The Noise In The Sky...

[Jim Frye]

Last night was high school football friday here and the local Air National Guard unit did formation flyovers at SEVEN local high schools. They did the traditional "missing man" formation flyby followed by two high speed afterburner passes of the fields from opposite directions. The only requirement by the ANG was the schools doing a armed forces recognition during the National Anthem segment. Those F-16s are LOUD at about 700 ft above the deck!

[capncarl]

I remember loud! My hometown had a SAC base with a SL of B52s. This base was unusual as it was actually within the city limits, and the planes could actually be seen from the surrounding roads. When they had a quick deploy, or whatever they call it, traffic would stop on the surround roads. Not because people in cars wanted to watch the pretty airplanes but because the noise was so loud that it sounded like a train was fixing to run over you. I’ve been fishing with my dad on the river that the B52s drug their tires on the trees on the river bank when taking off. It was so loud that the river water actually quivered and all fish stopped biting for the rest of the day. It was a different kind of loud though, these B52s were a continuious thunder and F16s are an are an unbearable screech! It’s been a long time since I’ve heard this kind of noise, so I have tickets for the Blue Angels air show next month as a refresher!

[Jim Frye]

We live a couple of miles from where the ANG F-16s are based, so we hear them all the time. They do have a raspy exhaust, and on afterburner, they are really loud. When I was in basic training at Lackland, we could see the vertical tails of the B-52s stationed next door (Kelly AFB?) . Of course we could hear them, but it was erie watching just those tall tails moving above the trees separating the two bases.

[pearson]

can imagine that was loud. I noticed that too — it’s strange how certain sounds seem to carry further these days, especially at night. Makes you wonder if it’s changes in weather, flight paths, or just us paying more attention. It kind of reminds me of streaming services where you think you’ve seen it all but there’s always something new. Just last night I got sidetracked reading hbo max reviews instead of actually watching the show I had planned to start.

[cwsmith]

In 1963 after I graduated from highschool, I spent four weeks at Griffiss AFB, part of my Civil Air Patrol training prior to an attempted enlistment in the Air Force in early September (failed, too underweight at 117 lbs).

Griffiss AFB (Rome, NY), at that time was home to the 4039th SAC unit and also the 49th FIS (Fighter Interceptor Squadron) which was comprised of F101 Voodoo interceptors. The 4039th were B52's; and, along with those were KC135 refueling tankers.

Griffiss was also a major supply center (ROAMA) and therefore a number of cargo aircraft were in and out of the base regularly.

At that time, we were not only engaged in Vietnam, but also on high alert for the Soviet nuclear threat, which provoked a very heavy defense posture with SAC having a third of it’s bombers in the air up near the Arctic Circle 24/7.

With the B52's going out two or three times a day (I don’t remember their exact schedule), the base was more than busy and when the bombers were on the ground they were being serviced for the next schedule, so you could hear engine noise through the night.

The 49th FIS kept a similar vigil. At the eastern end of the base, the runway was surrounded by embankments and was referred to as “Voodoo Valley”. They had a number of F101's parked diagonally at the edge the apron, with flight crew at hand (the F101 had a pilot and weapons officer). A similar number of F101's were parked in “blast-proof” shelters built into the sides of the embankments. Those were equipped with JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) rockets. They also a number of interceptors in the air, well to northeast, as a defense shield.

Air crews worked on 3-day cycles, one actively ready, one immediate stand-by, and the third on base stand-by with AP armed security and to transport them from whatever location they might be on base. In every building there were signs in opposing corners of almost every room, looking like the familiar ‘Exit’ signs; except they read “SAC, TAC, and RED”, each stacked above the other. Twice while I was there, the TAC signs lit up, with sirens blaring. Fortunately they were only drills.

For the most part, our presence was orientation. I think we spent a day at almost every facility on the base, from Air Traffic Control to Defense measures, both Base and Air.

While never actually training to perform any of the functions, we certainly became familiar with their presence, purpose, and importance. Part of that was spending time on the flight line, engaging with both ground and flight crews, and the actual aircraft. While all weaponized aircraft were off limits, you could get up to the rope barriers and on a couple of occasions, the planes that were unarmed, were available for much closer orientation. (I actually visit the cockpit, and even lay in the tail section of a KC-135 tanker to see the boom-operator’s functions.) B-52 and F-101 visits were close enough to touch, but strictly exterior orientation.

(Over the next three years, I made several attempts to enlist, to the point where my local enlistment Sergeant and I would just converse. I got married in Sept, 1967, and within two weeks I received a Draft Notice. (Thank you Lyndon!). Fortunately, the local draft board looked at my record, sent me for a local weigh-in where the physician sent me home, stating that I’d loose my minor weight gain within days in Basic Training. As I recall his parting words were “Have a good life, skinny!”)

[Jim Frye]

Yeah, I lost almost thirty pounds during the 13 week basic cycle at Lackland, TX during July-October heat. While I was assigned to my permanent assignment, I worked with a TechSarget who had been a boom operator on KC135s and cross trained to computer programming to ride out the rest of his career.

[capncarl]

In the late 1960s our SAC base closed and the B52s were history. The base became a Naval air station with RA-5C Vigilanti’s. Those were quite noisy too. It was a total different. This era Air Force personnel brought in a lot of sports cars such as Jags, Porche, Austin Healey…. So there was an active SCCA club. When the Navy took over they had simular imported sports cars. The Navy inherited a mile long runway for their Aircraft Carrier planes. The rest of the runway and plane parking became our own private SCCA racetrack! Now try navigating through a high speed autocross and a Vigilanti takes off several hundred yard’s away. You just forget what you are doing and coast to a stop wondering what happened to your car! The good ole days!