Concorde Supersonic over land?

[Trevatanus]

Just been having a conversation on Bookface about Concorde going Supersonic over land, lady claims that she used to hear it over the West Country, which I said was unlikely as it did not go Supersonic over land,
A friend has joined in the conversation, someone I actually believe in aviation matters, and he reckons he used to hear it too, in Avon?

[eybic]

I think that's where it used to open up for it's transatlantic bit.

[Phud]

around 9pm over Cornwall you would hear the boom as she opened up over the atlantic

[Cyder]

We used to hear it regular as clockwork around Exeter too.

Used to upset the pheasants greatly (and the peasants I expect)

Edited by Cyder on Friday 25th January 16:02

[Dave J]

and every evening near to Newport, South Wales.

Parents secondary glazing would always rattle.

I was told it was gong supersonic over the Bristol Channel / Irish sea .

[Benjarke]

Used to hear a double boom every evening in North Devon.

[irocfan]

Benjarke said:

Used to hear a double boom every evening in North Devon.

That was basil brush....

[aeropilot]

Dave J said:

I was told it was gong supersonic over the Bristol Channel / Irish sea .

Yep. Bristol Channel was nearest transit to an overwater area from LHR, so this was route taken rather than the usual head north-west up over north and Scotland in the usual airways, which would have meant a longer transit at subsonic speeds and defeated the whole point of the flights.

Boom could be heard from on-land in west country area, but Concorde wasn't overland at the time when they pushed through the sound barrier.

[Glosphil]

I worked for a while at Flight Testing at Filton when Concorde 002 was being flown. One of my jobs was to deal with phone calls complaining about the supersonic booms. We even received complaints on the days Concorde didn't fly!

[Dr Jekyll]

Concorde did fly supersonic overland on occasion. Mainly Canada but also Saudi Arabia in the early days and Australia on proving flights.

[rs1952]

When the plane was being tested prior to going into public service, I seem to recall there was an experiment going on to run it at supersonic speed over the west of England to see how bad the noise would be. I suspect that most of the reports came during those tests.

Disclaimer - as I was only 17 when Brian Trubshaw took the thing up first (we watched it from the back garden ), my memories might be mangled!

[Trevatanus]

rs1952 said:

When the plane was being tested prior to going into public service, I seem to recall there was an experiment going on to run it at supersonic speed over the west of England to see how bad the noise would be. I suspect that most of the reports came during those tests.

Disclaimer - as I was only 17 when Brian Trubshaw took the thing up first (we watched it from the back garden ), my memories might be mangled!

Maiden flight was on my 2nd Birthday

[Eric Mc]

It will be 50 years this years since Concorde's first flight.

[eharding]

Cyder said:

We used to hear it regular as clockwork around Exeter too.

Used to upset the pheasants greatly (and the peasants I expect)

Edited by Cyder on Friday 25th January 16:02

Ditto, near Tiverton.

The pheasants would start squawking just a second or so before the audible boom arrived, due to the birds feeling the shock through the ground, which arrived slightly earlier.

I vaguely remember one almighty sonic bang in Truro when I was a nipper, must have been 1970 when they were testing Concorde.

[Yertis]

Phud said:

around 9pm over Cornwall you would hear the boom as she opened up over the atlantic

Just past 9.00 wasn't it? We could hear it in east Dorset on some evenings, or sense it at any rate.


pah-dum...

And just as regularly, Dad muttering "... there goes Concorde."

[24lemons]

I distinctly remember camping in north Devon as a child and hearing what I thought was thunder. It was a beautiful clear blue sky though and my dad excitedly pointed to the sky where you could just make out the shape of Concorde heading out down the Bristol Channel.

[anonymous-user]

Used to hear it in Gloucestershire, from the general direction of the Severn.

[The Brummie]

Parents used to own a caravan in Burnham On Sea.

You always knew when Concorde had gone supersonic because you could clearly hear the boom.

[aeropilot]

I was at Heathrow in Sept 1970 to see a Concorde land there for the very first time, and I was there 33 years later in November 2003 to see the final ever take-off.

[interstellar]

Yertis said:

Phud said:

around 9pm over Cornwall you would hear the boom as she opened up over the atlantic

Just past 9.00 wasn't it? We could hear it in east Dorset on some evenings, or sense it at any rate.


pah-dum...

And just as regularly, Dad muttering "... there goes Concorde."

Was just about to write the same thing. Living in Poole we could hear it and my Dad said the same thing.