Whats that noise?

Today’s strip was based on an idea from Kristian from Norway, who apparently had something similar happen to him. Although I can’t remember if in his case it also was a wheelbarrow or something else that made the noise.

But I guess we all have some delusive noises sometimes in our lives. Mike says there’s a certain radio commercial that has a sound effect in in it that sounds like one of the warning bells in his helicopter, and that almost gives him a heart attack when he’s hearing it while driving his car. In my case, there’s this tiny little noise, something like a squeak, that sometimes comes from our neighbors house. In the first fraction of a second it sounds like one of the kids starting to cry. At night, when I’m just about to fall asleep and I hear that noise, it gives me an adrenaline rush that keeps me awake for another five minutes.

Does anyone of you have funnier or more interesting examples than that?

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12 comments on “Whats that noise?
  1. Fbs says:

    À Jose about wheelbarrows that is easier to tell than to write, but here it is: the worker goes to his supervisor to complain : my wheelbarrow makes squeak, squeak, squeak….The supervisor then says, “there’s nothing I can do, go tell the boss”. The worker then goes to the boss and complains : my wheelbarrow makes squeak, squeak, squeak. You’re fired replies the boss. The worker then asks him why ?. Because it should make squeak-squeak-squeak (to pronounce much faster) instead !

  2. Fbs says:

    A joke (bloody mobile spellchecker…), not à José !

  3. Kristian Fahlstrøm says:

    Nice to get a chance to tell the full story.

    Summer 2008 we were loading a bunch of stuff into a helicopter at ENVA. One of the boxes had a dodgy bottom, and inside the hangar I saw a wheelbarrow and dumped the lot into it and grabbed the handles. Just outside the hangar tow mechanics were checking the engine of a C172. One of them had his ear to a screwdriver resting on the engine, clearly listening for unwanted engine noise. As the Squeaky sound from my wheelbarrow mixed in, I could see his shoulders raising towards his ears and he was clearly confused. Suddenly he put the screwdriver do wn, turned around and saw me. His shoulders suddenly dropped and he shook his head in disbelief.

    I completed the trip to the helicopter, and on the way back he came running after me with a can of WD40, shouting stop, stop, stop, it’s free. I had to stop while he oiled the wheel-shaft.

  4. RG2Cents says:

    Considering the size of that ciggy in his kisser, I’m surprised they didn’t smell something burning as well! XD

  5. TG McCoy says:

    Preflighting C-172. hearing a slight buzzing almost electrical sound I was a bit concerned. I get the mechanic who thinks pilots only exist to break Airplanes.
    “Don’t hear nuthin’ ” takes flashlight, and walks away. i hear it again- under the
    cowl. Being now alert to the fact that the Buzzing is now quite agitated and is,well, coming from a large hornets nest INSIDE the cowling. (this particular aircraft had not been used for two weeks. Solution: call an exterminator who promptly called the news media for a local “haw haw look the the airplane”
    story…(sigh)

  6. TG McCoy says:

    BTW enjoy the Strip. Been foling it in Trade-a-plane for years..

  7. TG McCoy says:

    ‘following.” ok…

  8. Johsua says:

    Warning: this story is humours from my end but…

    Once when I was preflighting an aircraft I heard a faint ELT signal. Needless to say I was rather confused as to how an ELT would be audible without the avionics on to say nothing of the conspicuously absent headset. The only reasonable course of action was to turn the avionics on and monitor 121.5. Low and behold there was an active ELT!

    So I was left scratching my head. A quick check confirmed that the aircraft in question did not have an active ELT. None of the aircraft on our line had an active ELT. Yet whenever the master was turned on in this aircraft I could hear the ELT.

    The mystery was eventually solved. Someone had left the anti-collision strobe lights on and the capacitor charge makes a whine that sounds exactly like a faint ELT. Unfortunately the source of the ELT was a Trinidad whose pilot was not instrument rated and decided to ignore at least 3 people who told her not to take off into the mountains when IMC prevailed. One even offered to drive her to her destination but was declined because “she needed the airplane the next day.”

  9. Z says:

    Some joker FO changed his text notification on his cell to a “DING” that sounds exactly like the master caution on my airplane. Freaked me out the whole 4 day, particularly when we were on the ground, miles from the airport….

  10. PhiBo says:

    Reminds me of an old VW TV commercial, where a couple rides in their car, and the man hears a squeaking noise. He stops at a gas station and asks the mechanic to investigate the noise, who then looks at the motor, suspension, etc… at some point he checks the badge, then looks at the wife, and finds out the noise comes from her dangling ear ring. The final scene shows him placing the oil can next to her ear – and fade out. The closure is left to the imagination of the viewer.

  11. JL says:

    Few months ago i was driving and heard some weird high pitched noise.. i lowered my window and heared a biblical horrible metral scratching noise.. exactly how a big train sounds when emergency braking…it was loud and seemed to come from under the car

    I stoped.. and shut down the engine in a hurry (i tought i had lost the oil and the engine was seizing or something) noise stops..then started the engine again temptly..no weird noise.. put it in drive.. no weird noise.. moved it a couple meters..no noise..i almost called a tow truck ..drove it very slow and carefully back home with aircon off (tought could be the AC compressor)..and next day straight to mechanic (who is a few meters away from my garage).. he found nothing..and it never ever sounded again..
    Im beginning to believe it was something else that sounded just as i lowered that window and drove past that point..it had to be

  12. LDP says:

    I am sure y’all have heard (or experienced) all the student pilot stories of students starting the engine and shutting it down in a hurry after hearing a loud banging noise. Then once the CFI points out the need to fasten one’s seatbelt before closing the door while it is hanging out, the engine is restarted and no strange noise is produced this time.
    (nope, not my story, I fortunately trained on low-wings 🙂 )

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