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I see loud as being in two different categories...

One there is LOUD and everything shakes, and its a good loud. I believe the B-1 to be a good example of this.

Then there is annoying loud when an Jet is powering up on the ground. An example for this is that damn high squeal of the Thunderbirds (all 6) on the ground during the pre-flight engine run ups. Damn that is loud and annoying.

I've never heard an E/A-6 take off up close but I've seen them take off from across the water from NAS Whidbey here in Washington State and they were loud as hell from at least 6 miles away!

Quoting BladeLWS (Reply 1): KC-135 with water injection

Quoting KevinSmith (Reply 6): I bet those were pretty loud. Where did you get to hear a water wagon? Those things are rare these days.

My first thought upon seeing this thread was the KC-135 water-injected. They are the loudest I've personally ever heard. As to where...I'm really sorry, Blade, that you didn't get to hear them. For me, it was while I was stationed at Lajes Field, Azores, for 4 years in the 1970's. We had a bunch of them there for a particular operation; they would take off every morning fully maxed out, and refuel fighters flying nonstop across the Atlantic. A group of 20 of them would take off every morning, one right after another, with a take-off roll starting just as the previous -135 began to rotate. We would stand up on the ridge beside the runway and enjoy the sights and sounds!

Not only was the roar tremendous, but the pure black exhaust caused by the water injection was so thick that at times you couldn't even see the first part of the takeoff roll. Those mornings were really exciting!!!

Quoting KC135TopBoom (Reply 17): I would also like to add the RAF Vulcan bomber to the list

Boom,

Yeah, not only loud, but a very unique sound on takeoff. We had them come through Lajes every so often when I was there. But not nearly as loud as the KC-135 water boats!!

Quoting StevenL (Reply 50): I see loud as being in two different categories... One there is LOUD and everything shakes, and its a good loud. I believe the B-1 to be a good example of this. Then there is annoying loud when an Jet is powering up on the ground. An example for this is that damn high squeal of the Thunderbirds (all 6) on the ground during the pre-flight engine run ups. Damn that is loud and annoying.

Heh, that's kinda what I said earlier about there being two different "louds" but I think people are just putting in anything that matches either category.

Quoting StevenL (Reply 50):
I see loud as being in two different categories...

One there is LOUD and everything shakes, and its a good loud. I believe the B-1 to be a good example of this.

Then there is annoying loud when an Jet is powering up on the ground. An example for this is that damn high squeal of the Thunderbirds (all 6) on the ground during the pre-flight engine run ups. Damn that is loud and annoying.




What about a C-17 with its thrust reversers engaged trying to back out of a parking spot, while your in a hangar 20 feet away. That was the case in Bahrain during Iraqi Freedom in 2003. That was about the loudest noise I've ever heard, and it was steady for about 2 minutes.


-Ken

This month's AOPA Pilot had this question in Barry Schiff's Test Pilot Answers column. The choices for the loudest ever for an aircraft during takeoff were the B-1B, Concorde, SR-71, and XB-70.

According to Barry Schiff, the loudest ever was the XB-70, measured at 136 decibels at a specified distance from the aircraft, and it was 10 dB louder than that in the 125-250 kHz range, and this is NASA data.

Quoting KenGoneFlying (Reply 54): One there is LOUD and everything shakes, and its a good loud. I believe the B-1 to be a good example of this. Then there is annoying loud when an Jet is powering up on the ground.

I believe the B-1B is currently the loudest aircraft flying. "LOUD and everything shakes" requires more energy than the annoying high pitched screaming of many modern military turbines.

Quoting MD-90 (Reply 56): I believe the B-1B is currently the loudest aircraft flying.

You are probably right...for that definition of 'loud". However it would be interesting to compare the B-1B to the Tu-160, as the Tu-160s engines are even more powerful. But only a few have probably heard it live so I'm not sure if it actually is louder or not.

The original question is actually kind of vague. Obviously if you stand 20 feet from a B737 at max takeoff thrust even that will be loud even though we know the plane is quiet. It would be much more practical for this to be answered in terms of a certain distance away from an aircraft.

Here's a good clip of a Mig-23 with the R-29 engine that I mentioned earlier....turn it up some and your house will shake  .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NJc6QqKf38

RAF Jets the Loudest Fighter is the Tornado F-3 and the Loudest Transport is the VC-10 4 Rolls Royce Conways at full bore are hard to beat.

The loudest Active USAF is the BONE B-1b then B-52 water Injection if still used.
Then a KC-135E hich is a real beast for sound then the C-5A/B which makes a Sound that rearly has to be Herd to be belived!

My answer is... the Eurofighter Typhoon.


Story:
Eastbourne Airshow 2016. We've had our share of the Red Arrows, BBMF, a B-17, a B-25 and other aircraft for around 4 hours. Some of us now know what is going to happen. Some of us don't. The whole beach waits, unsure what is going to happen, chatty as ever.

Then the announcement happens, the one some of us have been waiting for: "And now our final aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon! Be warned, it is very loud and little children may get scared..." My palms starting to sweat, I take a pair of Laser Lite earplugs out of my trouser pockets. I squeeze them and put them in my ears, waiting for them to fill up and block my ears. This will be my only line of defense against the Eurojet of the Typhoon.

We all wait a few minutes, only for the announcer to say that the Typhoon is late. Around 30 seconds later, he says it's coming, and rock music is played over the loudspeakers. In the distance I see it, moving very fast. I check my earplugs to see if they are on properly, and they are.

The Typhoon is moving even closer, abd the announcer finally presents the Eurofighter Typhoon. The jet passes the pier at astonishing speed, and then when it finally i can hear it. The sound is like if you made a hole in a fire extinguisher, sort of a "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" noise. It passes us and we are all excited for a split second, and I actually believe that my earplugs will work well. Then the Typhoon banks left, and the screech-like noise it made a split second ago turns to a sound exactly like thunder. Just like thunder, the sound is also ascending in decibels; it gets louder and louder until it is twice as loud. By the time I can see the orange flicker of the afterburners, the whole beach has gone quiet and the rock music has been completely drowned out. My ears? Destroyed. Earplugs do work well, just not against a Typhoon.

I had to deal with the pain for another 10 minutes of the display, and was quite shaky afterwards. Thanks for breaking my ears, Mark Long...


Sound:
Surprisingly, cameras don't capture the full noise of the Eurofighter. All YouTube videos that I have seen of them only capture the screech, but the thunder noise is unexistant. So the best way to 'feel' it is to see it.


Conclusion:
In conclusion, the Eurofighter Typhoon is the loudest military plane I have ever heard. Possibly one of the loudest in the world too. What do you think is the loudest military plane?

Good thread to resurrect.

Zomerji wrote:

What do you think is the loudest military plane?

For me the Harrier. \

Heard it at RAF Cottesmore in the early 2000s, when flying vertical it was astonishingly loud! I've been in and around military jets of all types a lot and still found that to be the loudest consistent noise I have ever heard.

Zomerji wrote:

My answer is... the Eurofighter Typhoon.

I would agree. At various air shows, I've seen and heard the F-18C, Hawker Hunter, de Havilland Vampire, Su-27, Gripen, F-5 Tiger and a few more. But the loudest was the Eurofighter at the Berlin ILA air show.

It's the most environmentally friendly aircraft. It achieves 100% efficiency at turning fuel into noise. No chemical pollution whatsoever.


David

Ozair wrote:

Good thread to resurrect.

Zomerji wrote:

What do you think is the loudest military plane?

For me the Harrier. \

Heard it at RAF Cottesmore in the early 2000s, when flying vertical it was astonishingly loud! I've been in and around military jets of all types a lot and still found that to be the loudest consistent noise I have ever heard.

For sustained noise in one area, the Harrier is easily the loudest aircraft I've heard. While it may well not register the most decibels, when you're near one hovering, or in the vertical of take off or landing, the noise is intense and continuous. While other fighters, or large bombers like the B-1, may register louder, their noise is fleeting as they come and go, the Harrier simply beats your ears into submission with a continuous roar, until it provides mercy and lands or departs, or your ear drums explode.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XF-84H#Noise
Noise
The XF-84H was quite possibly the loudest aircraft ever built (rivaled only by the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" bomber[16]), earning the nickname "Thunderscreech" as well as the "Mighty Ear Banger".[17] On the ground "run ups", the prototypes could reportedly be heard 25 miles (40 km) away.

From my experience at various airshows, ranked from loudest to less loud:

1. Su-27 (No competition from the others)
2. Gripen (Extremely high-pitched "squeel")
3. F-16 (Same as Gripen)
4. Eurofighter Typhoon (Loud roar)
5. F/A-18E/F (Loud roar)
6. MiG-29 (Actually very pleasant roaring sound)

jupiter2 wrote:

Ozair wrote:

Good thread to resurrect.

Zomerji wrote:

What do you think is the loudest military plane?

For me the Harrier. \

Heard it at RAF Cottesmore in the early 2000s, when flying vertical it was astonishingly loud! I've been in and around military jets of all types a lot and still found that to be the loudest consistent noise I have ever heard.

For sustained noise in one area, the Harrier is easily the loudest aircraft I've heard. While it may well not register the most decibels, when you're near one hovering, or in the vertical of take off or landing, the noise is intense and continuous. While other fighters, or large bombers like the B-1, may register louder, their noise is fleeting as they come and go, the Harrier simply beats your ears into submission with a continuous roar, until it provides mercy and lands or departs, or your ear drums explode.

Agreed (as I stated 9 years ago earlier in this thread...). I have seen Harriers hover multiple times over the years and it is ear piercing and it doesn't fade, it just SITS THERE screaming for minutes on end! At the Daytona Airshow sometime during the 90's they had 2 taxi down to the end of 25R, go vertical and hover together in close proximity, do a 360' turn around in unison, then point the nose down the runway heading and transition to flight... so very cool and soo very loud!

B-1 is max burner is next on my list, as far as ones I've heard personally.

These lists have to many US airplanes... I'd think Russian ones would feature prominently as well, and not just the ones already mentioned on the thread.

AirlineCritic wrote:

These lists have to many US airplanes... I'd think Russian ones would feature prominently as well, and not just the ones already mentioned on the thread.

Ha, Wodka Boys can't jump.

As a former F-4 pilot, I was stationed at George AFB when we were flying both the F-4 and the F-105. One of my additional duites was sitting in the RSU (Runway Supervisor Unit) to check on T/O and landing configurations of departing and recovering fighters. As I recall the Thud takeoff noise was louder than the F-4s because of the hard burner light among other sounds even though it was only one engine. A U-2 with no after burner and the same engine was not as loud.

The Fresno Guard F-106's who pulled alert there were not as loud on takeoff. I would agree that a KC-135 with the old engines and water injection was the loudest thing I ever heard on T/O sitting out in that greenhouse near the end of the runway. Never had the opportunity to see a SR-71 takeoff sitting out there. Did see some F-104s, but they did not seem to strike me as louder than F-105s, but did have a distinctive higher pitched sound. I guess it depends where you heard the aircraft and what phase of flight it was in.

KevinSmith wrote:

Quoting BladeLWS (Reply 1):KC-135 with water injection...
I bet those were pretty loud.
Where did you get to hear a water wagon? Those things are rare these days.

The KC-135A/Q were the loudest USAF aircraft ever in the inventory.

jupiter2 wrote:

Ozair wrote:

Good thread to resurrect.

Zomerji wrote:

What do you think is the loudest military plane?

For me the Harrier. \

Heard it at RAF Cottesmore in the early 2000s, when flying vertical it was astonishingly loud! I've been in and around military jets of all types a lot and still found that to be the loudest consistent noise I have ever heard.

For sustained noise in one area, the Harrier is easily the loudest aircraft I've heard. While it may well not register the most decibels, when you're near one hovering, or in the vertical of take off or landing, the noise is intense and continuous. While other fighters, or large bombers like the B-1, may register louder, their noise is fleeting as they come and go, the Harrier simply beats your ears into submission with a continuous roar, until it provides mercy and lands or departs, or your ear drums explode.

F-35B. Saw it at RIAT2016 and it was crazy just how loud it was. Just as you describe the noise just stays at one ear shatteringly high level as the plane sits there not giving a damn.

Loudest military aircraft I have heard: Tupolev 142. Was once in line for takeoff as an Indian Navy Tu142 took off for a patrol mission. Boy! That one sure caused an earthquake!

A Harrier in the Hover - maybe not the loudest but the sound is awful. F-35 seems to be very loud for a single engine too.

For the heavies old B-52s, early KC-135s, IL-62s and early IL-76s.

During an airshow couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to compare the sounds of MiG-29M2 and Eurofighter Typhon. The Typhoon was noticeably louder. There were children screaming when it rocketed itself in a vertical accelerated climb, the ground shook.

The loudest I have experienced is the Vulcan on full afterburner. That thing was silly loud. The nicest noice is still the JA37 Viggen. Ahhh the memories...

#1 Anything with a J79 in it (F104)
#2 Anything with a J57 in it (F-101s)
#3 Anything with a J75 in it like the F-106

Add bonus points if it was multi engined and afterburning. Remember the F-104s and the F-101s as a kid.. Maybe cause I was only 10 but those things were loud...

A-6 Intruder or EA-6B on the cats in mil power. Hurts your ears it's so loud.

agill wrote:

The loudest I have experienced is the Vulcan on full afterburner. That thing was silly loud. The nicest noice is still the JA37 Viggen. Ahhh the memories...

The Vulcan's engines did not have afterburners.

iRISH251 wrote:

agill wrote:

The loudest I have experienced is the Vulcan on full afterburner. That thing was silly loud. The nicest noice is still the JA37 Viggen. Ahhh the memories...

The Vulcan's engines did not have afterburners.

Well must have assumed it had then. Was only 11 at the time. You learn something every day it seems Still loud as crap though,.

The F-18E/F is the loudest I've heard. Incredibly noisy.

The SR-71 was said to be incredibly loud, like many of the century series fighters. Never seen a B1, ever, and probably won't because I don't photograph planes anymore.

iRISH251 wrote:

agill wrote:

The loudest I have experienced is the Vulcan on full afterburner. That thing was silly loud. The nicest noice is still the JA37 Viggen. Ahhh the memories...

The Vulcan's engines did not have afterburners.

How about Vulcans XA894 and Vulcan XA903... Both had five engines. And XA903's fifth engine was an Olympus 593.

cpd wrote:

The F-18E/F is the loudest I've heard. Incredibly noisy.

The F-18 of any version has never impressed me as particularly loud, or above average loud in any way.

HaveBlue wrote:

cpd wrote:

The F-18E/F is the loudest I've heard. Incredibly noisy.

The F-18 of any version has never impressed me as particularly loud, or above average loud in any way.

I'm not lucky enough to have seen an SR-71 flying, so I have no comparison. I did notice the Super Hornet being much louder than the F-111C and the older classic Hornet.

Wouldn't Saab's Viggen and Draken be good candidates for loudest military jet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQjAp7bTnUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbsYsUvCy7s
Some other nice footage (unfortunately with music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xufQpriW7c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqWWnSjTtA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEyY2Q37sYQ

Loudest I've ever heard would be either the Vulcan, F101 or MiG-21... never heard them on the same day but they are all f***ing loud.

Maybe these YouTube uploads aren't very telling but for me the B-1 on full afterburner takeoff is definitely louder!!!

KC-135 with water injection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCr9RSSoh2w

B-1 with Afterburner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq43-RpAynk

Let's not forget the transport planes. I recently heard an enourmous racket while doing some work. It sounded like a turboprop (ATR or Dash-8) taking off from a few hundred meters away (and I don't even live anywhere near an airport any more). Looked it up on flightradar, and it was some antique 1959 built An-12 from a Ukrainian company that was established in cruise somewhere between FL200 and 250. Same company returned a few times afterwards with an An-24 and an An-72, and they were almost as noisy as the -12.

Thunderboltdrgn wrote:

Wouldn't Saab's Viggen and Draken be good candidates for loudest military jet?

I've seen the Swedish AF historical flight Draken at an airshow last year, doesn't even come close to those I listed higher up. I saw most of the same types at the same airshow, so the conditions were similar.

airbus a350. Ok, ok, i m joking.
su-27 and f/a-18 on airshows made my breast vibrating from their sound. Tu-160 with afterburner and tu-95 a much more loudly.

Synapse wrote:

airbus a350. Ok, ok, i m joking.
su-27 and f/a-18 on airshows made my breast vibrating from their sound. Tu-160 with afterburner and tu-95 a much more loudly.

I'd still like to hear a comparison to the Thunderscreech er Republic XF-84H !?.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XF-84H

WIederling wrote:

I'd still like to hear a comparison to the Thunderscreech er Republic XF-84H !?.

XF-84's prop moves on supersonic speed, certainly it is VERY LOUD and possibly much more louder than tu-95, but i ve never seen it alive and most likely will never see this beautiful aircraft

VSMUT wrote:

Thunderboltdrgn wrote:

Wouldn't Saab's Viggen and Draken be good candidates for loudest military jet?

I've seen the Swedish AF historical flight Draken at an airshow last year, doesn't even come close to those I listed higher up. I saw most of the same types at the same airshow, so the conditions were similar.

Well now they fly them very carefully so the sound is nowhere like it used to be. Despite that they weren't loud enogh to be on a list like this.

Synapse wrote:

XF-84's prop moves on supersonic speed

...even at idle...


David

I remember the CF-101 Voodoo for its noise. Another one that I distinctly remember was the Buccaneer. My recollection from Goose Bay was that they were louder than Vulcans and Voodoos. Maybe when they do low level it is the surprise, but they really left an impression.

The two times I was able to watch a close up takeoff of a B-1 I could not take pictures because I had to plug my ears and could not hold the camera. It is much louder than any plane I have seen, including the SR-71.

I would say that the RAF Vulcan is up the complete with the Vulcan howl. Hope this link works, the howl is created when the throttle is at 87% and continues to about 95% To get the best effects of the howl it is best to be at the front of the aircraft.


https://youtu.be/YzdtYU7i_jY

Has anyone heard a JAS Gripen 39 with it's Volvo RM12, it has a distinct sound?

ZaphodHarkonnen wrote:

jupiter2 wrote:

Ozair wrote:

Good thread to resurrect.

For me the Harrier. \

Heard it at RAF Cottesmore in the early 2000s, when flying vertical it was astonishingly loud! I've been in and around military jets of all types a lot and still found that to be the loudest consistent noise I have ever heard.

For sustained noise in one area, the Harrier is easily the loudest aircraft I've heard. While it may well not register the most decibels, when you're near one hovering, or in the vertical of take off or landing, the noise is intense and continuous. While other fighters, or large bombers like the B-1, may register louder, their noise is fleeting as they come and go, the Harrier simply beats your ears into submission with a continuous roar, until it provides mercy and lands or departs, or your ear drums explode.

F-35B. Saw it at RIAT2016 and it was crazy just how loud it was. Just as you describe the noise just stays at one ear shatteringly high level as the plane sits there not giving a damn.

AGREED! I just read through the entire thread to post the same thing haha.

I was at the Baltimore Fleet Week a few months ago, and was shocked that (even while flying a program WITH the F-22 Raptor) that the F-35 seemed to be considerably louder.

I suppose the F-22 has such a good power-weight ratio that they rarely need to use lots of power, but still there were times it was in afterburner obviously.

Still - for some reason the F-35 just had a "ripping air" sort of HARSH in-your-face loudness that was pretty impressive on the ground!

From memory, as a kid at airshows - nothing could touch a low-pass from a B-1B. Period.

Balerit wrote:

Has anyone heard a JAS Gripen 39 with it's Volvo RM12, it has a distinct sound?

Yes, heard tons of them. Not distinct at all, but an extremely unpleasant scream.

VSMUT wrote:

Balerit wrote:

Has anyone heard a JAS Gripen 39 with it's Volvo RM12, it has a distinct sound?

Yes, heard tons of them. Not distinct at all, but an extremely unpleasant scream.

More like a deep crackling growl

what about An-225?

Balerit wrote:

VSMUT wrote:

Balerit wrote:

Has anyone heard a JAS Gripen 39 with it's Volvo RM12, it has a distinct sound?

Yes, heard tons of them. Not distinct at all, but an extremely unpleasant scream.

More like a deep crackling growl

Maybe if you base that on experience with an even more screamish jet The Gripens I heard were more high-pitched than any F-16, F-5, F-18, Tornado, Typhoon, MiG-29 or Su-27 that I have ever witnessed.