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2 Mervin Garretson The Sonic Boom of 1994 The year was 2008. Sixteen-year-old Randy Petrarco was sitting in history class at Northwestern High School in Denver. Like all of the other students in his school he was totally deaf, as was the teacher who was discussing in sign language the Sonic Boom of 1994. Randy had been two years old at that time and had forgotten what it meant to hear. Thinking about the special classes for hearing children that were expanding in elementary school, Randy’s mind wandered back to his chapter in the American history book. . . Back in 1979 the supersonic Concorde was flying at Mach 2 (1,350 miles per hour) from New York to London in a little over one hour. Time-conscious businessmen were not at all satisfied with this slow pace. Aircraft engineers were commissioned to increase the speed to upwards of 1,500 miles per hour, 3,000 mph if possible. The goal was to reduce the time to one hour so that people could commute daily from New York to London and from London to New York City. In this way some people could live in London and work in New York and vice versa. It was felt that people should have this choice, particularly since the language of the two countries was more or less the same. Of course, there were some variations in dialect and vocabulary such as the British “lift” for elevator, “bobby” for policeman, “hack” for taxi, and others. But it was agreed that these differences would disappear with increased travel and interaction. It goes without saying that it would also be possible to fly to Paris, France, in one hour. Again, even though the French language is quite different from English, increased communication and a new language mixture could happen. New relationships would develop and more Americans and French people would become bilingual. With people learning to understand each other better the world would grow smaller, better international understanding would result and possibly there might be fewer wars. Such was the thinking of the aircraft industry in 1979. The governments of France, England, and the United Sates provided millions of dollars for research and experimentation . Huge tax discounts were given to the industry to enable them to accomplish this goal. Finally, on May 1, 1994, they were ready for their pilot test. The first sleek SSF-C4 ultra supersonic jet took off from New York for its one-hour maiden leap to London. The huge oversized jet engines strained like a hundred ordinary DC-10s as the Super Concorde blasted off toward the skies. J. F. Kennedy airport was crowded with all kinds of newspaper writers, TV people, government representatives, just simple rubberneckers, high school students, handiMain_Pgs_1 -330.indd 2 3/28/2012 10:24:46 AM Mervin Garretson 3 capped people, businessmen and women. Everyone and their dog were there. All over the United States, France, and England and in other parts of the world as well, TV sets were tuned to news channels to watch the historic flight. All work paused. Industry declared a brief recess, factories ground to a stop. People in stores, banks, hospitals, schools, and every place were watching huge TV screens. The United States Senate and House of Representatives suspended meetings to view the takeoff of the giant aircraft. U.S. President Jackson Graves and his cabinet watched from the Oval Room of the White House. Schools declared a recess so that children all over the country could join in the suspense of this history-making moment. Within seconds the plane hit the sound barrier. A terrific sonic boom shattered the atmosphere. The entire nation was covered by an unbelievable noise, a blast, which exceeded all established safety levels for sound. After the initial, piercing pain, people continued to watch their TV screens. “It looks like the takeoff has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” President Graves announced to his cabinet and staff. No one responded. Everyone in the room was staring blankly at his moving lips. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, don’t you agree?” he continued impatiently, repeating his earlier statement. Again, nothing but blank faces. Then John Jamieson, Secretary of State, half rose and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but I’m afraid we didn’t hear you. It must be the noise from the takeoff. Just what did you say?” Now it was the President’s turn to stare. And everyone else in the room looked...

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