How to identify a low flying pilot

WMorgan said:
...I'm unable to see his tail number because he's passing more or less right over my home...
Click to expand...
How do you know it's the same plane each time? Since you can't see the tail number, is there something unusual about its color scheme or configuration?
 
WMorgan said:
Guys, gotta say I'm surprised by all the helpful responses. And grateful. Thanks one and all. I'll get some video and post it as you suggested. So what are you all doing in front of your keyboards anyway. Get up there! :)
Click to expand...
Reading and writing posts about flying is much less expensive than actually flying!

By the way, how often does the plane fly over? Once a week? Once a day? Ten times a day? Is it usually flying the same direction each time, and if so, what direction is that?
 
Palmpilot said:
Reading and writing posts about flying is much less expensive than actually flying!

By the way, how often does the plane fly over? Once a week? Once a day? Ten times a day? Is it usually flying the same direction each time, and if so, what direction is that?
Click to expand...

often enough that for the 10 seconds it's passing by people have to turn up the television to hear jerry springer. by golly it's another one of them aero planes, billy joe!
 
eman1200 said:
often enough that for the 10 seconds it's passing by people have to turn up the television to hear jerry springer. by golly it's another one of them aero planes, billy joe!
Click to expand...
I used to live under the approach/departure course of San Jose International (SJC), two or three miles from the threshold. I had to turn up the TV for jets, especially when they were departing in my direction, but never for piston aircraft.
 
Palmpilot said:
I used to live under the approach/departure course of San Jose International (SJC), two or three miles from the threshold. I had to turn up the TV for jets, especially when they were departing in my direction, but never for piston aircraft.
Click to expand...

I live under the pattern at KJQF and on occasion the whiney wives in the development will chime in on facebook about the incredible noise that's ruining their horrible day of hanging at the pool "taking care of the kids" when a plane passes over. now I work from home full time and it's (very soft) music to my ears. but I will say, when allegiant takes off, it gets pretty loud for a good 4 to 5 seconds. so yeah, I can see how that would really ruin someone's precious day.
 
Shoot, live on base at an Air Force Base, especially if they had F-105s & F-4s. I grew up on these kinds of bases as Dad was career AF, and then I did a career in the AF as well. Loved the noise, sound of freedom. I remember back in the 50s when McDill had loud ass B-47s. Loved it! Still do.
 
I also probably would not have been able to afford that house if it hadn't been in an area impacted by jet noise. And I probably wouldn't have been able to afford my current house if it hadn't been under the downwind leg of Moffett Field. I got very familiar with what the underside of a P-3 looks like! (There's much less traffic since the active-duty Navy moved out, but I consider that reduction in noise a windfall, not a right.)
 
Last edited:
I grew up under the traffic pattern for KDET. Never had to turn the TV up for planes flying overhead. Now the ultrasonic jets back in the '60s taking off from Selfridge, they were another story! But I'm dating myself here... :redface:
 
mscard88 said:
Shoot, live on base at an Air Force Base, especially if they had F-105s & F-4s. I grew up on these kinds of bases as Dad was career AF, and then I did a career in the AF as well. Loved the noise, sound of freedom. I remember back in the 50s when McDill had loud ass B-47s. Loved it! Still do.
Click to expand...
Heh. Sounds of freedom. Exactly what I say when the sounds of automatic weapons fire at Camp Ethan Allen ring out in the distance when hiking on Mt. Mansfield here in VT. Not exactly the funnest thing to hear when you're out in the woods, but if they didn't have training grounds like that...
 
I'm wondering what would be the point in identifying the plane and the pilot? If you suspect the guy is doing something illegal (see the regs someone posted above) then you can follow the FSDO number someone else posted and take that route of action. Otherwise, what's the point? To go to his house and "have a talk with him" ? Just seems like a lot of work and a headache. Just seems easier to live and let live

Palmpilot said:
It's not possible to descend instantaneously from 2000 to 680 at the step down fix.
Click to expand...
Talk about one serious "dive and drive"
 
Doubt anyone could get my tail number, it’s one of those small ones on the vertical stab:)
 
azure said:
I grew up under the traffic pattern for KDET. Never had to turn the TV up for planes flying overhead. Now the ultrasonic jets back in the '60s taking off from Selfridge, they were another story! But I'm dating myself here... :redface:
Click to expand...


My uncle was an Air Force pilot there. I think they had an alert mission back then with F-102s & F-106s. Yeah, they were loud! Then the US stood down the alert mission when the Cold War ended, then 9-11 and its since been resurrected. Not sure if Selfridge has alert birds now though.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I’ve never understood why they build those darn airports anywhere near where someone possibly might eventually want to live someday.
Click to expand...

When they built DFW it was in the middle of nowhere, between Dallas & Ft Worth, nothing around for miles. Now there's million dollar + homes right up to the airport boundary, and yeah, they complain.
 
WMorgan said:
Hi Everybody:

I'm not a pilot myself but I do respect what you've all invested in order to get where you are. Getting a license does not appear to be easy. I was hoping I could ask for a little advice.

I've got a low altitude flyer in my area who makes repeated passes and I'd like to identify this pilot. It's a private craft out of a municipal airport in Florida. The local tower told me that they have no way of identifying the guy. That didn't sound right to me. Due to his flight path I'm unable to get his tail number.

Anybody have any suggestions? I'm writing on behalf of an entire community. :)

Thanks for your help,
Will
Click to expand...

Unless you honestly, 100%, think he’s going to hurt someone in the immediate future, shy of that stay in your own lane.
 
Not having to deal with threatening people needing advice like this is precisely why a long time ago I chose to live, and to hangar my airplane out in the country. Over the years, more and more of these types have started to move into my territory. And they wonder why things are sometimes so difficult for them.
Suggestions? Stop bitching about stuff like this, get a life, and stop trying to force your wants, needs, and ways on others. Or, go back to where you came from.
 
mscard88 said:
My uncle was an Air Force pilot there. I think they had an alert mission back then with F-102s & F-106s. Yeah, they were loud! Then the US stood down the alert mission when the Cold War ended, then 9-11 and its since been resurrected. Not sure if Selfridge has alert birds now though.
Click to expand...
If they do, I wasn't aware of any during my last years there (I still lived about 10 miles from Selfridge, moved away in 2014). At least, I didn't see anything that looked like an alert plane and I didn't hear any sonic booms, though they might have been flying the same planes over the lakes and/or at sub-mach speeds. My understanding was that they abandoned supersonic testing near residential areas for noise abatement reasons well before the end of the Cold War.

But those are, of course, still the "sounds of freedom"! :D
 
azure said:
If they do, I wasn't aware of any during my last years there (I still lived about 10 miles from Selfridge, moved away in 2014). At least, I didn't see anything that looked like an alert plane and I didn't hear any sonic booms, though they might have been flying the same planes over the lakes and/or at sub-mach speeds. My understanding was that they abandoned supersonic testing near residential areas for noise abatement reasons well before the end of the Cold War.

But those are, of course, still the "sounds of freedom"! :D
Click to expand...

Looked it up in the AFA Almanac. A-10s and KC-135s, all ANG. No worries about sonic booms with these two types. :D
 
mscard88 said:
Shoot, live on base at an Air Force Base, especially if they had F-105s & F-4s. I grew up on these kinds of bases as Dad was career AF, and then I did a career in the AF as well. Loved the noise, sound of freedom. I remember back in the 50s when McDill had loud ass B-47s. Loved it! Still do.
Click to expand...

Nothing like living on base and the T-38s doing touch and goes starting at 6am. EVERY DAY except Sunday.....:lol::lol:

Or living in a RV park that is where the safety over run should be, then the Ospreys start doing approaches. The Ospreys were the most annoying since every time one went by on final my trailer would move to a different spot....

When I was working in Juneau, I lived right under final to the runway through the cut. Not bad until the 737s would come in. I really think I could have hit them with a rock.

I'll have to try to get a good picture of the planes flying by my new to me house. The house is at 6700 feet, and the runway is 6500 feet. I live under the base leg. Most noisy planes are at 500 to 700 AGL when they go over my house, but at reduced power.
 
WMorgan said:
Hi Everybody:

I'm not a pilot myself but I do respect what you've all invested in order to get where you are. Getting a license does not appear to be easy. I was hoping I could ask for a little advice.

I've got a low altitude flyer in my area who makes repeated passes and I'd like to identify this pilot. It's a private craft out of a municipal airport in Florida. The local tower told me that they have no way of identifying the guy. That didn't sound right to me. Due to his flight path I'm unable to get his tail number.

Anybody have any suggestions? I'm writing on behalf of an entire community. :)

Thanks for your help,
Will
Click to expand...

What aspect of this flight are you concerned about? Is it the noise, or is it about the possibility of the airplane crashing into your home, spying activities, or something else like terrorism?
 
Please do not use a laser pointer to highlight the tail number.
 
Call me parnoid. Or call me Raoul. I always liked that name. . .just not all that squishy certain I'd like to aid a stranger with unknown motives in determine how to track down pilots. Let him use his own Google-fu.
 
I flew pretty much over that house a couple weeks ago, so one of the passes was me. I’d have gone down and done it again today, but the weather was crap over there.

I live on an airport, pretty much right under the pattern, so I have planes going over my house at 1000 agl 10 or 20 times a day. You can hear a single engine piston for all of 30 seconds, if you’re outside, and my neighbors lawnmower is louder. On an approach, they won’t even have the engine running very hard.
 
Last edited:
Out in the country.... there is nothing like the sound of a Pratt & Whitney 600 HP radial flying over the farm on their way to do some work.
r1340-2a.jpg
 
Salty said:
I flew pretty much over that house a couple weeks ago, so one of the passes was me. I’d have gone down and done it again today, but the weather was crap over there.

I live on an airport, pretty much right under the pattern, so I have planes going over my house at 1000 agl 10 or 20 times a day. You can hear a single engine piston for all of 30 seconds, if you’re outside, and my neighbors lawnmower is louder. On an approach, they won’t even have the engine running very hard.

Get a life and find something else to obsess over.
Click to expand...

We don't, as far as I could see, know what the OP dislikes (the noise, perceived danger in case of forced landing, spying, etc.) about this. And we don't know if it really is the same plane or not. He does claim he doesn't want to cause trouble but just talk to the pilot (if it is one pilot). I'm not sure, but isn't it kind of strange of it really is only one airplane doing this?

When I started flying lessons, I also noticed how the noise is way less than one would think, and as you say, short duration. Leaf blowers are way more annoying, and last for hours. As do many things.

At our airport we have rules also for noise reduction, that we follow. We also are not allowed touch and go, unfortunately.

But all that said, some of the aggressive, condescending, put downs for someone asking pilots a reasonable question seem counter productive. Some helpful responses here too, to which the op showed gratitude.

To me the bottom line, small airports are in the endangered species list. I'm living in Norway now, (it's worse here...airport closings, plans for moving out to the country get met with mayors of small towns seeing no upside, if just a few constituents make trouble, plans get dashed.) but my father worked for some years for the AOPA in the Midwest, and almost all of his time was spent trying to keep small airports from being closed. Trying to get new ones,

The main point, it doesn't seem smart to go into attack mode, or correct. Confrontation will harden hearts that otherwise might be amenable. Some people of course are just against all airports near them, and yet it isn't helpful to assume anyone that asks is looking to make trouble and start a campaign to complain.

Don't we need all the good will we can get?
 
LongRoadBob said:
We don't, as far as I could see, know what the OP dislikes (the noise, perceived danger in case of forced landing, spying, etc.) about this. And we don't know if it really is the same plane or not. He does claim he doesn't want to cause trouble but just talk to the pilot (if it is one pilot). I'm not sure, but isn't it kind of strange of it really is only one airplane doing this?

When I started flying lessons, I also noticed how the noise is way less than one would think, and as you say, short duration. Leaf blowers are way more annoying, and last for hours. As do many things.

At our airport we have rules also for noise reduction, that we follow. We also are not allowed touch and go, unfortunately.

But all that said, some of the aggressive, condescending, put downs for someone asking pilots a reasonable question seem counter productive. Some helpful responses here too, to which the op showed gratitude.

To me the bottom line, small airports are in the endangered species list. I'm living in Norway now, (it's worse here...airport closings, plans for moving out to the country get met with mayors of small towns seeing no upside, if just a few constituents make trouble, plans get dashed.) but my father worked for some years for the AOPA in the Midwest, and almost all of his time was spent trying to keep small airports from being closed. Trying to get new ones,

The main point, it doesn't seem smart to go into attack mode, or correct. Confrontation will harden hearts that otherwise might be amenable. Some people of course are just against all airports near them, and yet it isn't helpful to assume anyone that asks is looking to make trouble and start a campaign to complain.

Don't we need all the good will we can get?
Click to expand...
I get your point, but I don’t think accepting the premise that small planes are a real annoyance is a good approach.

In the spot he lives, small craft are not a real issue.
 
LongRoadBob said:
But all that said, some of the aggressive, condescending, put downs for someone asking pilots a reasonable question seem counter productive. Some helpful responses here too, to which the op showed gratitude.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

But some people just can't avoid:

d7873479-eec2-4ae4-99e9-295c44476d96-gif.64564


When the truth is likely far closer to:

63f047ab-8245-433c-ba15-63e07d3fbc5a-png.64565
 
Salty said:
I get your point, but I don’t think accepting the premise that small planes are a real annoyance is a good approach.

In the spot he lives, small craft are not a real issue.
Click to expand...

To be fair here, the OP (at least believes he...) is talking about one airplane, not all small planes. He also took the time to make an account here, and seek advice from real pilots about his issue. His post, and successive ones are respectful, and he admits from the start he doesn't know what the rules are so he asked.

Some seem to want to put him down, because he is asking about a concern he has, though he hasn't named what the concern is exactly, and here the pilot community had a chance to followup, and give him the information. Of course, more details are needed but some here at least tried to tell him the rules we follow, and the regulations on such matters. Others decided to be rude, and condescending. It makes a difference.

The rudeness could just be another nail in the coffin, turning a neutral person into one against small planes, and particularly pilots, and airports. He may vote. He may tell others the experience he received from pilots when asking a simple question.
 
I agree with @LongRoadBob. Don't make an enemy out of someone who may be only a concerned citizen. And for all we know the plane in question may really be buzzing the neighborhood.

Many airports are under attack, sometimes from people with considerable influence (read: $$$). There is a field not too far from here, Parlin Field 2B3 in NH. Off the departure path from 30 lives one of the 1%, a Luger if memory serves, who has raised a huge stink over planes overflying his residence. He and his allies nearly convinced the town to close the airport a couple of years ago. There are special noise abatement procedures in place to avoid antagonizing him further, and the local pilots will tell you the story of Mr. Luger's NIMBYism on request.

We have enough enemies as is, no need to make more.
 
Not sure if the OP has been back or will be, but if he wants to be confident of the height above his house, he should buy or borrow a relatively inexpensive range finder and get an accurate height of this airplane. Then decide what to do from there. If he really just "wants to communicate with the pilot to let him know what he's doing" (paraphrase from what I recall he said), at least he could be prepared for "yep. I'm landing. And within every legal parameter."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top