Planes overhead

A couple of recent observations:

I hear DeHavilland Dash 8's high overhead fairly often, and every time I check, they're going from Vancouver to Portland. Today must be a wild ride, as winds at the surface are gusting to 53 mph.



I heard this jet recently, and it sounded different from what I usually hear (737's climbing out of Vancouver or widebodies at cruising altitude to / from Asia). It was a 777 climbing out of Seattle bound for Dubai:

BlackDiamond said:

I used to drive to and from Portales pretty often as in my spare time during my assignment at Cannon I was working on an MBA at ENMU.

Cannon was a great place for military aircraft watching at the time because we had F-111 fighter bombers ( the plane that could do a little of everything but did nothing really well) and T-33 trainers, but also was a convenient stopping point for air traffic. Besides F-4s we would also see Navy F-16s and the occasional transport. My favorite was a weekly morning flight that used a twin engine recip powered transport I forget its designation, I have always loved the sound of the old recip engines.

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Respectfully, the comments about the F-111 are not even remotely accurate. I flew the F-111 for 5 years, including in the 1st Gulf War. It proved an exceptional combat platform. We delivered most of the precision, laser-guided weapons used during the conflict and destroyed more tanks than the A-10.

However, it was incredibly expensive to operate and maintain, which was the primary reason it was retired.

The Navy does not have an F-16, so you probably saw F-14s.

Maglev said:

A couple of recent observations:

I hear DeHavilland Dash 8's high overhead fairly often, and every time I check, they're going from Vancouver to Portland. Today must be a wild ride, as winds at the surface are gusting to 53 mph.

View attachment 38688

I heard this jet recently, and it sounded different from what I usually hear (737's climbing out of Vancouver or widebodies at cruising altitude to / from Asia). It was a 777 climbing out of Seattle bound for Dubai:

View attachment 38689

Click to expand...

I feel your interest wondering what are and where planes are heading. I live just south of LAX where it’s non stop air traffic and other than sometimes wondering where one came from I hardly notice them except when hearing one add power to go around, I guess because of traffic on the ground.
I live just to the east of Hawthorne where Space X originated and manufacture’s a big part of their space equipment. A mystery there is trying to spot Elon Musk or a plane he may be flying in. I hear from sources he has three Gulf stream G 7’s hangered at the field.

I read this “The Dash 8 is a highly maneuverable aircraft, but it can be difficult to control in turbulent weather. Pilots need to be aware of their aircraft's limits and know when to reduce the aircraft's speed or climb to maintain a safe altitude.”

jis said:

Back in the days when I used a Garmin handheld on United flights I used an extension antenna stuck on the window. You could get those and they were convenient.

Indeed it is mostly cell tower issues. If radiation from short range radio like WiFi and Bluetooth were a problem they would not allow those. Heck their entire IFE system now appears to depend on those. Not allowing a pure receiver is complete crock indeed.

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Agreed. Even my watch has a satellite gps receiver built in, and you cannot turn it off.

Back in 2018, we stayed at the Drury Inn that was near the Phoenix airport. Had a room with a balcony that had a view of the planes coming in to land. Used FlightAware to monitor the arrivals as we enjoyed watching the British Airways 747 float in as it landed. Very relaxing.

B757Guy said:

Respectfully, the comments about the F-111 are not even remotely accurate. I flew the F-111 for 5 years, including in the 1st Gulf War. It proved an exceptional combat platform. We delivered most of the precision, laser-guided weapons used during the conflict and destroyed more tanks than the A-10.

However, it was incredibly expensive to operate and maintain, which was the primary reason it was retired.

The Navy does not have an F-16, so you probably saw F-14s.

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Yes you are right it was F-14's I saw.
As for the F-111s they were still fairly new at the time I was in the USAF 1971-1975. No doubt they had worked the bugs out and had better integrated them into the roles they served in the later Gulf Wars. Even in the 1970s they were an impressive piece of technology with the terrain following radar and other features. I did have a chance to take a ride in the simulator and see the cockpit first hand.

A couple recent Delta Airlines observations...

I commented on Dash 8's flying YVR-PDX, but was surprised to hear this the other night (I noticed it sounded different from the usual 737 going YVR-someplace warm). It's a Delta 757 flying YVR-PDX. I wonder if there's time for a glass of champagne in first class?



There was also this flight today, a Delta A350-900 going PVG-DTW:

OOPS! I guess the Delta 757 going YVR-PDX was a charter (flight # is 8843).

GariYaMoshi said:

Back in 2018, we stayed at the Drury Inn that was near the Phoenix airport. Had a room with a balcony that had a view of the planes coming in to land. Used FlightAware to monitor the arrivals as we enjoyed watching the British Airways 747 float in as it landed. Very relaxing.

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PHX was one of the first airports I (barely) remember using as a young boy, but it did not have any long haul flights back then. My long haul flying did not begin until after the infamous Kai Tak had closed, and I've never had a chance to visit SXM, but the little airport park just short of 24R at LAX still gives me a thrill. As mentioned previously I work near a medium sized airport, but these days quieter engines and good noise abatement procedures means I barely notice most aircraft unless they're flying right over me. If I walk out while FX, 5X, or a maintenance heavy is landing I'll take a moment to watch it pass.

the 8840 range is used by Delta for NBA team charters