Different things in the sky

[whart57]

One small positive from the virus crisis is that we no longer live with the noise of planes circling in the stack for Gatwick. The sky is also a clear blue with no vapour trails.

 

But we have not been entirely aircraft free. We have had a vintage plane fly over, sometimes doing a few circles of the town before heading south again. This plane is - I think - a Harvard trainer and carries USAF markings. I don't know where its from.

 

Anyone else seeing different things from the usual procession of 737s and A320s?

[Gilbert]

I am between Bristol and Bath - there are civil planes flying into Bristol but not shown on their arrivals website. We saw one BA jet which is quite unusual but mainly Easy and Ryan We have had a number of large military transport aircraft - mainly Atlas - over in recent weeks and a number of military helicopters including at least one Chinook.

[Fat Controller]

10 minutes ago, whart57 said:

One small positive from the virus crisis is that we no longer live with the noise of planes circling in the stack for Gatwick. The sky is also a clear blue with no vapour trails.

 

But we have not been entirely aircraft free. We have had a vintage plane fly over, sometimes doing a few circles of the town before heading south again. This plane is - I think - a Harvard trainer and carries USAF markings. I don't know where its from.

 

Anyone else seeing different things from the usual procession of 737s and A320s?

The Harvard might be one of those that are based at Headcorn, and do flight-experience from there.

[tomparryharry]

Police helicopters, keeping an eye on innocent (and not so innocent ) civilians. They are over my house at least once a day, and I think they are following my work progress.  I'm not paranoid about it, as if I look out of my window, I can see 3 miles up the road, westwards, on the M4.  I usually wave at them, and with that, they'll fly off. I keep meaning to call them, and ask for an aerial photograph

. If an aircraft is flying under 600 feet, you can call & complain. A neighbour was being buzzed by an inquisitive light aircraft whilst on the IoW. I called Bournemouth Airport, and although they denied it, it shot off pretty damn sharpish. Close enough I could read the reporting number on the fuselage.

[StevieD71]

We normally have aircraft heading for the City Of Derry airport heading over our house as it's on the approach route (Ryanair 737 and Loganair SAAB / Embraer), but the skies have been empty since lockdown. The only thing i've seen is an RAF Globemaster fly over, pretty low on a northerly heading a few weeks ago. I was surprised to hear a jet engine and even more so when it appeared over the house.

[SM42]

A hot air balloon was floating above Worcestershire this morning before 6am.

 

Didn't expect to see one this  year so it was a pleasant surprise.

 

Andy

[F-UnitMad]

30 minutes ago, StevieD71 said:

I was surprised to hear a jet engine and even more so when it appeared over the house.

I hope the rest of the aircraft was still attached to it..??!!

[Southernman46]

Yes - Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Comet Swan due to the lack of pollution from said Dreamliner's & Airbus's ………….

[Georgeconna]

Is the comet Visible with Binos? Have to be up early for the 3 planets!

 

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 hour ago, tomparryharry said:

Police helicopters...

That's the operation that hasn't changed. The usual procession of commercial traffic heading East largely absent. (When much younger and flying very frequently, early morning departures in the summer half of the year from Heathrow and Luton to the near continent, would often enable me to spot whether my Mrs had got herself away to the office on time...

[tomparryharry]

25 minutes ago, Southernman46 said:

Yes - Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Comet Swan due to the lack of pollution from said Dreamliner's & Airbus's ………….

 

Comet Swan is a new one on me. Off to do a spot of Google, methinks.

[AndrewC]

Starting to see more small jets turning west as of late. Maybe from LCY. Our usual display of police, Chinook, & Apache helicopters make a regular appearance. 

[mezzoman253]

LCY is closed AFAIK, so coming from somewhere else, possibly Biggin Hill(BQH). If you use FR24 or Planefinder you can backtrack them.

 

A lot more light aircraft since the easing of lockdown, and still some airliners trailing (if conditions are right).

 

Enough unusual stuff to keep me busy.

 

Rob

 

 

[AndrewC]

4 minutes ago, mezzoman253 said:

LCY is closed AFAIK, so coming from somewhere else, possibly Biggin Hill(BQH). If you use FR24 or Planefinder you can backtrack them.

 

A lot more light aircraft since the easing of lockdown, and still some airliners trailing (if conditions are right).

 

Enough unusual stuff to keep me busy.

 

Rob

 

 

Thanks. They are coming from north of the Thames, heading south, then turning west. More or less the exact path that many planes from LCY take. Hence my theory. Not sure then. Will have to wait for the next one then check FR24. Not likely from Biggin Hill. 

[Southernman46]

1 hour ago, tomparryharry said:

 

Comet Swan is a new one on me. Off to do a spot of Google, methinks.

NE sky just before dawn 3:45ish in the constellation Triangulum.

[Southernman46]

1 hour ago, Georgeconna said:

Is the comet Visible with Binos? Have to be up early for the 3 planets!

 

yes but you need a very dark NE horizon as it's quite low and only visible for a short time as Triangulum is immediately adjacent sunrise position …………………..

[Gilbert]

Seen over "the south of England" by a mate......he posts on here as well

 

[PMP]

6 hours ago, tomparryharry said:

 

. If an aircraft is flying under 600 feet, you can call & complain. A neighbour was being buzzed by an inquisitive light aircraft whilst on the IoW. I called Bournemouth Airport, and although they denied it, it shot off pretty damn sharpish. Close enough I could read the reporting number on the fuselage.

Well not for below 600ft you can’t. The Uk ‘not below’ low flying rule is a minimal of 500ft. It is perfectly legal for some operators to be flying lower than that depending on their tasking and any exemptions they may hold.

 

I’m not surprised Bournemouth denied it, quite rightly so too, the IOW isn’t in their airspace. They wouldn’t be working traffic operating low level over the island. An initial glance indicates traffic below 2000ft is in class G airspace and doesn’t need to talk to anyone.

[The Johnster]

I have a chum who is an amateur pilot, has half shares in a microlight, small aeroplane not powered hang glider.  He took me up for a spin in it, Swansea airport, round Gower, cross the estuary to Tenby, back via Milford Haven.  He mentioned the 600' rule and said that one of his Swansea Flying Club mates had just been reported for it.  It's taken quite seriously, you have to go and explain yourself to the CAA and it goes on your record.  Another point he made, as I took a whole load of photos while I was up with him, is that he requested me not to publish them anywhere or let anyone else use them, even with permission.  Another one of his flugspeiler chums had been hauled over the coals after taking a friend up for a joyride; the friend unwittingly dropped him in it by using some of the photos in his travel agency business and nearly lost his licence over it.  He told me this story when I offered to chip in for the fuel, which he refused for this reason; you are not allowed as an amateur pilot to accept payment for any activity you undertake as an amateur pilot.  He did accept a contribution to the diesel for the car, though.

[PMP]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

A/He mentioned the 600' rule and said that one of his Swansea Flying Club mates had just been reported for it.
 

 

B/Another point he made, as I took a whole load of photos while I was up with him, is that he requested me not to publish them anywhere or let anyone else use them, even with permission.  Another one of his flugspeiler chums had been hauled over the coals after taking a friend up for a joyride; the friend unwittingly dropped him in it by using some of the photos in his travel agency business and nearly lost his licence over it.  

C/He told me this story when I offered to chip in for the fuel, which he refused for this reason; you are not allowed as an amateur pilot to accept payment for any activity you undertake as an amateur pilot.  

A/ There is no ‘no flying below 600ft‘ rule. End of.

 

B/ You were fully entitled to use the images as you wish, so long as you weren’t selling them commercially in any form. If you’d asked your pilot to specifically take you flying, for hire or reward, to take those images for you to sell (or use)  commercially,  that would have been a prosecutable offence. Unless he had a commercial AOC
 

C/ A passenger may contribute to the costs of a private flight under cost sharing. The pilot legally has to pay a part of the flight costs, even if its 1p and the passenger pays the rest. 
 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by PMP
Add words (or use)

[tomparryharry]

2 hours ago, PMP said:

Well not for below 600ft you can’t. The Uk ‘not below’ low flying rule is a minimal of 500ft. It is perfectly legal for some operators to be flying lower than that depending on their tasking and any exemptions they may hold.

 

I’m not surprised Bournemouth denied it, quite rightly so too, the IOW isn’t in their airspace. They wouldn’t be working traffic operating low level over the island. An initial glance indicates traffic below 2000ft is in class G airspace and doesn’t need to talk to anyone.

 

It is some years ago since I made that call. Whatever, the results were the same, being that said aircraft 'buzzed off'. Neither my neighbour, nor myself, were only interested in one thing, and that was regaining some peace & quiet. Not much to ask, is it?  We used to get all sorts of military traffic over the Island, from navy helicopters en route Pompey to somewhere west, to vintage stuff like Spitfires, etc. Cowes week used to be good, where we could watch a lot from our back bedroom as the Red Arrows went though their paces.  We also saw, from time to time Dakotas from Air Atlantique. Might not be Air Atlantique, but they were definitely Dakotas, or as they are sometimes call, Douglas C-47.

 

All so many years ago now. I'm really sorry I didn't have a tape measure to verify the height....

 

 

[PMP]

1 minute ago, tomparryharry said:

 

It is some years ago since I made that call. Whatever, the results were the same, being that said aircraft 'buzzed off'.

 

All so many years ago now. I'm really sorry I didn't have a tape measure to verify the height....

 

 

I don’t doubt that you had an annoying experience, there are some (Very few) irresponsible pilots within the aviation community. The aircraft wouldn’t have been being worked by Bournemouth, it’s not in ‘their patch’ and wouldn’t have been in the past either. The fact it left after the phone call means nothing, apart from they’d finished whatever they were doing at that location. Again I don’t doubt you may have read the registration, height estimates however are notoriously unreliable, even for professionals having a go. I used to investigate Low flying noise complaints for a living, thousands of them a year. One thing you could guarantee, was that any height guesstimate was invariably wrong, being too low sometimes by thousands of feet.

[tomparryharry]

Well, it was 15-something years ago. They've probably flown away by now......

 

[Gilbert]

 

[Ben B]

I live under the circuit for Leeds/Bradford so until this crisis it was usually quite noisy. Very odd not having jets over. We've had police helicopters a few times, and until a couple of weeks ago several flights by military Wildcats. Heard but didn't see a couple of Chinooks too. 

What's mainly flying over are geese, more noticable than recent years. They have a habit of noisily flying around honking at 5am and waking us up...