An AIRBUS A-400M, call sign Comet459, reg ZM405 went over the Quantocks, Taunton and Ilchester, before turning over HMS Yeovilton to cut up towards Castle Cary before steaming over Bruton, Frome and Trowbridge.
A rare craft indead, if it runs on steam!
The plane flew so low over Taunton just after 5pm that passing residents were able to clearly make it out and reported being shocked by the loud roar of the planes (sic) engine. Fight (sic) trackers show the plane was doing 185mph at one point.
/facepalm
H/T: Peter Wells via email
185mph is a LONG way short of the speed of sound, so a [Sonic] "Boom" just isn't going to happen. However, the A400m's contra-rotating props make such a distinctive "Howling" sound that I ALWAYS hear one approaching long before getting sight of it. It strikes me that this would make it a sitting duck if it were ever to be called into real action...
ReplyDeleteThey'd have something to worry about if an A400 was on one engine.
ReplyDeleteWhen you look at the route, it is understandable that the locals would feel it was an invasion from Mars, the fastest sound they would have heard when some cheeky farmer poured vodka into the tank of his tractor.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
"185mph is a LONG way short of the speed of sound..."
ReplyDeleteAll the knowledge of the world at journalist's fingertips, and they can't even seem to Google!
"They'd have something to worry about if an A400 was on one engine."
🤣
"When you look at the route, it is understandable that the locals would feel it was an invasion from Mars..."
Heh!