# On the whistling of bombs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952 "2015-05-01T02:19:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/21 "2015-05-03T03:41:29Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > A WWII iron bomb starts at a horizontal velocity of a few hundred MPH and a zero vertical velocity, so there is quite a bit of time before the bomb hits supersonic. That’s the distinction I’m talking about. Somewhat tangential, but with all this talk of supersonic bombs… Regardless of how high the bomb is dropped\*, I’d wager it’ll never go faster than the speed of sound. Terminal velocity of a falling bomb is almost certainly well less than 700ish mph. - Excluding extreme situations, e.g., dropping from the edge of space where there’ll be significant fall through very thin atmo. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/22 "2015-05-03T03:49:41Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Just wanted to add, the first time I ever heard snartillerysimulator, it whistled too. Was mildly amusing at 0130 in a snow defense. 🙂 For some strange reason I parsed that as “snark artillery simulator”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/23 "2015-05-03T03:52:17Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > For some strange reason I parsed that as “snark artillery simulator”. > 😃 Stupid fingers 😉 An artillery simulator ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/24 "2015-05-03T04:19:33Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Somewhat tangential, but with all this talk of supersonic bombs… > > Regardless of how high the bomb is dropped\*, I’d wager it’ll never go faster than the speed of sound. Terminal velocity of a falling bomb is almost certainly well less than 700ish mph. > > - Excluding extreme situations, e.g., dropping from the edge of space where there’ll be significant fall through very thin atmo. Allow me to introduce you to the [Tall Boy](http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/s,tallboy.html). [Here’s the Youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPEP7ziKmU) [Here’s the wiki.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallboy_%28bomb%29) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/25 "2015-05-03T14:33:56Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Allow me to introduce you to the [Tall Boy](http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/s,tallboy.html). > > [Here’s the Youtube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPEP7ziKmU) > > [Here’s the wiki.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallboy_%28bomb%29) Which wiki states that the design impact speed of the Tall Boy is just \*below \*Mach 1. IIRC we could drop modern Mk 82-84 series weapons up to about M0.95. They and the aircraft weren’t cleared for release above that speed. I don’t know whether they’d exceed M1.0 if dropped from fairly high altitude, e.g. 35,000 ft. If they did, IMO it wouldn’t be for long or by much. They’d almost certainly be subsonic by impact. I do know that in several years of being out on the ground at bombing ranges while bombs were being dropped I never heard a sonic boom from one, live or inert. And these modern bombs are vastly more aerodynamic, and are being dropped at much greater initial velocity, than typical WWII bombs were. Color me very skeptical that any unboosted gravity weapon exceeds or ever exceeded M1.0 at low altitude. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952/26 "2015-05-03T17:16:44Z")
I am inclined to doubt supersonic iron bombs now. Whenever reading about bombs like the tallboy and grand slam, among others, I remember seeing those high speeds (~750mph) and figured that that must have exceeded the speed of sound at some point, possibly higher up in the atmosphere where the speed of sound is slower. But after trying to find evidence of this and reading posts here, it does seem like it just wasn’t a factor in bomb whistling at all—if any WWII ordnance ever went supersonic, it was probably a rare event, and only moments before detonation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whistling-of-bombs/718952.md?page=1)