B36

[EagleRJ]

I have no idea how loud they were, but I've seen one in a museum - truly an awesome airplane. When it comes to propellors spining backwards, that has nothing to do with the noise levels. Prop noise is a function of tip speeds. A supersonic prop tip is noisey - regardless of the size of the prop or the airplane.

'Sled

My mother grew up near a B-36 squadron, and she remembers being able to hear them approaching from a long ways off and running outside to watch them fly overhead. They always flew in threes, and they made a penetrating, low-frequency droning sound that she has never heard since.
The sound was probably due to the fact that the propellors were operating in the disturbed air coming off the wing. It's the same with a C-337 or any aircraft with a pusher propeller. Ever heard the distinctive sound a Long-EZ makes? I'll bet that times 10,000 was what the B-36 sounded like.

 

[Smoking Man]

September 1,st 1952 a Tornado struck Carswell AFB where the 7th and 11th Bomb Wing's fleet was parked. (note they were all B-36 peacemakers).

http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/tornado/tornado.htm