You hear a small plane fly overhead...

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asicer

Final Approach
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asicer
Back in high school I had a friend that whenever a piston single would fly overhead would proceed to tell me whether how many cylinders it had, how many blades are on the prop and whether it was a Lycoming or Continental engine. The thing is that I could never tell whether or not it's BS. Even today after being around airplanes for several years, the best I can do is tell whether it's a 4cyl turning a 2 bladed prop or if it's not a 4cyl turning a 2 bladed prop.

Can you identify an engine/prop combination just be hearing it fly overhead?
 
Generally, yes (well, 6 cylinder, 3-blade prop, that sort of thing).

Can also tell Cirri because their sound is very distinctive.
 
I can differentiate a 185 from a 206, a standard motor 180 from a 185 or 206, a Cub from a Cub with a hot rod muffler, a Champ, etc. An airplane in cruise's signature noise is exhaust, not prop.
 
I can sometimes tell the difference between a jet and a piston plane.

Don't ask me about turbo props. My head will explode.
 
He must have hung out at airports and listened and observed planes coming in and trained himself to hear that. I have hung out at airports plenty, and I can identify them when they land by what they look like, but not by how they sound.
 
I can always identify when I am at the airport, all my fbo planes are 4 cyl and 2 props

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I have enough small airplane traffic flying over that I can tell you the weather outside without looking by the number of planes I hear and how low they're flying.
 
4-cylinder vs. 6-cylinder is not that hard a call. A Continental-powered 172 (6-cyl) sounds a lot different from a Lycoming 172 (4-cyl). Some types are easy, like Cirrus mentioned above, and the center-line-thrust Cessna 336/337 series. The Diamondstar DA 40NGs in the pattern at my airport are distinctive. They sound like the throttle has three positions, "mix", "blend" and "puree".
 
A Huey is unmistakable. Chinooks are distinctive too. Past that any other helicopter could be any other helicopter.

Plane wise, I can tell the difference between a "Cessna" and a "Big Plane," think I can't.
 
Sac Arrow said:
A Huey is unmistakable. Chinooks are distinctive too. Past that any other helicopter could be any other helicopter.

Plane wise, I can tell the difference between a "Cessna" and a "Big Plane," think I can't.
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I can tell pretty much any turbine from a piston aircraft, fixed or rotor. And turboprops aren't too hard to tell from turbofans or turbojets.

But 4 from 6 cylinders? Not really. Too many other variables, like prop tips, turbochargers, or bad mufflers. I heard a V-tail Bo taking off from Reid the other day that sounded like a damn space shuttle launching. I think that guy needs some work on his muffler....
 
I'm just getting the hang of the high wing/low wing thing. Then I'll move onto power plants
 
I can tell gross differences by sound. I.e. Helicopter from fixed wing. K-MAX and H-43 from other helicopters. Piaggio from other fixed wing planes.

I've never been an engine guy, so I've never really focused on differences is sounds between 4 and 6 cylinders or differences between manufacturers.

Sac Arrow said:
A Huey is unmistakable. Chinooks are distinctive too. Past that any other helicopter could be any other helicopter.
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The H-43 and K-max are as distinctive as the Huey and 46/47s. I would guess that the Kamov helicopters have a distinct sound as well, but I've never seen one in person.
 
Sac Arrow said:
A Huey is unmistakable. Chinooks are distinctive too. Past that any other helicopter could be any other helicopter.
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My father did a tour in Vietnam in 1968 and has a Purple Heart to show for it. He says he still gets chills when he hears the sound of a Huey since that's what brought him in and out of battle much of the time.
 
skier said:
The H-43 and K-max are as distinctive as the Huey and 46/47s. I would guess that the Kamov helicopters have a distinct sound as well, but I've never seen one in person.
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I've actually seen a Kamov in person, landing at the airport in Nha Trang. Unfortunately, I was inside a 737 at the time so I couldn't hear it. They are funky looking things to watch.
 
MassPilot said:
My father did a tour in Vietnam in 1968 and has a Purple Heart to show for it. He says he still gets chills when he hears the sound of a Huey since that's what brought him in and out of battle much of the time.
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My generation rode around on Blackhawks, so I can sort of relate. But they don't have that distinct thumping sound.
 
When you hear a helicopter come in low, you hear it for a bit, far away sound. Then the sound goes away completly. Then you hear it loud and it gets louder and louder as it lands. But that first hearing it, then it goes away. Its like there is a tunnel of sound transmission that works far away and doesnt work medium away.
 
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MassPilot said:
My father did a tour in Vietnam in 1968 and has a Purple Heart to show for it. He says he still gets chills when he hears the sound of a Huey since that's what brought him in and out of battle much of the time.
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Oh yeah. I can identify a Huey before it's in "hearing distance" just from the physical vibrations. A lot of my buddies have the same reaction. We can feel it before we hear it.
It's not a sound any of us will ever forget.
 
Very easy to distinguish between jet, turboprop, and piston. Very easy to determine piston single from twin. And not hard to determine 4cyl from 6.

One thing I have noticed is certain C182s have a very distinctive sound. A whistle or certain whine, can't describe it, but easy to hear.
 
I can usually tell an airplane from a helicopter, if is close enough.
 
Only two I know for sure is a P51 or a Cessna 337... oh yea I can usually call it a bi-plane before I spot it... Other than that... I'm engine-tone-deaf...
 
Stewartb said:
I can differentiate a 185 from a 206, a standard motor 180 from a 185 or 206, a Cub from a Cub with a hot rod muffler, a Champ, etc. An airplane in cruise's signature noise is exhaust, not prop.
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The 185 is easy to practice listing to, after it takes off you'll still be hearing it in your ears for a month ;)

 
206s are also loud. Beavers too, depending on which prop they're running. Lake Hood is a couple of weeks from being water again. The sounds of spring are coming soon.
 
The speed of the sound also helps identify the source. Cub....slow Lancair 4P....Fast!

We have a Kitfox with an unmistakable "whir" from its Rotax.
 
Pilawt said:
4-cylinder vs. 6-cylinder is not that hard a call. A Continental-powered 172 (6-cyl) sounds a lot different from a Lycoming 172 (4-cyl). Some types are easy, like Cirrus mentioned above, and the center-line-thrust Cessna 336/337 series.
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With that encyclopedic brain in @Pilawt I'd figure you would be able to give serial numbers and the name of the rebuild shop based on the sound. :)

The Diamondstar DA 40NGs in the pattern at my airport are distinctive. They sound like the throttle has three positions, "mix", "blend" and "puree".
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40NGs are FADEC so you can't fault the pilot, lest he be tearing around the pattern at 140 knots.
 
I can tell my neighbor's suburban from any other car on the street.

I used to be able to tell another neighbor's Harley from other rides...then he got ticketed and had to put the factory pipes back on. I had nothing to do with him getting the ticket but he was stopped in the neighborhood.

Aircraft? The F-16s from Buckley are darn loud when climbing out to the west. I guess they are pretty heavy with fuel when headed that way since they are going to Utah or Nevada. On other aircraft, the rotaxes always sound like they are working too hard...squirrels are pretty quiet inbound, not so much outbound...cylinder count? I have 6 used cylinders in my hanger...
 
Heck, I live on an airport and often I can't even tell if it's a truck on the highway or a plane doing a runup.
 
Jet vs prop...no problem. Other than that?

Frankly, I don't usually even look, or care. My wife, on the other hand, always runs out into the backyard to see what's flying over.
 
I can usually guess by the sound what's flying overhead.

Heck my wife can now tell a 150/172 from a larger single.

To me, I can always tell a Piper Arrow or a Lance without looking. They have a distinct whistle when the gear is down.
 
Funny, I just got up from POA and went on the back deck to see what was flying overhead & into KOSU at @2000' MSL. I live under the Columbus Charlie and inside the KOSU Delta. We don't get a lot of low flying GA overhead because it usually means you're coming to or from CMH. It looked like a 182 but it didn't sound like one. I love airplane noise.
 
iflyvfr said:
Funny, I just got up from POA and went on the back deck to see what was flying overhead & into KOSU at @2000' MSL. I live under the Columbus Charlie and inside the KOSU Delta. We don't get a lot of low flying GA overhead because it usually means you're coming to or from CMH. It looked like a 182 but it didn't sound like one. I love airplane noise.
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Dang.

I work at an airfield, and I can barely tell a high wing single from a low wing single from 1000 feet below. You can identify a 182 vs, say, a 172 or 177 or 206?
 
Piaggio Avanti has a distinctive sound. And I've never heard one but apparently the Skymaster has a distinctive "growl"

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Salty said:
Heck, I live on an airport and often I can't even tell if it's a truck on the highway or a plane doing a runup.
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In the past, I've often mistaken a lawnmower for an airplane. :)
 
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