HTC: New demands...forget the pretty graphics

[Vulcan]

Now I know we sorta have external sound (you can hear the flak if its near enough for instance).

Heres what I want:
 - to sit in the tower and listen to a dozen B17s rolling
 - to sit in an M16 with the motor off and hear those C47s coming
 - to be a deafened gunner in the tail of a B17 formation

[wolf37]

hi:

as for the tail gunner seat, you would not go deaf. once the plane is in the air, the noise is very little, yes on take off it will rattle your head, but not in the air. i know this from my skydiving days and sitting in a DC3 (c-47), it was very loud on the ground and take off, but once over ,say 100ft, it got quiet. i dont mean you could hear a pin drop, but you could talk to the person next to you no problem.

wolf37
C.O.
THUNDER BIRDS

[StSanta]

Yeh wolf, I concur. Just had my first jumps, and on the ground you cannot hear a word someone is saying. Once up, talking is quite possible.

Or maybe it isn't. I am too scared to notice  .



------------------
StSanta
JG54 "Grünherz"

[Renfield]

You've never ridden in a B-17 then - they are loud no matter when and where. The quietest place is however the tail position with the nose being second.

The tail is almost quiet enough to hold a conversation... If you YELL. Anywhere else in the plane you have to get near to someone's head and yell - or wear headsets. You just don't try to talk too much when flying. Besides taxiing out to take off, the only real peace comes when taxiing to the tie downs.

Those 4 engines drum the fuselage like nothing you've ever heard. The war 17's had some insulation on the walls which probably quieted them down somewhat but I would doubt it would be anywhere close to the sound level in a DC-3. Not having been in a B-17 with insulation with the engines running, I can't say for sure, but without insulation guaranteed you would go deaf without ear protection.

It is nothing like the movies where you hear the guys just talking away in regular voice with the engine sound muted.

[Vulcan]

I was watching an interview with a Lancaster tail gunner, he said that until the Lancs hit cruise the noise of the engines just about rattled your brains out.

At cruise it was only deafening and almost bearable.

Another Luftwaffe pilot was talking about how on the JU88 nightfighters they used to have to read the radar-guys face because communicating was so hard (ie it was noisey).