# what kind of plane am i



## bribrius (Mar 9, 2014)

View attachment 68264


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## BobaPhil (Mar 9, 2014)

An aero-plane.


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## bribrius (Mar 9, 2014)

View attachment 68265


yeah. i was staring at this thing the other day. IM used to seeing jets, but this thing looked like it was going straight up, just straight up, or near straight up. also the four trails over the one i usually see.  At the rate it was going, straight up, sure wasn't a passenger jet.  And the size of it, and altitude it was going it sure wasn't a fighter jet. I mean, this thing was going HIGH.


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## bribrius (Mar 9, 2014)

I never saw it turn or level off either. it turned into a spec and disappeared.


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## bribrius (Mar 9, 2014)

well, thought i would ask anyway. im on the east coast. The airforce patrols up and down the seaboard. see a lot of planes, usually they don't peak my attention.  This one came from over the atlantic but if you look at the first pic of the trees, the trees are straight up.  And the aircraft is coming from over the ocean. you can see this aircraft is going at a significant incline rate if you look at the trees. It never got off that rate either it just disappeared over my head. Didn't fly over, just disappeared straight up. First time i ever seen that. And from when it came into view, to when it dissppeared, was only probably a couple minutes. Thinking of the incline rate. it must have been hauling azz. Because when watch a normal jet fly over at 30000 feet it takes about as long till its out of view, and that is going horizontal. this was going pretty much vertical. And going WAY higher. hundred thousand feet? two hundred thousand feet til it dissappeared? don't know but WAY higher.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Mar 9, 2014)

Ask Siri what planes are flying overhead right now.
She will tell you.


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## rlemert (Mar 9, 2014)

It's a four-engine job based on the second picture, which limits the options somewhat. Currently the only four-engine airliners in regular service appear to be the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A340 and A380. It would not be surprising to see any of these coming in from Europe over the Atlantic.

  Military aircraft add a few possibilities - C5, B52, and probably some others. They could also easily be coming in from over the Atlantic - especially the transports.

  I suspect your impression of a climb was more likely an illusion caused by perspective. Ground references (i.e. your trees) are completely unreliable because the plane is so far away, and you don't have any reference against which to judge its position. It certainly didn't get up to 100,000 feet (I'm not aware of any four-engine jets with a ceiling that high, although it's well within the reach of specialized craft like the U2 or SR71 - but they aren't the same configuration.) What more likely happened is that it ran into drier air and quit generating the contrails you were using to locate/track it.


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## TheNevadanStig (Mar 9, 2014)

Being that its bright white, you can pretty much rule out military.


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## bribrius (Mar 9, 2014)

rlemert said:


> It's a four-engine job based on the second picture, which limits the options somewhat. Currently the only four-engine airliners in regular service appear to be the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A340 and A380. It would not be surprising to see any of these coming in from Europe over the Atlantic.
> 
> Military aircraft add a few possibilities - C5, B52, and probably some others. They could also easily be coming in from over the Atlantic - especially the transports.
> 
> I suspect your impression of a climb was more likely an illusion caused by perspective. Ground references (i.e. your trees) are completely unreliable because the plane is so far away, and you don't have any reference against which to judge its position. It certainly didn't get up to 100,000 feet (I'm not aware of any four-engine jets with a ceiling that high, although it's well within the reach of specialized craft like the U2 or SR71 - but they aren't the same configuration.) What more likely happened is that it ran into drier air and quit generating the contrails you were using to locate/track it.



so you believe it appeared to be a illusion that it was going straight up.


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## Ron Evers (Mar 9, 2014)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> Ask Siri what planes are flying overhead right now.
> She will tell you.



Great to see you again Bitter.


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## Ron Evers (Mar 9, 2014)

bribrius said:


> rlemert said:
> 
> 
> > It's a four-engine job based on the second picture, which limits the options somewhat. Currently the only four-engine airliners in regular service appear to be the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A340 and A380. It would not be surprising to see any of these coming in from Europe over the Atlantic.
> ...



My first thought as well.


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## Josh66 (Mar 9, 2014)

TheNevadanStig said:


> Being that its bright white, you can pretty much rule out military.


Not really.  USAF planes are usually a light grey, or grey on the bottom half - white on the top half, which may look white at a distance.  I've seen plenty of all white government planes too.  And white (Matterhorn White, specifically) is the most common color for private business jets.  I've seen some gov't aircraft, US Marshals Service, FBI, etc that try to "blend in" with commercial traffic too.  It's a very common color, is what I'm saying.  


4 engines rules out a lot of possibilities.  It's really been a while since I've worked on any commercial aircraft, so I feel like I *should* know what it is pretty much instantly, but I don't.


rlemert said:


> Military aircraft add a few possibilities - C5, B52, and probably some others. They could also easily be coming in from over the Atlantic - especially the transports.


 B-52 has 8 engines, and C-5 is pretty unmistakable. C-135 (or a 707) sort of looks like that though.  But the fuselage seems too long.


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## SCraig (Mar 9, 2014)

Well, it's definitely not going straight up.  To be able to do that the engine thrust would have to exceed the weight of the aircraft and NO 4-engine jet is going to do that.  In fact the only ones I can think of offhand that are capable of it are the F-15 Eagle and possibly the MiG-29 and SU-35.


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## Josh66 (Mar 9, 2014)

Fuselage looks too long (compared to where the wings are) for a 747 or A380...


I'm leaning towards an A340.


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## Tony S (Mar 9, 2014)

If it were going straight up you would not be able to see the complete underside.. You would only see the backside or things at an angle, this looks pretty level from the small bit of scenery you included in the first one and how much of the bottom you can see on the second.


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## limr (Mar 9, 2014)

I don't know anything about it, but my boyfriend wonders why no one has mentioned a C17 yet. He also says there are a few Russian possibilities, like an IL76.

And yes, one more vote for NOT going straight up.


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## deeky (Mar 9, 2014)

B52 has 8 engines, but 2 to a pod, so con trail often looks like 4.  Not a B52 in this shot, though.  B52's have a fairly pronounced wing sweep, which this one does not appear to have.  Get the occasional fly over (low enough to see anyway) here from Elsworth AFB.  Pretty cool when you are headed into Rapid City and they come in low over the highway on final approach to the base.


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## Tony S (Mar 9, 2014)

I though of the C17, but the fuselage on the pictured jet is too narrow and long. The Globemaster is kind of squat looking for it's size. Also have not seen one that is not the military greenish/gray color. See them all the time here out of McChord flying low over the house.


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## Gavjenks (Mar 10, 2014)

> Being that its bright white, you can pretty much rule out military.


The BRIGHTEST of whites is the other way around: almost exaclusively military
Anti-flash white - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But yeah, no reason to believe that here. Just posting interesting links.

This is probably just some random international passenger flight from Europe, many of which have 4 jets and come across the atlantic obviously.


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