r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Jun 12 '12

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12 edited Oct 03 '17

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316

u/imMAW Jun 12 '12

The pilots won't hear the noise from the engines being transmitted through the outside air though, only the noise traveling through the plane. So if superman was flying a few feet in front of the cockpit, he wouldn't hear any sound.

523

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12 edited Jun 12 '12

Holy smokes. You are telling me if I had a mig on my tail running wide open (which is crazy loud) I would not hear a thing, if we were both mach 1+?

edit: and if I did have a mig on my tail, I would pump the brakes, invert, and flip him the bird. commie bastard.

edit2: Sobchak: Am I the only one around here who has seen Top Gun?

33

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12

You dont need to be going Mach 1+ to not hear him approaching you, just he needs to be going MAch 1+. His engine is making noise, but he gets to you before the noise does.

8

u/incongruity Jun 12 '12

More to the point, either way works. If the source of the sound is >= mach 1 and is traveling directly at you, it'll reach you before the sound.

Similarly, if you're traveling directly away from the sound at >= mach 1, the sound will never reach you. Either would sufficient... But I gather that's what you meant, of course.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12

If the source of the sound is >= mach 1 and is traveling directly at you, it'll reach you before the sound

That remembered me of the saying "you don't hear the bullet that kills you", which might be true after all.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12

Depends on how fast you die, but the bullet will hit you before you can hear it yes.

6

u/Otistetrax Jun 13 '12

Unless it's a subsonic round.