Visualizing sound is an interesting challenge, and that was the creative brief for this illustration for Air Canada’s en Route magazine earlier this year.
Aircraft make a cacophony of noises, both on the ground and in the air. It can be disconcerting to some passengers, but it’s music to a pilot’s ears.
The harmonic buzzing of the turbofan engines; the whirring of hydraulic jacks when extending or retracting the flaps; the “barking dog” sound from the hydraulic pump in the Airbus fleet during taxi; the hissing of the auxiliary power unit that supplies conditioned air and power on the ground. And, of course, the staccato of seatbelts simultaneously unclicking upon arrival.
It’s all part of the symphony of flight.