My brother lives in SF (poor guy) and he reports that the Blue Angels have been buzzing the city during their runup to their Fleet Week performance(s).
Their F-18s are some of the loudest aircraft in the military, so those “military-free zone” idiots must be crawling up the walls! I love it!!
…so those “military-free zone” idiots must be crawling up the walls!
Of course… because we have a fundamental right to a military-free zone. 
fundamental right to wi fi LOL.
I saw the Blue Angels in Seattle this summer. Stood right by the runway when they took off. Holy sh*t those suckers are loud. I thought my 4 year old was going to lose it. Pretty cool to see.
As for the wi-fi issue, it’s hardly worthy of a thread, even in the LR.
“F-18s are some of the loudest aircraft in the military”
Really? Is there some decibel study that says that? Just curious about the statement because I’ve heard aircraft much louder than Blue Angel shows.
Newsom sounds like a head case. There is no fundamental right to high speed wireless internet access. Obviously.
But . . . I think this is more of a case of Newsom trying to take credit for Google’s plan. Which has little to do with any fundamental rights, and is mainly just a business strategy on Google’s part.
**Really? **
Yep.
Is there some decibel study that says that?
Yep.
Just curious about the statement because I’ve heard aircraft much louder than Blue Angel shows.
Not unless you’re in the Air Farce, but you’re not. Read on.
Alright Matt, I see you’re a squid so that means you can’t be that bad. Sailors are always around to give the Marines a ride to where the real work’s at. Floating around on air conditioned grey things that are pointed at one end and named after a state or some dead person… What does the Navy do again?
Anyway, electronic medium and all, I can’t tell if you’re being a smartass hater or if you’re genuinely curious. Allow me to insert a pithy phrase for you: The F-18 is one of the loudest aircraft in the military.
Assuming the following aircraft are under Takeoff Power (% varies from type to type), 75 degree air temp with 59% relative humidity, day flight operations, and at an altitude of 100 feet (typical Blue showoffs) with the aircraft directly overhead (drum roll please) -
B-1B (on afterburner, so the comparison is not really that good) = 141.8 dB
F-15A = 139.3 dB
B-52G (on a dry day) = 137.1 dB
F/A-18 (which the Blues have driven since 1986, as I’m sure you’re aware) = 134.5 dB
F-16 = 127.3 dB
AV-8B = 123.1 dB
And those are just the five loudest of the aircraft in military service. As you know, there are plenty of other jet aircraft in the inventory, lots of turboprops, and plenty of helos, but none come close to the above cited types.
So I’ll say it again. The F-18 is one of the loudest aircraft in the military. How’s that for pithy? I hope those SF apologists break an eardrum or two this weekend.
For a few fun historical figures, read on.
SR-71 (and this is amazing - takeoff power was only 70% max thrust!! Mind boggling!!) = 129.3 dB
Concorde = 142.4 dB
U2 = 124.0 dB
And for Tom D.: CH-53E at max power = 109.5 dB
Just generally curious because I’ve sat 10 feet away from Harriers taking off and landing on the flight deck of an Amphib and they were considerably louder than any airshow I’ve been to, and I’ve been to plenty.
I’m not an aviator so fill me in. Your numbers are assuming takeoff power. Is it likely that an F/A-18 would be at that power level as it flies over San Francisco?
Any stats on the E8-C for the Air Force (my plane). I’ve seen the angels in SF many times and they are loud loud loud. But the pitch the the E8-C produces is unbearible. I was driving under one as it was comming in for approach and nearly went deaf. It’s like a giant screaming pig flying through the air.
I worked in the Clorox building in downtown Oakland, 8th floor facing the bay. I saw the Blues fly UNDER the Bay Bridge one time. Another time they made a low level pass over SF complete with a sonic boom. Di Fi was so mad. Those were the days.
I too am suprised the AV-8B doesn’t rank higher on the decibel scale. Mind shattering noise, I know - I’ve been there too. Before crunching the numbers, I hypothesized the Harrier would be in the top two, but I guess not.
Howerver, I re-ran the calculation for you and changed the paramater to an AV-8B on approach power (vertical for recovery on an amphib, as you well know, which requires a higher power setting than takeoff) and it comes to 125.0 dB.
I figure Harriers have seemed louder to you because 1) they’re 10 feet away (the calculations I ran assumed the aircraft was 100 feet above your ears), 2) their thrust nozzles are vectored down (90 degrees for a vertical recovery, but I can’t recall the precise setting for takeoff) so the scream of the exhaust is reverberating off the flight deck, and 3) during takeoff and recovery, they’re not moving very fast at all. (An F-18 moves overhead at upwards of 300 kts. The Harrier just kind of sits there when descending and I can’t imagine its short takeoff speed is much more than 70 kts.) Another likely factor is that the four exhaust nozzles (plus the puffers) are on the sides of the aircraft - so unlike a traditional jet that shoots its exhaust and most of its noise out the aft, a Harrier projects a lot of noise throughout a 270 degree arc around it. (360 degrees if you factor in the noise of the air being sucked into the intakes.)
But what do I know?
Edit: sorry, I forgot about the power setting during a demonstration question. Yes, the Blues will be in all power settings throughout the course of the demonstration - afterburner to just above idle. It all depends on the maneuver and the timing/location of the next rendezvous.
Sorry sir, the best I could come up with is an E-8A. Takeoff power at 100 feet agl, same atmospheric parameters as above = 121.2 dB. (But that’s on afterburner. JUST KIDDING!!)
Out of curiosity, was the E-8 a turbojet or low bypass turbofan? I imagine turbojet, but they were well before my time.
Edit: I just realized I was thinking of a completely different type. My bad. Boy, do I feel small.
I was thinking of the RB-66.
San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality.
Newsom sounds like a head case. There is no fundamental right to high speed wireless internet access. Obviously.
But . . . I think this is more of a case of Newsom trying to take credit for Google’s plan. Which has little to do with any fundamental rights, and is mainly just a business strategy on Google’s part.
He’s a pretty astute politician as a matter of fact. And his comments were taken out of context by Debra Saunders…an Ann Coulter wannabee and our local barking head right winger.
And for the record, the plan is not Google’s. City wide wifi has been part of his agenda since day 1. Newsom has met with a number of internet providers to discuss providing the service to the city for free…as is provided in other cities like Seattle and Philadelphia. Google made the best pitch…plus they have been very good corporate citizens in these parts…Sergey Bruin gave a lot of money to help host the UN World Environment Week here not so long ago…thats how deals get made.
As for our crazy city…we had Fleet Week this weekend with the Blue Angels, tall ships, Red Bull air races, and navy vessels from all over the world, Columbus Day parade and celebrations in North Beach, The AMEX world championships of golf at our city owned Harding Park public course, there were 2 5Ks and a 10K in the city this weekend and 2 triathlons in Napa, and a 9 year old boy swam from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park…all under clear blue skies and in 75 degree weather. The only thing missing was a Giants playoff game at SBC park.
Why would anyone want to live here??
What happened where you prefer to call home?
<As for our crazy city…we had Fleet Week this weekend with the Blue Angels, tall ships, Red Bull air races, and navy vessels from all over the world, Columbus Day parade and celebrations in North Beach, The AMEX world championships of golf at our city owned Harding Park public course, there were 2 5Ks and a 10K in the city this weekend and 2 triathlons in Napa, and a 9 year old boy swam from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park…all under clear blue skies and in 75 degree weather. The only thing missing was a Giants playoff game at SBC park. >
Man, I miss living up there (east bay).
Two questions:
What was Gavin’s real quote or position? I assumed the “WiFi is a fundamental right” quote was a partisan distortion along the lines of “I invented the Internet.”
Did you happen to see the RedBull Air Races? Man, I want to see that.
He said access to information is a fundamental right, not wi-fi specifically.
That’s what I figured. Thanks.
I don’t have the exact quote from the even in question but his stump speech on this issue states that in a digital age where timely information is the lifeblood of the digital economy everyone should have the right to equal access to that information.
He may have inadvertantly used the words “fundamental right” in one of 100 speeches he has made on this issue in the past month but he’s coming from a free market and freedom of information perspective.