Strange noises around WPAFB tonight

a reply to: CheckPointCharlie

I live near too.
Last night the ISS went over around 9:32 pm for about 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure that is what you saw.
I caught it the night before, it's pretty cool.

DP/edit

a reply to: horseplay

Yeah I thought about that. And that roughly about the same time I saw this object. Does it look a jet way up in the sky though? Does it fly that fast?

Also, I'm not sure what I heard was the same as the OP. I'm pretty sure I'm still hearing it, so I think what I'm hearing is actually traffic from the interstate. It just doesn't seem like traffic that late would be so steady and loud. But, that's prolly what I hear.

Damn. I never get to see or hear the cool stuff, ISS aside.

a reply to: CheckPointCharlie

yes the ISS really hauls ass. it is a big white moving 'star'. what freaked me out the other night it looked like it took a right turn then even though it was still center high, it just - pfft - was gone.
My brother in law talked me into getting this ISS tracker app. now I'm obsessed.

You may have connected the military to a sound many of us have heard across the nation, maybe the world. No explaining it when you hear the same sound no where near any military or airports in the country and it goes on for hours and is loud enough to wake you from sleep.

I will throw this out.... The GE Jet planet is only 30 minutes south of Wright Pat. It's possible they are testing a new Jet Engine since they can't exactly do it in Cincy. They can get away with it at the base.

a reply to: KnightFire

They're working on a PiP for the GENx on the 787 as well as the AETD core demonstrator for the AFRL.

Sounds like it could be an endurance test. The engine would be run on a profile that would simulate power up for takeoff, throttle back for cruise and even reverse thrust if the engine has a thrust reverser. This can go on for hours or even days depending on the test. After the test the engine is torn down and checked for problems and wear. Sometimes the engine is tested until failure occurs.

a reply to: JIMC5499

My guess is endurance testing for the F135 fix.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: miniatus

A NORMAL engine run. A burn in or wear check of a new engine type or major fix check, as I said above will go a lot longer before they take it and borescope it. The Air Force is looking at trying to save a lot of money through improving fuel efficiency. That means making performance improvements to engines among other things. You don't make those changes and then just hang the modified engine off the wing. You run it for a long time on the ground and check every portion of it for unexpected results, then run it some more.

Wright-Patterson is the major engineering center for the Air Force. They make and check all those changes there and test a lot of things there.

I realize WPAFB is a major base for things like that, but that's why I mentioned this is only the second time since the last time around 19-20 years ago.. I'm willing to accept that is what it is.. I would just expect to be hearing it more often if they are the major engineering center that makes and checks those changes see what I mean?

a reply to: miniatus

But in the last 20 years there have only been two new large engines introduced. One was for the F-22, the other is being developed now for the F-35. The rest were commercial derivatives that have been in service for decades now.

My vote's going to endurance test as well. I live about a mile from the 109th airlift wing and they do this pretty frequently from April through November. I think they only keep LC 130Hs there but occasionally you'll see other craft of roughly the same size and loudness coming and going. They actually ran one for about 45-60 seconds just as I began to type this.

a reply to: Magnivea

Oh I used to have a love hate relationship with those damn things. When the Navy had them they were a huge pain in the ass. When NY got them they were easy as hell to deal with.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: miniatus

Engine runs can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours depending on what the run is for.

And the change in pitch, volume, tone etc can change due to atmospheric conditions. Colder weather allows sound to travel more quickly, rain can alter it too, pressure, position, wind direction...

Anyone who has ever been to an outdoor concert or festival knows how quickly and dramatically sound can change, even when you're only 50 feet away.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Regretfully there's no love from my end. The hangars are angled just right so as to form an enormous sound cannon directly from their idling direction to the end of my street. I don't mind the 200-300 foot flyovers because 1) it's a necessity to get anyone trained in something so massive and 2) it's admittedly pretty cool to watch them fly over and cast that huge shadow (especially for the kids... My daughter's birthday is in the end of July when they're unfailingly training so she still thinks they're putting on a show just for her) so a lot of kids around here become interested in aviation at a young age.

Those damned middle of the night dry runs though... Gah.

a reply to: Magnivea

They generally try to not run them after a certain time, but burn in runs require up to 24 hours at a time to simulate the life cycle of the engine so they can get an idea of wear and any problems that will develop as the engine ages. Other times they have an early launch so have to prep overnight and it involves a late engine run. Or just for some reason an aircraft arriving late.

A lot of this sort of thing being reported globally. I still say a lot of these noises are caused by the decreasing electromagnetic field. Scientifically they're referred to as "skyquakes."

I'm thinking of something like this...



Or perhaps this...



It's likely something more mundane than you think. Some stuff is kept as a "mystery noise" or pooh-poohed because those responsible would never hear the end of the NIMBY complaints if the true sources were revealed.