Favorite airplane to spot?

Jamie Godfrey

Jamie Godfrey

Filing Flight Plan
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Feb 15, 2021
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Display Name
Jgodfreypilot
General question...

What is your favorite airplane to spot in the sky?
 
All of the responses so far could be describing the same plane!:eek:
 
A340-600. Just dont see a lot of those long bois around where I live.
 
de Havilland Mosquito, or more appropriately the best airplane to hear. Nothing like two Merlins in sync. To be fair I have never heard a Lancaster fly over, but I suspect the Mosquito sounds better.

Brian
 
Anything with a Merlin at 100+ inches...of course you’ll hear it long before you spot it...
 
Shawn said:
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!"...?
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Eh, people get excited and nerdy about all kinds'a things. Personally I don't get the allure of camping out to watch the same 737s and A320s fly in and out all day. But if that's what boats their float, they can have at it.
Sidenote: Funny you mentioned Toyotas, I have the TacomaWorld forum open on another tab right now, haha. Love perusing for mods on my truck, plus they have a long-running aviation thread too!
 
MD-11 / DC-10

They just look like beasts

Every now and then you'll see one landing here in San Diego.. it looks so much more bada$$ coming over the highway at low altitude, seeing a big FedEx md-11 instead of the usual dozens of Southwest 737
 
RE: Toyota.. say what you will their offroad line is well built. Box frame / body on frame well built

If it's harsh desert or real off terrain give me a Tacoma / 4 Runner / FJ / Land Cruiser every day of the over any Range or G Wagon!

90K miles and 10 years my FJ still drives like new. The only issue I've ever had is the alternator finally went this summer after 10 years and 90K miles.. and it's no mall crawler either



PS - people also dork out in trainspotting
 
Out of the US, it's incredible the gray-market cars we are not allowed to have. Chinese, Korean, French makes and a slew of models you'll never see.

VW Amarok diesel 6M 4x4 is a more comfortable 3rd world crawler than the legendary Hilux also diesel 6M 4x4.
 
Concorde. I was based at IAD when it was still flying. Always had to stop and watch.
 
Any!

Anytime I'm outside doing something, when I hear a plane I look up to see what it is.
 
XB-70 Valkyrie.

I have always enjoyed spotting. Haven't done it as much lately, but my inner nerd can be entertained for hours at a busy airport.
 
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Tantalum said:
MD-11 / DC-10

They just look like beasts

Every now and then you'll see one landing here in San Diego.. it looks so much more bada$$ coming over the highway at low altitude, seeing a big FedEx md-11 instead of the usual dozens of Southwest 737
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I'll go along with that. They have a great sound, too.

I was CFI'ing at Long Beach when the pre-production DC-10s were in flight test, and was there the day that the first two were delivered to AA and United. I watched the unpainted prototype make a max-effort landing on runway 30. It was down and stopped before the intersection of 25L, about 3500'.

A couple of years ago my wife and I got a tour of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, an ex-FedEx MD-10. The airplane gets its heavy maintenance done at our home field (in fact it's here now). The interior is a fully-equipped ophthalmic hospital and surgical center.

It's a little odd to see the "Boeing" label on the side of the airplane.







 
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Pilawt said:
A couple of years ago my wife and I got a tour of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, an ex-FedEx MD-10. The airplane gets its heavy maintenance done at our home field (in fact it's here now). The interior is a fully-equipped ophthalmic hospital and surgical center.
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That's really cool. I think I saw something either on YouTube or History about the flying eye hospital. Great to see an old plane living a good life

Pilawt said:
It's a little odd to see the "Boeing" label on the side of the airplane.
Click to expand...
Totally agree!

Since we're on the MD-11 topic, this was a great flight test video that they had put out, it part of a bigger promo film. Loving the 90's tech music.. also love the major wing drop in one of the stall test


Also, probably the best plane (in my MOST humble opinion) for spotters
upload_2021-2-16_12-47-4.png
 
Piaggio Avanti. You can hear them coming...a very distinctive sound.

Piaggio_P-180_Avanti_Rennes_2010_(cropped).jpg

I play golf just west of Chino, and we get routinely strafed by P-51s and an assortment of other warbirds being taken out for exercise. The impromptu air show takes the sting out of those topped drives and three-putts! :D
 
Yep, I was going to say Avanti. There used to be one at KMMU with some regularity, and I'd often see it fly over my house. I'd hear it first, and would describe to anyone nearby what was about to appear overhead. They'd think I was some kind of plane spotting savant with a golden ear for engine identification.
 
^yes! for GA I'd agree. You can definitely hear their distinctive sound. Sad there aren't more of them around. Single pilot, crazy freaking fast, and very very fuel efficient
 
I've always been on the look out for one of the five Lear 28's. On the day that I finally saw one in 2008, I didn't have a camera with me...
 
Air Truk

Airtruk-taking-off.jpg
 
Don't really have a favorite plane. There are two many types to pick just one. I've worked on Beavers, Otters, P-3 Orion's, A-4 Skyhawk's to name a few, enjoyed working and watching them all. The SR-71 was fun the watch when I was in Japan. Saw this helo a weeks ago in Juneau and thought it was cool.
IMG_0228.JPG
 
Concorde
Back in the 1980's back when flying to me was an unachievable dream, I always had an eye to the sky.
I started noticing every Sunday, or maybe it was Saturday.... at a certain time there was a jet way up there heading South and the contrail always looked different than all the others. One day I got the binoculars to find that it was the Concorde... based on the heading I deduced it was likely heading to Miami (I was in Wilmington, NC). I think I somehow found out that there was a scheduled flight from I think New York to Miami back then.

More recently I've spotted a big Antonov in a similar way...although I didn't need the binocs! Confirmed type with my smartphone. Wow have times have changed!
 

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