Airspeed – Shut Up and Listen to the Airplanes!

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Here’s a change of pace from me running at the mouth. It’s audio culled from three or four days of stalking airplanes through the rain, mist, clouds, and some sunshine.

I though that it might be nice to shut up and just listen to the great big radial engine of Gene Soucy’s Showcat or the JP-5 conversion stylings of the F-16 (both Thunderbirds and ships from the 107th Fighter Squadron at Selfridge ANGB), the F-15, and the A-10.

The picture above is from the first day at Battle Creek. Spitting rain most of the day, but Gene Soucy was right up there in it, flying his heart out for the crowd.

The F-16 sound is pretty realistic. I finally managed to get the levels just right. I recorded a couple of passes at KPTK during the open house while on duty with CAP. I then plugged the MP# recorder into the 200-W Klipsch sound system I’d brought to handle the audio for the recruiting video and cranked it up behind some unsuspecting cadets. When they ducked and started scanning the skies, I was pretty sure that the system was working well.

Here’s Gene Soucy’s heavily-modified Ag Cat with its throaty Pratt & Whitney 985. Probably the sweetest non-jet sound out there.

The pulled pork and Diet Coke. I haven’t had a sandwich this good before or since. Absolutely amazing. I’d go to the show just for the sandwich!