Sonic Boom

What is a sonic boom you may ask? Well loud implusive noise that is very similar to thunder. It is often heard when when an object moves faster than sound which happens to be about 750 mph. It really is an interesting feeling traveling this fast from experience being in the military for so long. It is really just the sudden release of pressure after the buildup by the shock wave. The change in pressure is really only about a few pounds per square foot. You probably feel that going up the elevator between floors.

There are two types of sonic booms and they come in waves. We have N-waves and U-waves. It is pretty technical to explain by N-shocks have front shock and U-waves have positive shocks. The pressure of the "boom" is slightly different in these two cases. The strongest "boom" every recorded was by a F14 plane flying just above the speed of sound and it was recorded at 144 pounds per sqare ft. It did not cause any damage or injury to the researchers who were exposed.

f-16 fighting falcon

Stealth Bomber	A10 Thunderbolt	AC130 Gunship	B1B Lancer
B2 Spirit	B52 Stratofortress	C130 Hercules	C141 Starlifter
C17 Globemaster III	C5 Galaxy	E8C Joint Stars	F117A Nighthawk
F15 Eagle	Global Hawk	T1A Jayhawk	T38 Talon