What kind of aircraft was that?

[Orrex]

It went overhead about twenty minutes ago.

I'm not good at judging altitude; anything taller than a telephone pole is somewhere between 70 and 90,000 feet in the air, as far as I can tell. But this particular prop-driven craft seemed pretty high up.

The weird thing is that the back-swept tail was substantially larger than the also back-swept wings, and the body of the craft seemed unusually wide.



Sorry for the shitty description, but that's as much as I could see as it went past, thanks to the perpetually overcast sky of western PA.


Any guesses?

[rcrush]

1. Thats weird

The other day I saw a really low flying almost toy looking air plane flying over head. It didnt look like a real air plane but like a radio controlled toy plane but really really huge. It was flying all loopy loops and stuff and then disapeared.

[av8rdave]

2. It sounds like you may have seen a canard type airplane

A canard airplane has the horizontal control surface in the front rather than the rear, making it appear that the tail is larger than the wing.

A Beech Starship, perhaps?

[Call Me Wesley]

3. Very pretty aircraft!

We have one here at the local airport, very distinguishable by it's sound, and shape, of course. :hi:

[TheMightyFavog]

4. I thought most of those were scrapped.

Although, you may see one or two around Oshkosh, WI this week for the EAA AirVenture.

[TheMightyFavog]

5. Answered my own question from The Starship's wiki atricle.

As of autumn 2008 only six Starships continue to hold airworthiness registration with the FAA. Three Starships are based in Oklahoma, one in Washington, one in California, and one is still registered to Raytheon Aircraft Credit Corporation in Wichita, Kansas.

[Orrex]

7. Hmm... I'm in western PA.

I wonder if what I saw was one of those six, perhaps out for a mid-afternoon jaunt?

[TheMightyFavog]

8. Pretty long haul for a jaunt.

Even if they were at AirVenture, Pennsylvania's (I checked your profile) a long way from Oshkosh, WI.

[Orrex]

12. I wonder where it came from, then, or where it was going

I'm going with my first instinct, that it was an aircar from the mid 22nd century.

[MajorChode]

16. The big airshow at Oshkosh, WI is this week

Lots of interesting aircraft are making the yearly pilgrimage.

I had too much going on and couldn't swing going this year.

[MajorChode]

13. There are three of them parked in a hangar in Denton, TX

All three fly on a regular basis. Everytime I fly in and out of Denton, they seem to always be getting one or two of them ready to depart.

They aren't the Starship, but rather the Avanti:

[av8rdave]

14. The Starship wasn't a very successful program. More likely what you see at Oshkosh...

Are LongEZs. A popular homebuilt (experimental) airplane. Similar design - canard, with the wing towards the back. The LongEZ is a tandem (two person) seat airplane with a single engine/pusher prop in the rear. A lot smaller than a Starship, but in the air looks similar.

[Orrex]

6. Whoa--that might be it!

The craft was too high--and the sky too hazy--for me to see the props, but I'd say that what I spotted looked a lot like that picture.

It was flying just about due east and almost directly over my house, but quite high up. Too high for me to see much more than its silhouette.


Thanks for the info!

[taterguy]

9. It was a WVB-30505043

Any idiot knows that

[Orrex]

11. I'll have you know that I'm not just *any* idiot.

:rofl:

[Parche]

10. It was this Capt Christopher...!!

:rofl: :rofl: :hi:

[NecklyTyler]

15. Was it an A400?