM!! they do a sonic flyby

boomer

If this was listening from the ground, didn't Concorde cruise at 50,000 to 60,000 feet - so how loud would the "bang" be in that case? Bloody ***** Merkins!

If it was onboard - well i head nuffink when i flew back in the 90s!

mb

daz031178

iTrader: (1)

You try being on a type 42 destroyer down the Falklands when 2 tornados buzz the ship at over 1000mph and 200 ft above sea level. Now **** me that was loud. 4000 tonne war ship getting bounced around by the sonic boom as they flew either side of us. Falklands is the only uk territory where faster than sound flight is permitted over land. The war games we used to have with RAF down there was pretty spectacular. However, unless there is someone on this site that was part of HMS Ocean build crew and was on board in 1998 then I am the only one that will have been on a 24000 tonne aircraft carrier that broke the sound barrier. Now that was impressive and a very very expensive mistake.

hodgy0_2

Yes, 57 odd thousand feet, cruising altitude amazing

But I think when it went supersonic it was at a lower height

You could hear it in Cornwall

Leslie

You wont hear the boom from within the aircraft. The boom is caused by the shockwave generated by the supersonic airflow over the aircraft. In the aircraft you are in the middle of the shockwaves where they won't be heard.

Les

Richy P1984

Why do you always see the cone shape coming from the back of the aircraft and not the front? The front is the bit doing the pushing right?

Leslie

Which cone shape?

Les

^Qwerty^

Something like that.....?

albob

scientific explanation here.....!





In part anyway !!

scoobyricht

iTrader: (4)

Used to hear concorde doing it all the time in swansea. pretty impressive. sometimes louder others depending on wind direction and when the pilot decided to **** his foot down lol

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Yes was out in the garden at the time, was very loud thought something had exploded.

Richy P1984

Could you use a sonic boom as a non lethal weapon?

BULLITT

Not really as you'd need fire something at 768mph to create the boom, what ever you fire at that speed is going to cause some damage lol