[FormerACLUmember]

Lots of deaf young Russians: The obsolete Tu-95 Bear is perhaps the noisiest plane ever built. Its crews are all stone deaf after a few missions. It is so damn loud, US submarines pick up its sonar profile underwater.

[rightinthemiddle]

Ready for takeoff, Pootie.

[Loud Mime]

That Bear is on my “Coolest Aircraft” list. In one of the Clancy books (Red Storm) someone said that the aircraft was an afterthought...after the fuel tanks were designed.

[Brofholdonow]

The cream of 1960’s technology

[hdstmf]

Imagine the efforts involved in getting 14 of these worn out old birds in the air. After making one long range flight they will be lucky to get home. The fabulous 14 will quickly reduced to a couple of flyable aircraft. The rest will only be useful for cannibalization, for a while. I can almost feel sorry for their aircrews.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The obsolete Tu-95 Bear

Claiming the Tu-95 is obsolete is a sign of ignorance.

[steve86]

That is amazing about the sonar profile. I’m guessing the crews now use noise-cancelling headsets, purchased from buddies at the PRC.

[PLMerite]

“Lots of deaf young Russians: The obsolete Tu-95 Bear is perhaps the noisiest plane ever built. Its crews are all stone deaf after a few missions. It is so damn loud, US submarines pick up its sonar profile underwater.”

If it’s still performing the mission, it’s not obsolete. Maybe not state-of-the-art, but not dead yet.

The noise and vibration come from those big-ass contra-rotating props. I can’t imagine what it must be like to fly a long mission in one of them.

[GOP_1900AD]

It’s those counterrotating props. They are making mini sonic booms.