Very loud noise, 4 Oct 21

[Brian]

Here I am in the south of 86 (close to Adriers), minding my own business, when I become aware of a sound, just after 10am, becoming louder. It sounded like a large jet aircraft, but at close quarters - very bassy. The sound grew in volume for a good 4-5 minutes then gradually diminished. The sound was audible for about 12-15 minutes.

At its peak, it was very loud - certainly loud enough to drown out a conversation. The direction of the sound was difficult to make out but I'd guess it was somewhere to the north-west of me.

The really odd thing was that there was only one aircraft to be seen. That, according to my flight tracking software, was a Ryanair 737 about 10 miles away, and the noise was FAR too loud to have come from that.

Did anyone else hear it? Any ideas as to what caused it?

[Fred]

Yes same thing here Brian, no idea what it was though.

*Your newsletter reminded me to pop in by the way.

[Steve]

Here I am in the south of 86 (close to Adriers), minding my own business, when I become aware of a sound, just after 10am, becoming louder. It sounded like a large jet aircraft, but at close quarters - very bassy. The sound grew in volume for a good 4-5 minutes then gradually diminished. The sound was audible for about 12-15 minutes.

At its peak, it was very loud - certainly loud enough to drown out a conversation. The direction of the sound was difficult to make out but I'd guess it was somewhere to the north-west of me.

The really odd thing was that there was only one aircraft to be seen. That, according to my flight tracking software, was a Ryanair 737 about 10 miles away, and the noise was FAR too loud to have come from that.

Did anyone else hear it? Any ideas as to what caused it?

That'll be the two Rafales that I had the pleasure of watching dog-fight over our house near Abzac. Very tight turns and some serious enging thrust being used. Impressive.

Don't forget there is a very large air training mission going on around southern/eastern France for the next week.

[Brian]

That'll be the two Rafales that I had the pleasure of watching dog-fight over our house near Abzac. Very tight turns and some serious enging thrust being used. Impressive.

Good suggestion but I don't think so. We get the Armee de l'Air over here quite a lot in Rafales, Alpha Jets and PC21s and we're used to their noise - arriving, departing and flying overhead.

It sounded rather like this.
But went on for a good 8-10 minutes at full volume.

[Steve]

That'll be the two Rafales that I had the pleasure of watching dog-fight over our house near Abzac. Very tight turns and some serious enging thrust being used. Impressive.

Good suggestion but I don't think so. We get the Armee de l'Air over here quite a lot in Rafales, Alpha Jets and PC21s and we're used to their noise - arriving, departing and flying overhead.

It sounded rather like this.
But went on for a good 8-10 minutes at full volume.

Your opinion - but as I was watching them directly and when the exhaust of the jet engines was facing me the sound was precisely the one you gave example of, I'll stay with my stance.

These two were dog-fighting hence the dramatic changes in tone and volume, as well as duration.

[Brian]

I've just thought of a better example to describe the noise.
Back when the Harrier jump-jet was a regular display feature at UK air shows, one of its tricks was to fly parallel to the audience line, slow down then stop and hover. It would then rotate so it was nose-on to the crowd, before lifting the nose until it was pointing vertically and accelerating skywards.
It was incredibly loud, and maintained its pitch and direction - much like today's noise!