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> These studies, along with tens of thousands of claims against the Air Force for property damage—horses and turkeys had supposedly died or gone insane—led the
by t0mas88 5y ago
> These studies, along with tens of thousands of claims against the Air Force for property damage—horses and turkeys had supposedly died or gone insane—led the F.A.A. to ban civil overland supersonic flight, in 1973.
There was also a political part involved. The Concorde was a British-French creation, not a Boeing. Had there been a Boeing supersonic passenger plane first there would probably have been different FAA rules. Especially because military supersonic flight happens every day over US land, was never banned, and causes the same boom.
- BenoitP 5y agoIndeed it was political. IMHO if a US supersonic commercial plane comes into service without an Airbus counterpart, it won't have access to the European skies. At least not the over french territory. The industry is still very salty that the Concorde market was taken from under them.
- dogma1138 5y agoEurope banned supersonic commercial flights over the continent 2 years before the US did. Whilst this was political to some extent the politics were very much local, as in people don’t want to hear booms.
- FridayoLeary 5y agoAlso, shattered windows. A boom can easily smash windows.
- blunte 5y agoEspecially 100 year + old buildings with original glass.
- hugh-avherald 5y agoNot that easily. Even with a fighter at 500 ft above, Mythbusters couldn't break windows. The Oklahoma tests had eight booms a day using very large aircraft. It took months before windows broke.
- pyuser583 5y agoLong term wear and tear is a legitimate concern. I’d be pisses if jets flying overheard broke my windows once every five years.
- pdoege 5y agoThe Space Shuttle's sonic boom broke one of my bay windows when I was living in Orlando. Mythbusters was an entertainment TV show, I wouldn't extend their results to real life.
- avereveard 5y agonot really the same, fighters are quite smaller than airliners.
- hollerith 5y agoThey might be smaller, but the boom is quite startling; I certainly wouldn't want to endure them regularly. I know because booms from fighters were common during my trip to West Germany in 1970. (I'm relying on what locals told my parents as to the source of the booms: I never saw a plane.) I've never heard a sonic boom in my 60 years of living in the US.
- Mountain_Skies 5y agoRural Alabama had them semi-frequently in the late 70s and early 80s. Not sure where the fighters came from, perhaps Maxwell AFB had a training wing at that time. As far as I know, it never broke anything but it sure would rattle your dental work.
- paul_f 5y agoYou are correct. I clearly remember hearing sonic booms in Montgomery, AL in the early 70s.
- LinuxBender 5y agoI heard them all the time near Vandenburg AFB in the 70's and early 80's. I don't remember when exactly I stopped hearing them.
- dreamcompiler 5y agoI used to hear them all the time in Texas when I was a kid in the 70s. We were fairly close to an air force base and we'd be out in the yard on a bright sunny day when we'd hear a thunderclap, as if lightning had struck less than a mile away. We'd look up, see a contrail, and say "Oh." It never caused any damage; it was just surprising.
- Retric 5y ago
- dogma1138 5y agoEurope banned continental supersonic flights too which is why only the Atlantic route to NYC was an option you couldn’t do flights eastward.
- the__alchemist 5y agoMilitary supersonic flight over land in the US only happens over unpopulated areas. Ie, parts of Idaho, Nevada desert etc. Most supersonic training is conducted over the oceans, eg >15nm from the east coast.
- syntheticnature 5y agoMilitary supersonic flight over land in the US is supposed to only happen over unpopulated areas. Having lived near a coastline (~1 mile from the shoreline) along a military flight path, I know they occasionally went a little early.
- Judgmentality 5y agoHow loud was it and how often did you experience it?
- FridayoLeary 5y agoThey did it near London once by in error. One little Typhoon can produce an unbelievably powerful sonic boom. I felt it as a loud crack/thump on my roof. Now, imagine a Concorde going supersonic...
- the__alchemist 5y agoIt happens in the Lake District and Wales reasonably often. Often the pilot/crew will go out and apologize to a farmer. Sometimes livestock allegedly die, although I'm not sure what the mechanism is.
- wpearse 5y agoBest childhood memories are from doing walks in the Lakes and having jets zip past in the valleys below. Insanely close, too — I distinctly remember seeing the pilot’s visor and making out white text on the side of the aircraft.