Favorite airplane to spot?

While I get the appreciation for aviation I never understood the notion of commercial airplane "spotting".

...like do people also stand on the freeway overpass and go "OOOOH! A Toyota 4Runner!"...?

I don't particularly get the draw of watching airliners either but it makes a lot more sense to me than going out of one's way to watch a bunch of grown men you don't know play with a ball and that seems pretty popular...
 
I don't particularly get the draw of watching airliners either but it makes a lot more sense to me than going out of one's way to watch a bunch of grown men you don't know play with a ball and that seems pretty popular...

Meh, there is skill and challenge in that. For commercial spotting there is literally an app to tell you what is arriving!
 
General question...

What is your favorite airplane to spot in the sky?

I don't know. It generates an unusual sound I'm not familiar with and makes me wonder what it is. Avanti P180 did that for awhile.
 
Meh, there is skill and challenge in that. For commercial spotting there is literally an app to tell you what is arriving!

No skill in landing an airplane? I'm sure there are lots of sportball apps to tell you which team of strangers beat the other team of strangers with the ball.
 
The SR-71 was fun the watch when I was in Japan.

I second that. It was the most graceful aircraft I've ever seen and that bright red parachute when it landed together with the black plane just looked cool. My favorite on the ground to spot is my own - sitting in my hangar with no leaks and in flyable condition.
 
I don't usually look up at airplane noise, not even the ones flying low in the traffic pattern which is pretty much overhead. However, yesterday I heard a multi engine, radials no less, that made me look up. And I could not find it. I could follow the noise but I never saw it.
 
No skill in landing an airplane? I'm sure there are lots of sportball apps to tell you which team of strangers beat the other team of strangers with the ball.

With sports and games the outcome is by enlarge unpredictable. Yes, if airplane landings outcomes were as unknown and unpredictable as a football game then yeah, airplane "spotting" would likely also be a nationally televised event!

"This week on Monday Night Landings, Allegiant is only 2 and 8 on landings and they are loosing customers faster than they can book them...they may have make a Captain trade with Southwest to keep in the wildcard running"
 
"This week on Monday Night Landings, Allegiant is only 2 and 8 on landings and they are loosing customers faster than they can book them...they may have make a Captain trade with Southwest to keep in the wildcard running"
"They traded one senior captain in exchange for a FO, two ERAU draft picks, and a flight attendant to be named later."

This could be entertaining. :D
 
With sports and games the outcome is by enlarge unpredictable. Yes, if airplane landings outcomes were as unknown and unpredictable as a football game then yeah, airplane "spotting" would likely also be a nationally televised event!
I mean.. doesn't Mr Brady basically win every time?

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I never cared either whether it was the folks in the blue shirts or the folks in the red shirts who scored more points. It has zero impact on my life. But since I'm a pilot I can appreciate watching a plane land. I also sail and ski, and I enjoy watching the Vendee Globe, etc. and enjoy watching gs and downhill skiing

But American football, I'm sorry, this has got to be the most boring affair on earth. A game last 3-4 hrs.. YET.. the damn ball is only in play for what.. 10, maybe 15 minutes tops? Every time I happen to be unfortunate enough to be in a room when there's a football game on, or attend a superbowl party to satisfy a social obligation there's absolutely nothing happening on TV. Men in suits with Motorola headsets while the players huddle about on the field. There's a few seconds of action every 15 minutes and then everyone else huddles somewhere else

At least "soccer", hockey, basketball, etc., are mostly in play.
 
Hockey pretty much owns the title for continuous action when clock is rolling. Frequent line changes ensure fresh legs are always out there. I love playing baseball, soccer, and football, but watching most of them isn't nearly as much fun. Only thing worse than watching soccer on television is Golf.
 
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