I heard the Skymaster Growl today

GaryV

GaryV

Pre-takeoff checklist
Gone West
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Bullhead City, AZ
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GaryV
I was working outside today, heard the distinctive growl, and immediately thought a Skymaster was coming. Shortly after I confirmed that I was right as it flew over. That got me thinking about what other airplanes I could identify just by the sound, even if i hadn't heard one in a while.

I can only think of a couple besides the skymaster, a Piaggio, and a P-51 with a merlin. I know a radial when I hear one but there are several different warbirds and an least one Cessna 195 in this area so I can't tell which plane it's on.

What other ones can you think of?

Gary
 
F-16 departing Buckley and heading west over the mountains. Loudest thing in the sky.
 
If they're in humid conditions or in and out of cloud above, the Cessna whistle...
 
MD-80 and the sound of Vietnam the UH-1 Huey. :D
 
The Piper whistle on approach.
 
Well don't know about a Skymaster growl, but I could always tell the EA-6B howl on takeoff compared to other jets. C-5 on takeoff as well. The opposite end, coming into land, the distinguished sound of the S-3 "Hoover." Afterburner stuff I never could really tell unless you're talking a TF-30 vs a GE-110. Startup, the familiar moan of an F-18 will never fade from my memory.

Props- T-6, P-51, Piaggio, Osprey (even high up), pretty much all the canard pushers.

Helos- AH-64 & UH-60 very similar but usually I can tell. CH-47 easily. CH-53 easily. Huey, no brainer.
 
Pilawt said:
A lot of airline academy trainers at KGYR. The DiamondStars sound like they have three positions on the throttle: mix, blend and puree. The diesel-powered Twin Stars are distinctive, too.
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ROFL! That reminds me... Piaggio.
 
185 prop going supersonic on water has a sound to it ;)
 
is this what you heard? (I've never noticed one before)
 
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One of the coolest things I ever saw fly over head was a B1.

It couldn't have been more than 1000 ft AGL, it had it's wings tucked and was hauling ASS.
 
Before I killed too many rivets I could pick out the distinctive sound of a Cessna 421 at takeoff power.
 
GaryV said:
I was working outside today, heard the distinctive growl, and immediately thought a Skymaster was coming. Shortly after I confirmed that I was right as it flew over. That got me thinking about what other airplanes I could identify just by the sound, even if i hadn't heard one in a while.

I can only think of a couple besides the skymaster, a Piaggio, and a P-51 with a merlin. I know a radial when I hear one but there are several different warbirds and an least one Cessna 195 in this area so I can't tell which plane it's on.

What other ones can you think of?

Gary
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Which Skymaster? C-54/DC-4 or a Cessna 337?
 
T-6, Cirrus SR22, Airbus A320 (that damnable whistle on approach), the faint buzzing noise of the Czech Sport.
 
How about a B-1 low approach and lighting up the candles.. Saw it at an airshow few years back... wowziers!
 
Ventucky Red said:
How about a B-1 low approach and lighting up the candles.. Saw it at an airshow few years back... wowziers!
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"The Bone" ! We had a guy at the airline who flew them in the Georgia ANG when they had them. One of our Chief Pilots got to go up on a ride and he said it was amazing. Lucky bastard!
 
P-51 with a Merlin, Precious Metal (RR-Griffon with contra rotating propeller), Dreadnougt (Sea Fury with an R4360) at race power, one particular Glasair Sportsman at my home airport (not sure what's in it for engine/prop but its loud and different sounding).
 
MU2, especially on the ground.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The XF-84H was pretty distinctive ... :eek:

P1030935.JPG

From Wikipedia:
The XF-84H was quite possibly the loudest aircraft ever built (rivaled only by the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" bomber), earning the nickname "Thunderscreech" as well as the "Mighty Ear Banger". On the ground "run ups", the prototypes could reportedly be heard 25 miles (40 km) away. Unlike standard propellers that turn at subsonic speeds, the outer 24–30 inches (61–76 cm) of the blades on the XF-84H's propeller traveled faster than the speed of sound even at idle thrust, producing a continuous visible sonic boom that radiated laterally from the propellers for hundreds of yards. The shock wave was actually powerful enough to knock a man down; an unfortunate crew chief who was inside a nearby C-47 was severely incapacitated during a 30-minute ground run. Coupled with the already considerable noise from the subsonic aspect of the propeller and the dual turbines, the aircraft was notorious for inducing severe nausea and headaches among ground crews. In one report, a Republic engineer suffered a seizure after close range exposure to the shock waves emanating from a powered-up XF-84H.

The pervasive noise also severely disrupted operations in the Edwards AFB control tower by risking vibration damage to sensitive components and forcing air traffic personnel to communicate with the XF-84H's crew on the flight line by light signals. After numerous complaints, the Air Force Flight Test Center directed Republic to tow the aircraft out on Rogers Dry Lake, far from the flight line, before running up its engine.
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Look how close that prop is to the ground. If that strut squats just a little bit... :eek2:
 
I can discern a few different planes around here. I can generally tell the F-16s from the F-18s, and the C-130 is the only 4 engine TP around here. But the most discernable plane I've heard is the S-3 Viking. I can hear that hoover from miles away.
 
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