How loud was a Concorde?

But when Concordes were in action, they would often break the sound barrier. Concorde's window-rattling sonic booms produced enormous sound energy, about 110 decibels, similar to the sound of explosions or thunder. The aircraft is dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST).



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The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off at Washington airport in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. By comparison, a clap of thunder hits 120 decibels while the pain threshold for the human ear is around 110.

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Below Mach 1.3, this would dissipate in the atmosphere, but Concorde could 'supercruise' at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, causing a noise like a thunderclap to be heard on the ground.

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Fifty years ago, the federal government banned all civilian supersonic flights over land. The rule prohibits non-military aircraft from flying faster than sound so their resulting sonic booms won't startle the public below or concern them about potential property damage.

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Such speed didn't come cheap, though: A transatlantic flight required the high-maintenance aircraft to gulp jet fuel at the rate of one ton per seat, and the average round-trip price was $12,000.

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Because of the thunderous sonic boom Concorde trailed behind it whenever it flew faster than Mach 1, the speed of sound. As much as Americans embrace speed and convenience, the Concorde's nerve-jangling bang was unacceptable, especially since most could never afford to fly it.

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Constructed out of aluminium, it was the first airliner to have analogue fly-by-wire flight controls. The airliner could maintain a supercruise up to Mach 2.04 (2,170 km/h; 1,350 mph) at an altitude of 60,000 ft (18.3 km).

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The Concorde's sound at cruising altitude was about 105 decibels, but Buonanno said that based on tests, the X-plane would generate 70 to 80 decibels of noise. Quick and quiet are the buzz words.

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This path is known as the “boom carpet. If you're WONDERing about how pilots handle sonic booms, they actually don't hear them. They can see the pressure waves around the plane, but people on board the airplane can't hear the sonic boom. Like the wake of a ship, the boom carpet unrolls behind the airplane.

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The aircraft quickly proved itself unquestionably as it reached speeds of up to 1,354 mph. To put that into context, that is around 800 mph faster than a Boeing 747 and over 350 mph faster than the earth spins on its axis!

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Concorde used the most powerful pure jet engines flying commercially. The Aircraft's four engines took advantage of what is known as 'reheat' technology, adding fuel to the final stage of the engine, which produced the extra power required for take-off and the transition to supersonic flight.

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Concorde is sadly no longer flying, but it is still possible to visit some of the remaining 18 airframes, there are others not open to the public but you can still see them.

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The strongest sonic boom ever recorded was 7,000 Pa (144 psf) and it did not cause injury to the researchers who were exposed to it. The boom was produced by an F-4 flying just above the speed of sound at an altitude of 100 feet (30 m).

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