Airplane Guys--What Did I Just See?

Setec Astronomy · 10-20-05, 08:07

I was outside a little while ago, and I heard what I thought at first was a light plane, then a leaf blower in the distance, then it was overhead and it was a small plane, twin rear engines with pusher props, T-tail, long thin fuselage with a small canard at the front. Kind of like a Beech Starship layout but this definitely had a vertical tail with a horizontal surface (I think, went over fast), and the canard was smaller than the Starship--plus no turbine noise.

Any ideas?

DaGonz · 10-20-05, 03:26

It was probably a homebuilt , experimental aircraft. I checked out Rutan Aircraft and Scaled Composites website to see if it was one of theirs.

FalconGuy · 10-20-05, 03:27

Could have been one of these? A buddy of mine left our company to work for a fractional ownership operation using these. Its kind of like a time share for airplanes. Looks futuristic but its really nothing spectacular, it has a hard time competing with 20 year old designs

Does look cool though

FalconGuy · 10-20-05, 03:29

Another view, forgot to mention the name, Piaggio Avanti

Setec Astronomy · 10-20-05, 03:39

Hmm...that was probably it...I figured you would know the answer, FalconGuy! The frac thing, is it out of Morristown?

EDIT: The weird thing about this craft that I saw today, which flew almost directly overhead, and I was between tall trees, so I didn't really get a long look at it, was that it didn't seem to have a pointy nose like in those pics...it seemed squared off like an F100, if anybody remembers them. Unless I was just hypnotized by the canard and didn't notice the point

Spilchy · 10-20-05, 04:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

The frac thing, is it out of Morristown?

My radar detector goes haywire there. But it's the BEST spot for racing just when you pass the Cadillac dealer on the left where the cops sit. You can gun it down the two lane highway there. We used to do it every weekend. I remember when I first got my license I pinned my Dad's 1992 Saab 9000 going against my friend's Dad's first year Infiniti G20 (1991 I believe).

Ahh, to be in high school again. Too bad they stuck a traffic light there now.

Sorry to go off topic Setec, but you brought back memories! I figued Falcon Guy would chime in too!

Pontman43 · 10-20-05, 06:07

I think its fairily obviouse what you saw, it was aliens! Duh! LOL

Pontman43 · 10-20-05, 06:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spilchy

My radar detector goes haywire there. But it's the BEST spot for racing just when you pass the Cadillac dealer on the left where the cops sit. You can gun it down the two lane highway there. We used to do it every weekend. I remember when I first got my license I pinned my Dad's 1992 Saab 9000 going against my friend's Dad's first year Infiniti G20 (1991 I believe).

Ahh, to be in high school again. Too bad they stuck a traffic light there now.

Sorry to go off topic Setec, but you brought back memories! I figued Falcon Guy would chime in too!

Did you know that your radar detector goes crazy probably because of what the cops put there. Dont know if its 100% true, but I have heard that cops use radar detector scramblers. IMO its true, because in my town the same thing happens where most people usually speed and there's usually a cop there. But I dont know maybe its something else.

FalconGuy · 10-21-05, 02:32

Those Avanti's are based out of Essex County (Caldwell Aiport) I think the main draw is that you can use a very small field and wont have to commute to the larger airports.

They are also based at about 10 other airports nationwide, the idea is to be able to get one to you in a few hours, since its a timeshare you dont own a particular one you just have a preset amount of time on any aircraft, that means you should see the interiors, what a mess. At least with the planes im with the owner has a vested interest in keeping it imaculate. Since these guys may never see the same plane twice they dont care......
I told my friend he is nuts, they wont last, they never do.

Most autotopians would drool over how well kept the corporate aviation fleet I work with is maintained.

About that radar, sometimes its the ILS (instrument landing syetem) but a lot of state DOT's use radar signals to monitor the flow of traffic to spot tie ups and accidents. Its not used for speed enforcement but it does give lightly patroled areas live feedback to some central location of the current roads average speed. I know they have several of them on RT 80, one near Rockaway and one near the RT 80/280 Split. If you look closely you can see them, look like flat panels under an overpass, almost like a small cell antenna.

kgb · 10-21-05, 02:38

HAHAHAHA I saw one of those about a month ago while I was washing my car and had the exact same post on a local forum. The funny thing was I watched a clip on them about a week before seeing the plane.

Spilchy · 10-21-05, 06:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pontman43

Did you know that your radar detector goes crazy probably because of what the cops put there.

I think it's intereference from the little airport there.

Setec Astronomy · 10-21-05, 07:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconGuy

Those Avanti's are based out of Essex County (Caldwell Aiport)

About that radar...a lot of state DOT's use radar signals...I know they have several of them on RT 80..

Essex County Airport is certainly close enough to me, maybe slightly further than Morristown, but that makes sense.

My radar detector always goes off when I'm going north on 287 at the intersection with 80. Years ago, I had an appointment in CT that I was late for, and was driving north on 95 in CT...and I kept jamming on the brakes cuz my detector kept going off. After a while I realized it was always at bridges and then could see the little antennae...it still was an exhausting trip, worrying if the next alert was real or Memorex...