Boomer boys as sound-effects artists

Some boys excelled at making “the crowd goes wild” sounds while tossing a football to themselves in the backyard.

Others specialized in simulating the noise made by screeching tires while playing with toy cars and executing impossibly sharp turns on the carpet.

But a few lads took pride in their ability to vocalize airplane sounds. Some could do just about anything from a World War I biplane — “ehnnnnnnnn” — to a modern military jet — “shhhhhhhhhh.” At least they imagined that they could.

This playtime fantasy could be complicated by reality, though. Say, if you ever actually heard the sound produced by the engines of a certain aircraft.

That was never more true than in the case of the huge B-36. It was astonishingly loud, as Spokane residents of a certain age could attest. And any kid who had heard one overhead knew it posed a serious sound-effects challenge.

Still, it wasn’t impossible to do a decent droning hum/roar. You just had to remember to breathe now and then.

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