Sonic booms?

Question

When I was younger, my brothers and I often heard very loud booms and it was explained to us that they were sonic booms... Why don't I ever hear them anymore? What were they if the "sonic boom" explanation is not correct?

Answer 1

the reason why you may not hear them anymore is because maybe the air force isn't doing flight training in your particular area anymore.

a sonic boom is when a jet plane travels faster than the speed of sound. i may be wrong but i think the barrier is somewhere mach 1, but don't quote me on that . . .lol. they are pretty neat when you actually see them cross the barrier. you see kinda this smoky looking ring form around the nose of the plane just as it reaches the barrier and when it passes . . .BOOM . . .that's how i remember it as a kid.

Answer 2

Flight training nation-wide has been curtailed mainly due to the high price of jet fuel. Also possible, as previously listed, that the training facility that was doing flight testing has been closed as we all know from various base closures as mandated by the Congress.  As you're being from out west, where the largest land-holder is the U.S. gov't, its more than likely that the base was closed.

Answer 3

This I was told from an fighter jock, that they still can boom. They say it is not necessary but if they do, they have a " Boom log" in the aircraft and they have to log the Lat Lon where they went super and where they went sub again. But they don't very often.

Answer 4

There is only one place over land that is legal to fly supersonic in the United States.  It's located just outside NAS Fallon, Nevada.  The supersonic cooridor is located  just northeast of Fallon.  That's over land otherwise supersonic flight can only be done at least 12 miles out to sea.  Unless your the Space Shuttle which pops the number at 80,000 ft as it returns back to the Cape and the shock wave is such a high altitude that it is dampened.  

    Shock waves are not mitigated by new engine design or airframe design.  They are a by product of an airfoil moving from transonic to supersonic speeds.  They are as loud as they were when Chuck Yeager made it past MACH 1.  

     Gas prices have not reduced military flight training.  If nothing more we are flying more and producing more pilots.

Answer 5

I can only recall hearing one ONCE in Los Angeles during my middle school graduation ceremony which took place outdoors.

Answer 6

I think it's because the public got tired of hearing them and now it's pretty rare to have a lower altitude aircraft break the sound barrier. They do it at higher elevations or out over the ocean. If a fighter would be scrambled for an actual emergency (intercept a possible highjack for example), they definitely WILL "boom", no doubt about it, but not heard much anymore in training or just guys out s******g around.

Answer 7

I grew up  in Florida between two

Naval air stations and it was common

to hear a sonic boom once in awhile.

This has a lot to do with fighters that were

then in service.

They had very powerful engines, much more powerful

than the aircraft from the fifties. It was easier to go

supersonic with the newer aircraft of that time.

Aircraft today have even better engines.

But the pilots can get into big trouble if

they go supersonic near a populated area.

Also flying that fast puts a lot of wear and tear

on an aircraft. Although it may be fun

there are good reasons not to do it.

Around the early sixties the FAA

passed a rule that supersonic flight

can only occur in designated training

areas because the booms can cause damage.

Mostly breaking windows or setting off car alarms.

And some folks, believe it or not, find them

annoying!