Excellent hearing

I remember when I was visiting my brother in Las Vegas and somewhere not too far from his house there was a police raid or something going on. There were quite a few helicopters hovering above the scene. Amazingly, my brother could tell me which models of helicopters they were (and I guess even the engines, but there was no way I could confirm that), before we could even see them. I was impressed! Of course this only impresses people if they can at least visually recognize an aircraft type to begin with.

As a rookie, I can tell an airplane from a helicopter and a turbine from a piston engine by the sound of it. Which is enough to impress the ladies. Well, most ladies, not my wife who calls me a smartass when I do that. ๐Ÿ™‚

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9 comments on “Excellent hearing
  1. Geoff says:

    After working for a summer as a ramp staff, I was to the point where I could tell the difference between a mid-sized Airbus and Boeing (319/20/21 vs 732/38) when they were coming in on finals strictly due to the engine howl. Didn’t need to even look up at the aircraft. I’d look up, verify the engine or landing gear alignment, and see that my ears were correct ๐Ÿ™‚

    But of course nowhere I was nowhere near Julio’s level.

  2. JP says:

    I can identify a MU 2 from across the airfield by sound…..of course a deaf person can identify a MU 2 from across the field by sound alone…damned things are screamers. Earplugs and muffs are recommended.
    One of our newbies flagged one in without his plugs in or muffs on and paid the price.

  3. Oddball says:

    used to get called Geek when I did that.

  4. Florian says:

    I visited Victoria on Vancouver Island with my girlfriend. After a while sitting on a bench at the harbor she could tell by sound if there was a Turbine Otter, Twin Otter or Beaver coming in to land. Oh my gosh… ๐Ÿ˜€ I’m in love!

  5. England says:

    My show name is Bigginโ€™s Magic, and I’m named after the famous Biggin Hill, which is where my human daddy started to learn to fly from, and I know he can tell if Iโ€™ve four, three, two, one or even no shoes on my feet. Or even if one is loose. As an aside could my cousin Pegasus take Chuck for a Check ride? Then he will have proper wings!

  6. Tundra_Flier says:

    Living on an airstrip I’ve been trying to learn to identify my different neighbors aircraft by sound. The Cessna 185’s are easy because the prop noise if obnoxiously loud. But I’m still fooled all to frequently by diesel pickups and ATV’s. ๐Ÿ™

  7. laviator says:

    Wolfgang Langewiesche would preach listening to the wind. Ralph Butcher writes to pay attention to the engine. So on my flight simulator sometimes I turn down the wind and turn up the engine and me and my brother take turn guessing the engine RPM without looking. I use RealAir’s Cessna 172 since their sound file is quite accurate

  8. Thordalf says:

    Funny, I didn’t have the chance to do that kind of stuff with airplanes when I was a kid, but I remember that I used to be able to identify cars by the sound of their engine, and even know when it was my father’s car.
    Too much sound pollution now to manage that, and age plays a part too…

  9. 717Driver says:

    I can tell a 737 from an A320 on final. The 320s are whistlers but the 737s have more of a roar.

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