Can You Hear A Plane At 20 000 Feet?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Can you hear a plane at 20 000 feet? Smaller aircraft and those without jets cannot be heard as easily. For example

a Dash 8 at 20,000ft+ is barely audible

, whilst a 747-400 at 40,000ft is still quite clearly heard as a low drone overhead.

Can you hear plane at 35000 feet from the ground?

I think the answer is

“yes” regardless, but ground elevation might make a difference

. I often hear B747 and A380 aircraft flying over at those high flight levels, but an elevation of 3000 or 5000 ft is different than at sea level.

How loud is a plane at 8000 ft?

Height in Feet Transiting 7000-8000 Boeing B772 at 7,000ft 52.8 dBA 8000-9000 Boeing B777-200 at 8,000ft

48.1 dBA

How loud are airplanes outside?

A study of noise on Airbus A321 aircraft reported levels of 60-65 decibels (dBA) before takeoff; 80-85 dBA during flight; and 75-80 dBA during landing. The outside of aircraft engines (

around 140 dB at takeoff

) and conditions on other aircraft may have higher or lower noise levels.

How loud is a plane flying overhead?

The largest plane clocked in at

72.9 decibels

. And in LaGuardia Landing Lights Park, plane noise typically hovered between 62 and 68 decibels, though it jumped to 80 decibels when two planes traveling in opposite directions flew overhead at the same time.

Can you hear a supersonic plane coming?

The short answer is –

no, they don’t hear the sonic boom

. Pilots and passengers cannot hear the sonic boom created by their own plane because they are at the head of the Mach cone. In simple words, they are moving so fast that the sonic boom doesn’t get a chance to catch up to them.

Can you hear a plane at cruising altitude?


Yes, planes at cruise are easily audible on the ground

.

How loud is a Boeing 737?

Boeing 737 or DC-9 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (

97 dB

); power mower (96 dB); motorcycle at 25 ft (90 dB). Newspaper press (97 dB).

Can you hear a plane before you see it?

A: Supersonic jets fly faster than the speed of sound, which means that

you will see the jet before you hear it

. The loud sound it makes won’t be able to catch up to it!

How far does jet noise travel?

Ground width of the boom exposure area is approximately

one mile for each 1,000 feet of altitude

; that is, an aircraft flying supersonic at 30,000 feet will create a lateral boom spread of about 30 miles.

Why do airplanes sound low at night?

During the day, when the air is warmer than the ground, noise energy from an airplane staying in the air, so while you can still hear it, it seems quieter. Conversely, at night,

when the ground is warmer than the air, the noise is drawn down, making it seem louder

.

Where is the loudest part of a plane?

Various studies cited in the studies indicate that sitting in front the wings and engines is the quietest place in flight, with

behind the wing and engines

being the loudest.

What is the quietest plane?

The quietest commercial aircraft in service today are likely the

Airbus A220 and Embraer E2

. These would be followed by the A320neo and 737MAX. While you might be able to tell the noise level difference between these two groups, it is unlikely you could tell the difference within the group without looking.

How loud is a jumbo jet?

The sounds associated with jet planes measure

between 120 and 140 decibels

. Any sound above 85 decibels has the potential to cause hearing damage, especially with frequent or prolonged exposure.

How Low Can planes fly over my house?

The Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 91.119 indicates that, except when necessary for departure or landing, the minimum altitude over urban areas is

1,000 feet above ground level (AGL) and 500 feet AGL over rural areas

.

Why do I keep hearing planes?

Overview.

Airplane ear (ear barotrauma) is the stress on your eardrum that occurs when the air pressure in your middle ear and the air pressure in the environment are out of balance

. You might get airplane ear when on an airplane that’s climbing after takeoff or descending for landing.

Can pilots hear the sonic boom?

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.

Do bullets break the sound barrier?

In fact,

bullets can move fast enough to break the sound barrier

. Contrary to what the name might suggest, the sound barrier is not an actual wall or barrier. Rather, it is the hypothetical limit to the speed an object can travel before it exceeds the speed of sound.

Is it loud inside a fighter jet?


The cockpit of a fighter aircraft will be very noisy

and their mean levels range from 95 to 105 dB. This exceeds the damage risk criterion of 8h/day exposure. Hence, may result in hearing impairment to the pilot, especially during prolonged exposures.

What happens if an airplane goes too high?

If a passenger jet flies too high,

it reaches a point called ‘Coffin Corner’

. This is the point at which the aircraft’s low speed stall and high-speed buffet meet and the plane can no longer maintain its altitude which forces it to descend.

What’s the highest altitude a plane can fly?

Question: What is the highest altitude an airplane can fly? Answer: The highest commercial airliner altitude was

60,000 feet

by Concorde. The highest military air-breathing engine airplane was the SR-71 — about 90,000 feet. The highest airliner flying today reaches 45,000 feet.

Why do planes fly at 35000 feet?


A balance between operating costs and fuel efficiency

is achieved somewhere around 35,000 feet, which is why commercial airplanes usually fly at that altitude. Most commercial airplanes cruise at an altitude of nearly 35,000 feet—around 6.62 miles (10,600 meters) in the air!

How loud is a .22 gunshot?

Firearms Are Loud

A small . 22-caliber rifle can produce noise around

140 dB

, while big-bore rifles and pistols can produce sound over 175 dB. Firing guns in a place where sounds can reverberate, or bounce off walls and other structures, can make noises louder and increase the risk of hearing loss.

What is the quietest military aircraft?

The

X-59 QueSST

is an experimental aircraft that is being developed by Lockheed Martin for the American space agency NASA. Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to develop a quiet supersonic plane in 2016, since then the project has made significant development.

How loud is a plane inside?

The noise during a typical plane journey can vary significantly. Take-off and landing are the loudest moments, when noise levels inside the cabin can reach

105 decibels (dB)

. At cruising altitudes, noise drops to around 85 dB, says Pamela Mason of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Why are there no parachutes on passenger aircrafts?

Short answer: There are a few reasons, including the

lack of parachute training of passengers, high speed of the airplane, cold temperatures at that altitude, non-conducive design of commercial planes and the cost spike

, which make putting parachutes onboard commercial airplanes unviable.

Is it illegal to break the sound barrier?

It’s against the law.

Within the United States, it is illegal to break the sound barrier

. The Federal Aviation Administration regulations are quite clear: “No person may operate a civil aircraft in the United States at a true flight Mach number greater than 1” except in certain, very limited conditions.

Is there a sonic boom at Mach 2?

The speed of sound is the same as the wave speed. The plane makes a sonic boom when it’s going faster than sound.

There is nothing special happening at Mach 2

.

Why are military aircraft so loud?

Where can planes not fly over?

  • Thurmont, Maryland, site of Presidential retreat Camp David (Prohibited Area 40 or P-40)
  • Amarillo, Texas, Pantex nuclear assembly plant (P-47)
  • Bush Ranch near Crawford, Texas (P-49)
  • Edwards Airforce Base.
  • Area 51.
  • Kennedy Space Center.
  • Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia (P-50)

Why are planes so loud when they land?

There are many sounds in airplanes.

The landing gear being retracted or extended can cause significant noise

, the retraction or extension of the flaps can have hydraulic motor noise, and the extension of the flight spoilers causes buffeting and noise.

Can airplanes be silent?

Are planes louder in the winter?

Sound travels further in dense, cold air. And

because background noise is lower during the winter, a plane overhead sounds louder

, said Steve Orfield of Orfield Laboratories, which analyzes acoustics and other environmental factors.

Why do planes always fly over my house?

Why do planes have to fly over residential areas? Aircraft must fly over residential areas

because of the small distances between some airports and neighborhoods

. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary for aircraft to fly over these residential areas in order for aircraft to safely reach the airports.

Can you breathe at 35000 feet?

Whether you are flying aboard a small Cessna or a jumbo-sized Airbus A380, you can breathe freely inside the cabin without wearing a mask or respirator. Even at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet,

you shouldn’t have trouble breathing

.

Can a human breathe at 35000 feet?


Somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 feet the pressure around you becomes far too low to push those oxygen molecules across the membranes in your lungs, and you get hypoxic (altitude sickness)

. If you try to breathe 100 percent oxygen above 40,000 feet for very long without a special type of mask, you’ll die.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.