Very loud noise, southern 86, 4th October 10.00

Ahhh OK, thanks Brian! I presume we proably have an equivalent in Oz too!

Indeed you do! Does anyone (@vero ?) know if there is a French equivalent?

Like Brexit!

More like the after effects of Brexit.
We know how our lives have changed, now it is the UKā€™s turn.

Could be Secret Defense in this case :thinking: there are various injonctions that can be used as well, depending.

Explanation: thereā€™s a big olā€™ exercise going on all over the SW, have a look at france bleu perigord for details.

1 Like

Thanks, Vero. Good suggestion but that exercise is a long way south from me, and the sound I heard stayed constant in pitch and volume for a good 8-10 minutes. Aircraft flying combat missions/simulations donā€™t do that!

Something EVEN MORE SECRET taps nose knowingly (without a clue).

3 Likes

Could it be rocket motor testing - it used to happen near us in UK.

1 Like

It was certainly the right kind of sound for rocket/jet testing. Iā€™ve never heard it before around here though and Iā€™d imagine that if they were testing the things it would be a fairly regular occurrence

It might simply have been a one-offā€¦
and possibly weā€™ll never know the whys and wherefores, if it was connected with exercises and/or secret stuff.

And France being the world military power that she is, they donā€™t have to tell us.

1 Like

Interesting. Good question. On that same day, 10.30/11am ish, I too heard unusual very loud sound near Gramat 46. Rumbled on for about 10 mins. could see nothing. I could not tell if it was airborne or underground. It was louder than the gravel tipping going on at the same time and a deeper sound,
Grateful that I now know what a D notice is .
.

When living in the Pennines in the UK, an exercise/practice once involved about a dozen C130 Hercules flying line astern up the valley, doing practice drops, with the back open, but not actually dropping anything. They all went in a big loop via an adjacent valley to return and practice drop again. It was very noisy and went on for about 20 to 30 minutes non stop. Something similar perhaps ?

8 to 10 minutes is probably far too long for a rocket static fire test. The SLS full duration static test was only just over 8 minutes, and there are very few rockets that will burn that long. European big rocket static fire tests are done at Kourou in French Guiana.

Edit: There is a rocket static fire test facility in France. Itā€™s at Vernon, which is between Paris and Rouen.

We had that yesterday late evening - rumbling plane noise, going round and round. OH suggested next time they might like to do their manoeuvres over Paris. :grin:

1 Like

Last year we had a thunderstorm which went on for about an hour of constant noise not individual thunder claps just an hour long noise, it was quite bizarre.

Sheesh i didnt realise my amp was turned up so high when blasting out ACDC

1 Like

Latest from the NOTAM information to pilots

The ArmĆ©e de lā€™air et de lā€™espace has confirmed an annual military exercise taking place across southwest and central France, which will last until October 15.

This exercise is called Volfa, a three-week-long period of high intensity combat training which involves around 25 manoeuvres carried out at all times of the day and night and using 50 different planes.

2 Likes

What did I sayā€¦ :sunglasses:

1 Like