Pilots in the DC Area - Specifically Near Bethesda

[HerrGruyere]

Hey,

Any of y'all seen this plane? It flies over every morning at around 7:20 - 7:30. Right along 355 by NIH. It's a single engine turboprop plane that's red. Almost looks like a PT-6. It has tricycle gear. It's usually about 1,000 - 1,500 AGL. There is also sometimes a turboed piston single that flies over. He was flying around yesterday evening shortly after 5:30.

Is this traffic watch? I can't figure out what they are doing. They usually do a few circles and then get out of the area.

One time, I saw the red turboprop flying around over 495 in between the Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road exits in the evening rush hour times.

 

[GeorgeC]

Yep, I see it almost every evening. There used to be a mixmaster that would fly around here as well. Always figured it was traffic for Montgomery County.

 

[HerrGruyere]

An old Douglas Mixmaster?

 

[flyingron]

Possibly Stan Fetter's operation (fetteraviation.com/trafficplanes.com). He owns a couple of 172s (one he put a Theilert Diesel in). I don't know about the PT-6.

 

[weilke]

Someone is testing a Kodiak for traffic/survey. I believe on behalf of Montgomery County.

 

[wsuffa]

Stan has SMA diesel's on his fleet.

 

[weilke]

Yep, I see it almost every evening. There used to be a mixmaster that would fly around here as well. Always figured it was traffic for Montgomery County.

That one ended in the weeds sometime last year.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Someone is testing a Kodiak for traffic/survey. I believe on behalf of Montgomery County.

Ah-ha!! It is a Kodiak. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't name the plane it was!

 

[denverpilot]

A Kodiac seems a bit overkill for something one person used to do around here 30 years ago... they did it in a 182. Flew the plane, and was the on-air talent. Two guys did it at competing stations, actually.

 

[catmandu]

A Kodiac seems a bit overkill for something one person used to do around here 30 years ago... they did it in a 182. Flew the plane, and was the on-air talent. Two guys did it at competing stations, actually.

Doesn't even do radio, just incident response and light sequencing.

It is a Montgomery County airplane. 10th highest county income in the U.S., just under a million people, and there is a county income tax.

Rich worked the safety angle real hard, I am guessing, to first justify the Skymaster, then the turbo-prop. Absolutely shameless, big government sucks, I would have done the exact same thing.

 

[weilke]

Rich worked the safety angle real hard, I am guessing, to first justify the Skymaster, then the turbo-prop. Absolutely shameless, big government sucks, I would have done the exact same thing.

I was wrong, it was a 182 that got balled up 2 years ago, not a skymaster. The article on the Kodiak mentioned the traffic flying, I guess in 'loiter' mode the fuel burn is barely 3 times that of a 182 .

The Soloy folks market their 206 conversions for surveillance duty, similar arguments to the Kodiak deal.

 

[wabower]

Somebody told me that three stations are now sharing a single 172 in the DFW area. Pilot flies, other three seats occupied by talent for the stations.

A Kodiac seems a bit overkill for something one person used to do around here 30 years ago... they did it in a 182. Flew the plane, and was the on-air talent. Two guys did it at competing stations, actually.

 

[N801BH]

I was wrong, it was a 182 that got balled up 2 years ago, not a skymaster. The article on the Kodiak mentioned the traffic flying, I guess in 'loiter' mode the fuel burn is barely 3 times that of a 182 .

The Soloy folks market their 206 conversions for surveillance duty, similar arguments to the Kodiak deal.

A Kodiak,,? for single pilot traffic ops? ..

You just can't make this crap up.

No wonder the guv is 16 TRILLION+ in debt..

 

[weilke]

A Kodiak,,? for single pilot traffic ops? ..

You just can't make this crap up.

The one I saw in some article had a turret with a gimbal mounted camera and downlink equipment. The alternative is a turbine helicopter, not a 172.
MoCo has plenty of tax money to burn, if there is a cheap solution and a shiny one they will chose shiny any day.

 

[Brad Z]

Stan has SMA diesel's on his fleet.

No, they're Theilerts. I flew them. Sadly Stan's been grounded after the local stations went cheap and dropped airborne ops.

I was wrong, it was a 182 that got balled up 2 years ago, not a skymaster. The article on the Kodiak mentioned the traffic flying, I guess in 'loiter' mode the fuel burn is barely 3 times that of a 182 .

The 182 got "put down" off airport in a windstorm, the skymaster was grounded due to unrepairable cracks in the wingspar.

 

[flyingron]

Somebody told me that three stations are now sharing a single 172 in the DFW area. Pilot flies, other three seats occupied by talent for the stations.

To my knowledge, Stan has had the exclusive airborn traffic service for a decade or more around here. The only other traffic services are based on munching the traffic sensors and video cams in the area.

When he bought 73FR I pointed out to him that I still had a couple of set of keys to hit (it had been one of our club planes). He told me to hold on to them, I might need them. When one of our friends was hired on as one of his pilots, I gave her my set of keys and told her she'd need them. Stan was amused that she showed up for work with them.

 

[wsuffa]

Somebody told me that three stations are now sharing a single 172 in the DFW area. Pilot flies, other three seats occupied by talent for the stations.

Typically the talent is also shared. One pilot, one talent that appears on several stations. May be different in Dallas, but usually the talent is shared among non-competing formats.....

No, they're Theilerts. I flew them. Sadly Stan's been grounded after the local stations went cheap and dropped airborne ops.

You're right - my bad, they are Theilerts. That the stations dropped airborne ops is no surprise at all (for reasons better discussed over adult beverage).

To my knowledge, Stan has had the exclusive airborn traffic service for a decade or more around here. The only other traffic services are based on munching the traffic sensors and video cams in the area.

Consolidation and "risk mitigation" drove that from the station perspective. They'll also talk about how the camera & sensor data allows for faster/more accurate reporting (that much of it is "free" - er, taxpayer funded - is a plus).