To: RayChuang88
Here's how to imagine how loud the Tu-95 propellers are: think of the propeller sound from the EC-121 (a derivative of the Lockheed Constellation airliner) and then ramp it up by a couple of orders of magnitude. It's so loud that USAF pilots who've escorted Tu-95's from jet fighters report they could feel the loud sound from the propellers when flying close to the plane. The blade tips of the Tu-95 props exceed the speed of sound by a fair margin. Add this to the turbulence effects of the counterrotating blades, and you've got a real noisemaker.
I read somewhere that permanent deafness is a common complaint of retired Tu-95 crew members.
29 posted on
07/06/2015 12:25:51 PM PDT by
Steely Tom
(Vote GOP: A Slower Handbasket)
To: Steely Tom
It's more than just a noise issue: the metal propeller blades on earlier production Tu-95's--when rotating--created such a huge radar signature return that crews of the EC-121D Warning Star AEW planes flown by the USAF often reported the radars could find the Tu-95 hundreds of miles away--and that's with radar technology dating from circa 1958! You can imagine how much further away the E-3A Sentry with its modern radar could detect the Tu-95....
30 posted on
07/06/2015 12:39:38 PM PDT by
RayChuang88
(FairTax: America's economic cure)
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