What was the noisiest jet engine ever produced, be it civil, military, Western or Russian, etc.

By the same token, what was the noisiest ever aircraft? If we take, say the Trent-powered A330 as baseline, how much bigger was this aircraft's noise footprint?

Faro

I'm sure it will probably be military  

I'll start by nominating the noisiest plane I hear on a daily basis, the F/A-18 A through D models...

You can count on the fact that the noisiest aircraft is or was military.

I hear (heh...) that the Tu-95 "Bear" is quite something when it comes to noise.

Quoting Faro (Thread starter): If we take, say the Trent-powered A330 as baseline, how much bigger was this aircraft's noise footprint?

10 times as loud? In any case modern commercial aircraft whisper compared to 50s howlers. Old afterburning fighters were insanely loud.

As far as overall noise, I would probably say the Republic XF-84H. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-84H

As for strictly jet powered, the B-1B is about the noisiest jet I've heard next to the Victor Tanker.

Cheers,

John

Some say the XF-84H "Thunderscreech" was the loudest aircraft ever built. It was an experimental derivative of the F-84 equipped with two turboshaft engines turning supersonic contrarotating props.

There was a good article in Air & Space a couple of years ago that described the noise as apocalyptic. To be near it without ear protection would cause most people intense pain. It was blamed for pregnant women at Edwards AFB miscarrying.

Quote: On the ground, they were reportedly audible 25 miles away. The propeller blades were supersonic even while the airplane was running up on the ground. Each blade shed a shock wave that spiraled outward. It was more than just sound but also the shock waves created that were detrimental. Ground crew reported that wearing standard ear protectors "made no difference" and a person standing some distance from the airplane was subjected to rapid-fire shock waves. The shock waves acted on the body, causing spasms, nausea and loosening of the bowels. Even epileptic seizures were reported. In short order, the Air Force Flight Test Center directed Republic to tow the XF-84H out on Rogers Dry Lake, far from the flight line, before running up its engine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-84H

I can't vouch for the accuracy of that article, but you'll get the idea.

All I've got to say is the afterburning Rolls-Royce Olympus on the Concorde! What a loud but wonderful sound!  
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KWJ43rkobs&mode=related&search=
Crank up the volume/subwoofers! Listen to the car alarms!

On the civil side, the RR Speys in the Trident and BAC One-Eleven were the noisiest engines I remember flying from Heathrow in the 60s. Only the JT3C turbojet powered 707s rivalled it (different kind of noise, and therefore hard to tell which was loudest).

The noise the Tu-134 and Tu-154 Soloviev D30 engines make when starting are the loudest and strangest sounding starters I've ever heard.

As for comparisons with the A330, this ANA document compares all their jet types from 727 through to 777. It clearly shows the differences in noise levels and footprints. Since decibels are a logarithmic scale the actual noise reductions are dramatic.

http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/aboutana/anaenvironment/pdf/e2003-5.pdf

Any afterburning jet will be much noisier, needless to say. Concorde used to shake the ground a bit on takeoff.   Nothing to compare with an unsilenced military engine in reheat though.

Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 2): I hear (heh...) that the Tu-95 "Bear" is quite something when it comes to noise.

I believe this plane, or one of the Soviet turboprops similar, also had supersonic or near-supersonic props. And with 4 counter-rotating pairs, would be impressive. That B-1, though, DAMN! On takeoff they will nearly shake your car apart. I got to see/hear both the B-1 and Concorde take off in St. Louis years ago, and the B-1 is the only one that kind of scared me. They both were impressive, with 4x afterburners, but the XB-70 had 6 GE YJ-93s! Imagine that.

Had a B-1 set off my car alarm the other day, it was that good. I think that's one of the best aircraft for a flyby at a game, it really gets the crowd going. Noise is everything.

DeltaGuy

Quoting Faro (Thread starter): By the same token, what was the noisiest ever aircraft?

Is the space shuttle considered an aircraft? Extremely loud going up, very quiet coming down, at least once it slows below the speed of sound.

EA-6b Prowler you can feel you're teeth and chest rattle sometimes especially if you're on the line when they fire up the engines.

B-52 bomber super loud.

Quoting Airfoilsguy (Reply 9): Is the space shuttle considered an aircraft? Extremely loud going up, very quiet coming down, at least once it slows below the speed of sound.

Actaully the OP asked what was the "Noisiest Jet Engine Ever"? I think this would exclude rockets unless you can get the noise levels of the turbo-pumps on these rocket motors  

Cheers,

John

A bit off topic, but I was once at an airshow that featured a number of AT-6's, which the announcer called the most efficient machine known to convert money into noise. The point was that the prop tips went supersonic, and the racket was truly impressive. But I'm sure many of the jets mentioned above would put them to shame.

I'd have to say the loudest aircraft I've ever heard is the B-1. Nothing has even come close in my experience.

-N243NW 

I only have limited Boeing Data, but here you go for takeoff noise:

Takeoff Sound in Decibels
767 81.1 dB
757 80.2
747 86.1
737 80.2

Loudest Plane in Decibels:
F/18 Hornet: 117 dB

***Please note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, so a F/18 Hornet with afterburners is actually 10 times louder than a 747.

Military planes are far louder. The Hornet is the loudest American aircraft at 117 dB with its afterburners in use.

I always thought an after-burning fighter jet, such as the F/A-18, is the loudest airplane there is...until, I watched a TF-33 (the JT3D equivalent-from 707s) powered KC-135 takeoff at close range, with no hearing protection.

I literally heard static and felt pain in my inner ears as the aircraft went by, and I was temporarily deafened for a half hour afterwards.

The aircraft had a tremendous "crackling thunder" like an afterburning fighter jet, however, it was the ultra-high pitched metallic screech from those engines that does it.

Quoting BoeingFixer (Reply 11): Actaully the OP asked what was the "Noisiest Jet Engine Ever"? I think this would exclude rockets unless you can get the noise levels of the turbo-pumps on these rocket motors

I thought asked 2 questions, one being about jets that second being aircraft in general.  

Quoting RoseFlyer (Reply 14): The Hornet is the loudest American aircraft at 117 dB with its afterburners in use.

Where did you get this info from? I'd like to look at that info for my own curiousity.

Cheers,

John

My vote is for the SR-71's J-58 engines in full afterburner. Loudest I have ever heard... and felt!

Quoting N231YE (Reply 15): I always thought an after-burning fighter jet, such as the F/A-18, is the loudest airplane there is...until, I watched a TF-33 (the JT3D equivalent-from 707s) powered KC-135 takeoff at close range, with no hearing protection.

^^^This is true, the KC-135A with water injection on is by far the loudest I've ever heard and I've heard all those others.

Quoting AAR90 (Reply 18): My vote is for the SR-71's J-58 engines in full afterburner. Loudest I have ever heard... and felt!

That would be my guess as well...I have no hard data to back that up but that engine has to have one of the highest exhaust velocities of all and it's *big*. And you know darn well that noise abatement certainly wasn't part of the design criteria. Probably not something that gets heard by very many people though.

Tom.

Quoting RoseFlyer (Reply 14): 747 86.1 (...) Loudest Plane in Decibels: F/18 Hornet: 117 dB ***Please note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, so a F/18 Hornet with afterburners is actually 10 times louder than a 747.

The Bel scale is a factor of ten for every (one) Bel, or for every 10 deci-Bels. So 117-86.1 = 30.9, or about 1200 times louder.

In the winter time espesially early morning hours When MD-80 series jets take off out of LGA I have seen them set off most of the car alarms in the employee parking lot. At CLT the same happens when it is cold and a 727 takes off. One day I was over at the Training center for a recurrent and outside having a puff and a pair of F-15's launched (do not ask me why they were there I do not know) and about 10 car alarms went off all at once. The F100 engine is one heck of a engine. I could only dream of doing that with a CRJ in any weather I would bet.

Quoting Faro (Thread starter): What was the noisiest jet engine ever produced, be it civil, military, Western or Russian, etc.

This question comes up here every once in a while. I always define "noise" as two distinct types.

First you have noise that is not necessarily loud per se i.e. in decibles but in fact has a rather unpleasant frequency. A good example of this is the TF-33 KC-135s and B-52. They are not that loud(decibels), but the "screech" makes them very noisy/unpleasant to listen to. There are certain other aircraft that do this as well...where "loud" is because of the frequency. The Harrier for example, or a Yak-42 taxiing by at close range....VERY hard on the ears.

Secondly you have "pure noise". A good example of this is afterburners, turbojets like the JT-3Cs on the old 707s or turbofans with low bypass ratios like the VC-10. This type of noise is loud in the sense that it just shakes everything and causes thunder all around you. It is fundamentally different than the first type.

So when people mention aircraft and engines, keep in mind which of the two kinds it is. A Concorde at full AB and a KC-135 with TF-33s are both loud, yet they are loud in different ways.

Just trying to clear it up a little bit  

Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 2): I hear (heh...) that the Tu-95 "Bear" is quite something when it comes to noise.

Yes, but they are of the first type of noise that I mentioned, tremendous vibration, unpleasant frequency, but not at all like the "loud" of a Concorde for example.

Quoting Jetlagged (Reply 6): The noise the Tu-134 and Tu-154 Soloviev D30 engines make when starting are the loudest and strangest sounding starters I've ever heard

Although both these aircraft have D-30s, the engines are different. The cores are the same but the engines have huge differences. A Tu-134 D-30 is louder, dirtier and has a smaller bypass ratio than the D-30KUs of a Tu-154M. That's why Tu-154s still fly in Europe while the 134s were banned. The Tu-134 on takeoff sounds just like a fighter jet, complete with the roar, thunder and exhaust crackling. The Tu-154 is a lot smoother.

As for my personal opinion:

First type of loud: harrier, TF-33s(like the B-707, B-52, KC-135), Yak-42, Tu-95
Second type: KC-135 with water injection, Tu-134, Mig-25, B-1B, SR-71

Hard to say, some of those are so close to each other....

Quoting Sovietjet (Reply 23): Although both these aircraft have D-30s, the engines are different. The cores are the same but the engines have huge differences. A Tu-134 D-30 is louder, dirtier and has a smaller bypass ratio than the D-30KUs of a Tu-154M.

I was referring to the howling noise made during enine start, which seems to be common to both aircraft.

The loudest bizjet engine is hands down the CJ610 on the 20 series Lears. Seen a couple violations of 110 dB's, you can get a little better if you do it right  Everyone looks up when a Lear takes off.

Quoting Tb727 (Reply 25): The loudest bizjet engine is hands down the CJ610 on the 20 series Lears. Seen a couple violations of 110 dB's, you can get a little better if you do it right Smile Everyone looks up when a Lear takes off.

Oh yeah, between those and the MU-2's, the reason that lineboys working at FBO's the world over need hearing protection  

Quoting KELPkid (Reply 26): Quoting Tb727 (Reply 25): The loudest bizjet engine is hands down the CJ610 on the 20 series Lears. Seen a couple violations of 110 dB's, you can get a little better if you do it right Smile Everyone looks up when a Lear takes off. Oh yeah, between those and the MU-2's, the reason that lineboys working at FBO's the world over need hearing protection

I cut my teeth on those things, and I've got the hearing loss and tinnitus to prove it.

I always thought the Continental J69 in the Cessna TweetyBird a/k/a the Two Ton Dog Whistle was pretty damned noisy.

Quoting Dougloid (Reply 27): I cut my teeth on those things, and I've got the hearing loss and tinnitus to prove it.

Yeah, I started flying them at 22 and now at 27 I have noticeably worse hearing from just the noise inside the thing. They are obnoxiously loud. Luckily now I just fly Lears about once a year to keep my 135 currency and stick in the Falcon 20 the whole time. The MU2 and Volpar Beech 18's are the loudest props out there too, yuck those are loud.

It might not be the loudest (sure it's up there though) but I think it has the coolest sound: the TF-39. And yes, I'm bias 

Quoting KELPkid (Reply 26): the MU-2's, the reason that lineboys working at FBO's the world over need hearing protection

There's a courier service that launches three of those every morning about 2 a.m. from Rwy 35 at PHL.

A few nights ago we were sleeping with the windows open for the first time since summer started and my wife woke up to a noise she said was like an air raid. Flightaware revealed the culprits were MU-2's going off in quick succession.

Quoting TF39 (Reply 29): It might not be the loudest (sure it's up there though) but I think it has the coolest sound: the TF-39. And yes, I'm bias

I see the occassional C-5 Galaxy at my home airport, and I was quite surprised at how loud they were when I first saw on takeoff; probably the neatest sounding plane I've ever heard, even better than JT9D 747's, GE90 777's, and DC-10's. They almost sound like a JT9D-powered 747 classic as they're coming at you with their fan growl, but its more prominent and is audible even after it passes overhead. And then there's that loud screech from the compressors that almost remind me of JT3D's!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5pojoZwYnI&mode=related&search=
Takeoff in cockpit of C-5 Galaxy. Those things are loud even from the inside!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xDA2PSSWA&mode=related&search=
What an awesome sounding airplane! Very short takeoff run, by the way.

Quoting AAR90 (Reply 18): My vote is for the SR-71's J-58 engines in full afterburner. Loudest I have ever heard... and felt!

I second that vote.

I always enjoyed knowing that when we took off everyone looked to see when the Lear 25D was the bar tab payer for me. Air Ambulance at that too. At least once coming out of SNA we got into trouble because I saw the form they sent back to the company office a few weeks later when I was on desk duty. The MU2 is a miserable plane as well from the outside. I love the sound of the CJ610 . Old school 727's were great for the windows in the winter too back in the day when I was a youth. Not only that I lived as I do not near JFK so the winter time was prime for window rattleing when that beauty still graced our sky.

Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 20): Quoting AAR90 (Reply 18): My vote is for the SR-71's J-58 engines in full afterburner. Loudest I have ever heard... and felt! That would be my guess as well...I have no hard data to back that up but that engine has to have one of the highest exhaust velocities of all and it's *big*. And you know darn well that noise abatement certainly wasn't part of the design criteria. Probably not something that gets heard by very many people though.

The J58's huge intake spike would however limit the front-end noise footprint, wouldn't it? I agree with the back-end noise though, it must have been staggering.

What about the B-58? Four mean J79's dressed in sexy, skin-tight nacelles resonating like mad to the surrounding air with little acoustic energy being absorbed by the airframe.

The equivalent of two F4 Phantoms in one plane! And more in fact, if you count the skinny nacelle's effect on the optimal propagation of the acoustic energy. Three F4's screeching to high hell!

The A6 Inttruder on the catapult.
Been with alot of others.

737tdi

Faro: The B-58 Hustler was a loud piece of sheetmetal. I heard them off of Carswell AFB. Still doesn't beat an A6, but I guess its cheap, been there done that and all that. No one will ever believe. Unless they have heard it. I

I've seen most of the aircraft mentioned above at airshows over the years but the one that sticks out as by far the loudest was the Panavia Tornado, with the RB199 engine. One of the few aircraft i'd have to put my fingers in my ears for.

Also the F15, F111 and Lightning were also very loud.

Quoting Rwessel (Reply 21): The Bel scale is a factor of ten for every (one) Bel, or for every 10 deci-Bels. So 117-86.1 = 30.9, or about 1200 times louder.

True in a pure energy sense if the frequencies are the same. I am assuming that the ratings are a-weighted, but they might not be. Additionally, perceived sound level does not scale linearly with energy so you would not perceive the F-18 as 1200 times louder than the B747

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/87745main_H-491.pdf

Preliminary noise report on the XB-70.

Fig 11 suggests 135dB as overall noise level at take off, microphone 220ft from runway centreline.

Quoting Tb727 (Reply 25): The loudest bizjet engine is hands down the CJ610 on the 20 series Lears. Seen a couple violations of 110 dB's, you can get a little better if you do it right Smile Everyone looks up when a Lear takes off.

Oh yeah, between those and the MU-2's, the reason that lineboys working at FBO's the world over need hearing protection  

Quoting Oly720man (Reply 39): http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/87745main_H-491.pdf Preliminary noise report on the XB-70. Fig 11 suggests 135dB as overall noise level at take off, microphone 220ft from runway centreline.

I think we have a winner 

The loudest I have ever heard were the engines on the CM170 Fouga Magister (Turbomeca Marbore VI F). I have at times been (stupidly close) to 747-100's without ear protection and only suffered mild discomfort. But even with the Fouga at idle power and wearing double ear protection I thought my head was going to explode. They have such a high pitch shreek for such a tiny engine, it really is hard to imagine unless you´ve heard one at close range,


Brgds
SB03

CJ-610s are loud, but JT12s are just a little louder.

I never thought that F-18's were all that loud, especially compared to 15s or 16s. Seems to me those two are much louder than the smaller engines on the Hornet. Then again, my ears aren't decibel meters, and between flying loud airplanes and being around loud cars, the only thing I can hear is my wife bitching....

Time to loose the wife and stick to the cars and planes. Our respective parent caarrier goes to Costa Rica afterall.  

Quoting N710PS (Reply 22): a pair of F-15's launched (do not ask me why they were there I do not know) and about 10 car alarms went off all at once.

The PW F-100 is one of the loudest, I think it's bested by the F119 in the F-22. As a troop who worked on the F-100 for awhile, in test cell you most certainly had to be sporting muffs and plugs, and even that wasn't enough. You could stand near the air vents at the front of the test cell (supplies all the air to the motor), and literally lean 45-60 degrees into it, the wind was coming in at such a speed. Always fun to chop the throttle and make someone land on their face  

Anyways...most any mil jets have my vote, in my opinion.

DeltaGuy

What about those RR Darts on the G-1 / HS-748?
Probably far from being the loudest, but their lovely high pitch sound, plus the noise those 20-something feets props makes just put even a 737-200 to shame  

Quoting MrFord (Reply 45): What about those RR Darts on the G-1 / HS-748? Probably far from being the loudest, but their lovely high pitch sound, plus the noise those 20-something feets props makes just put even a 737-200 to shame

I think that applys to just about any Rolls-Royce Dart...I recall seeing several Dart converted formerly piston powered Convairs at ELP...it was a popular bird for air freight between the US and Mexico back in the early 1990's  

Quoting KELPkid (Reply 40): Oh yeah, between those and the MU-2's, the reason that lineboys working at FBO's the world over need hearing protection

I learned all about ear protection in the Swedish Army. When firing the 84mm recoiless rifle "Carl Gustav", foam earplugs AND ear protectors are mandatory. Of course, this doesn't help much with the shockwave. Open my mouth? Sure, but it's annoying when you chew on thrown-up dirt for hours afterwards.

Good fun all around in other words! 

Quoting Scarebus03 (Reply 41): The loudest I have ever heard were the engines on the CM170 Fouga Magister (Turbomeca Marbore VI F). I have at times been (stupidly close) to 747-100's without ear protection and only suffered mild discomfort. But even with the Fouga at idle power and wearing double ear protection I thought my head was going to explode. They have such a high pitch shreek for such a tiny engine, it really is hard to imagine unless you´ve heard one at close range,

The Continental J69 in the TweetyBird is a license built Marbore. It's my champeen noisemaker. The airplane is known colloquially as a two ton dogwhistle

Quoting Dougloid (Reply 48): The Continental J69 in the TweetyBird is a license built Marbore. It's my champeen noisemaker. The airplane is known colloquially as a two ton dogwhistle

Personally, I've heard the T-37 called the "Tweet", or the "converter." It's the most effecient machine around at converting fuel into noise