Aircraft recognition problem

Near Barnsley yesterday I spotted a small aircraft circling low. Single engine, propellor driven, not too loud, straight and parallel leading and trailing edges to wings, wingtip bulges painted black, tall rear fin/rudder, squared off. ideas?

Also spotted an airliner very low, enough to detect wheels not down, landing at Doncaster? Just saying this last.

Do these aircraft fall into a category like the birdwatchers LBJ (little brown jobs)?

Mike

With commercial aircraft there is a cheat available. My son became curious about airliners flying over us, installing "Plane Finder" on his phone let him identify the aircraft and its destination.

Brian

high or low wing? and what do you mean by wingtip bulges?

A Druine Turbulent is small and has parallel leading and trailing edges on the wing and tail.

**LINK**

Hi Toby, not a Turbulent. Low wing, a bit like F-80 Shooting star in appearance, but not a jet, and smaller wingtip bulges.

Geoff

Geoff - on that description, I would look through the small Socata models, but try your query on www.pprune.org (double'P' intended!) Spectator's Balcony(Spotters Corner) threads. Excellent source for aircraft related info.

rgds

Bill

Not an SR71, then?

Registered with ppprune, it seems to have been a Piper Comanche.

Thank you

Geoff

Probably not a Comanche, the 400 had tip tanks, and I doobt if many of them made it over to the UK.

Ian S C

well, in 2010 you could have bought a part share of one at White Waltham, so they do exist in the UK.

**LINK**

I would not have described it has having parallel trailing and leading edges though.

Hi Geoff

Try Googling G-ATNV to see if that looks similar, a PA-24-260 with tip tanks. There are some pictures out there showing it with dark blue tip tanks and fuselage underside.

David

Could be, G-ATNV had dark tip tanks last August at Barton.

Geoff

It's a small world. I have flown in this plane. A friend is still a member of the syndicate.

Geoff, as Brian mentioned above, there are ways of tracking commercial aircraft. The one I sometimes use is this one:

**LINK**

if you "tune in" over Newfoundland in the evening, it looks like an invasion happening - all the overnight flights to Europe. And, those high-flying flights over my house are freighters to/from China. (at least, that's what's reported)

(It is interesting how it gets its' data - read about it on the site)

You can also build your own tracker - go to **LINK**

and search for "ADS-B".

Fun stuff!

Yesterday we were given a spectacular display of slow flying by one of the RAF's Atlas, 1500ft or there about above the loch what was amazing was the angle, displaying is bottom to the village in all its glory.

Last week it was two F15's slow flying, looked as if they were sight seeing over Ben Nevis.

Philip Stevens website gives an idea of what these young men and women can get up to when let loose with an expensive machine.

**LINK**

I use Flight Radar 24, it's very similar. But, only from home, my smartphone provider wants money if I use it out and about. This IS Yorkshire, you know!

Geoff

If you contribute to FR24 as a data provider from home (using say a raspberry pi plus a USB tv stick) it allows free unlimited 'business' usage of their website with up to three devices acessing simultaneously. I know it works on a laptop on the same account when not at home, and I presume it also works on a mobile either on a browser or through their app.

Majorly cool, if it only worked for across the pond.

When the RNZAF's new Beech Texan training aircraft were flown from the USA to NZ, in pairs as they were completed, their entire flight was tracked (I can't remember which traking site was used.

Ian S C

Which side of which pond? I'm on the western side of the Atlantic, and the links I put on my post above work, maybe they don't work on the east side?

It does say it is a "Global Flight Radar", and I can see what it sees around London. Does it not work for you?

John.