Any closet plane-spotters?

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ozboz

Guru
Location
Richmond ,Surrey
I was in Pimlico so I only saw side on views of the fly past , and as they were so low there wasn’t much to see as the buildings hid them , pity really ,
 

DaveReading

Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
Location
Reading, obvs
HERE
and scheduled to fly to Paris later today
HERE

Inverness has lots of private jet traffic, owners of estates, the hunting/fishing clients etc...

The aircraft in question is operated by NetJets, so it's liable to pop up pretty well anywhere.

https://www.netjets.com/en-gb/bombardier-global-6000
 

snorri

Legendary Member
Thank you all for the info. as you will realise I'm not an ardent planespotter but this one just seemed noisier and lower than the norm. Also Flightradar didn't seem to give as much information as it used to, perhaps I'm expecting too much for nothing?
I wasn't aware of flightaware or planefinder, would they be a better choice for casual planespotters who don't feel their interest justifies paying a subscription?

P.S. I'm not entirely a miserable git, I do pay for the enhanced facilities of Marine Traffic^_^.
 

Bobby Mhor

Guru
Location
Behind You
Thank you all for the info. as you will realise I'm not an ardent planespotter but this one just seemed noisier and lower than the norm. Also Flightradar didn't seem to give as much information as it used to, perhaps I'm expecting too much for nothing?
I wasn't aware of flightaware or planefinder, would they be a better choice for casual planespotters who don't feel their interest justifies paying a subscription?

P.S. I'm not entirely a miserable git, I do pay for the enhanced facilities of Marine Traffic^_^.
FR24 and the commercial ones you find will block information if requested.
Last night, Air Force One was well kept away from the hidden eye last although one or two did show the flight path.
I use MarineTraffic, I used to feed AIS info to them so had a posh account but the basic account is all I need.

Oh, HERE is one which tends not to block any infos..
 

Bobby Mhor

Guru
Location
Behind You
I was alerted by the unfamiliar sound of a low flying aircraft earlier this evening. It had passed over before I could see it but Flight Radar 24 indicated that it had been a Bombardier Global 6000 GLEX on a flight from Minneapolis landing at Inverness, which seemed unusual to me.
Any enthusiasts have more information?
Flying south as I write....
The aircraft in question is operated by NetJets, so it's liable to pop up pretty well anywhere.

https://www.netjets.com/en-gb/bombardier-global-6000
Still shows as Netjets on Virtual Radar Server database but re-registered twice since they had it
sold on.jpg

According to what I have, since the start of 2017, its flown over my catchment area 10 times...

Edit to add; It must still be up for hire as it seems to be all over the world with no set regular routing you might expect for a company jet....
Flies to Las Vegas later this evening.
 
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Nigeyy

Legendary Member
I'm definitely a closet plane spotter..... rush for the binoculars when I can.

I was a baggage handler (student job in the 1980's) absolutely loved it. I loved being up close to the planes, and when I initially started, always assumed a plane would have a good going over between flights; totally wrong about that. Jets were turned over as quickly as possible oftentimes with requests for a container of oil (kept on a shelf in the baggage holds) to be passed out so they could put it in some part of the engine. It was not unusual to be on a shift and see a plane go out to some country, come back, reload and be off again. Back in those days you could also get to the cockpit area and take a good look around as well. I'm a true plane anorak; I found it all fascinating.

Anyway, got many fond memories of the job, including but not limited to:

-being locked in a hold of a plane due to fly over the Pyrenees (my how those other baggage handlers have a sense of humour!)
-being almost killed by a Russian jet
-driving the baggage cart train (surely fulfilling every little kid's dream?)

....and others.... some probably not fit to share on this forum :smile: It was the only job I've ever had in my life where I couldn't wait to get in to see what would happen that day.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Flying south as I write....

Still shows as Netjets on Virtual Radar Server database but re-registered twice since they had it
View attachment 419296
According to what I have, since the start of 2017, its flown over my catchment area 10 times...

Edit to add; It must still be up for hire as it seems to be all over the world with no set regular routing you might expect for a company jet....
Flies to Las Vegas later this evening.
Enjoy your flight.

Bet on Black numbers only.
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
I'm about 10 miles off the end of the runway for Luton, so there's no end of things flying over my garden at about 2000 ft.
Mostly 737s and 320s, and some little business jets.
And yes, I have seen my house from the air :biggrin:
 

midlife

Guru
I'm definitely a closet plane spotter..... rush for the binoculars when I can.

I was a baggage handler (student job in the 1980's) absolutely loved it. I loved being up close to the planes, and when I initially started, always assumed a plane would have a good going over between flights; totally wrong about that. Jets were turned over as quickly as possible oftentimes with requests for a container of oil (kept on a shelf in the baggage holds) to be passed out so they could put it in some part of the engine. It was not unusual to be on a shift and see a plane go out to some country, come back, reload and be off again. Back in those days you could also get to the cockpit area and take a good look around as well. I'm a true plane anorak; I found it all fascinating.

Anyway, got many fond memories of the job, including but not limited to:

-being locked in a hold of a plane due to fly over the Pyrenees (my how those other baggage handlers have a sense of humour!)
-being almost killed by a Russian jet
-driving the baggage cart train (surely fulfilling every little kid's dream?)

....and others.... some probably not fit to share on this forum :smile: It was the only job I've ever had in my life where I couldn't wait to get in to see what would happen that day.

Sucked into a Russian jets intake?
 

Nigeyy

Legendary Member
Well, maybe I made a slight exaggeration, but I suppose I could have been....

Russian* jet landed -even in the 1980's it was a great rarity. It had jet engines at the rear tail fin section, not on the wings. Anyway, after it pulls up to the terminal, they find out there is no nose wheel attachment that could fit, so a tractor couldn't push it away from the terminal. So what to do? Well, word got around the baggage handlers (many of whom were plane anoraks as well) that the pilot was going to give it some welly, turn the nose wheel as far as possible one way and see if he could power it away.

Cue a load of baggage handlers (myself included) lined up on the right side of the plane as the pilot turned the nose wheel to the left, and he really let the engines go.... it was a terrific noise (had no ear protectors either, those were the days) and slowly it started to wheel over to the left. The big plane anorak I was, I was totally engrossed, and couldn't help but think the right wing tip was going to hit the terminal. I was really fascinated by this, I mean really fascinated and in a complete transcendental plane of plane-anorakness.

Well, the wing tip came within a meter of the glass terminal. And I was aghast at it, but perhaps no more aghast at suddenly realizing that I was the one lone solitary person standing on the apron as the tail fin was swinging my way... My fellow baggage handlers had all b*ggered off -not bothering to let me know it wasn't a good idea to stand where I was mind you -leaving me facing a red hot exhaust....

Don't mind saying so myself I was a bit sharpish off the mark once I realized what was happening. So OK, maybe I wouldn't have been killed but I reckon I was close to a good hair singeing and being blown completely off my feet.


*strangely enough, you could certainly see the stylistic differences between a Russian passenger jet and a Boeing or McDonald Douglas. Russian jets almost looked like they were modelled stylistically on a 1950's sci-fi spaceship, whereas the US made jets were simple and more chubby-like with simple windows -that's the best description I can give.

Sucked into a Russian jets intake?
 

Nigeyy

Legendary Member
I'm fairly sure it was a Tu-134, and it was the only time I saw it while I worked as a baggage handler (also, the fact they didn't have a nose wheel attachment lets you know it wasn't usually a plane we dealt with). Of course after all these years I could be wrong!

YU-AHY_Tu-134A-3_Aviogenex_MAN_Jul85_%2812609154554%29.jpg
 
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