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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,435
Last evening plopped in front of TV, we kept hearing what sounded to me like propeller aircraft circling near and far. It sounded like fixed wing to me, and as if it might be multiple private plane landings at the nearby large airport. I Googled but found nothing. The aircraft noise went on for an hour, then two. Finally today rumor surfaced on the local neighborhood web site. This was all one Federal Marshal helicopter, perhaps at different altitudes and from different directions, doing a search in cooperation with the local police, SWAT team and others, for a Tennessee fugitive, armed and considered dangerous. Local reporting has gotten so spare, it may be hard to follow-up, but it sounds fairly serious. Hey, I like it boring. Oops, sorry, this went up on Cigar Discussion, meant for General Discussion; please move as possible.
 

davek

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 20, 2014
685
952
We had a helicopter circling our neighborhood a few weeks back. After I had heard the thing for a while, I went out into the yard to see what was up. It actually came in fairly low and checked me out. Later, found out the same thing you did, a fugitive in the neighborhood. We live in a nice neighborhood too.
 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,324
11,096
Maryland
postimg.cc
We have three, maximum security prisons near our house (Maryland Correctional). When we hear/see helicopters, we lock the doors, they're looking for someone...

Camp David is also 30 minutes from here. Occasionally we'll see his support helicoptors circling and/or jets.
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
I live close to RNAS Culdrose, Europe's largest helicopter base. For some reason they use our village and surrounding area for night time manoeuvres and that has me pulling my hair out as they fly so low I can't hear my TV ?

Regards,

Jay.?
 
Mar 11, 2020
1,404
4,476
Southern Illinois
I am in the flight path and fairly close to our regional airport. we are used to hearing small planes and helicopters. But several times a year we have apaches come thru and there is no mistake as they shake the entire house and are usually low enough if you are outside you can feel them. they are impressive
 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,248
Alaska
I work in Anchorage, Alaska, which has a class C airport bordered by a Class D airport bordered by another Class D airport bordered by Elmendort AFB bordered by Ft. Richardson bordered by Bryant AFB. Most of my flight training when I got my private pilot's license was centered around navigating this incredible shitnest of airspace. Every kind of airliner and private aircraft you can imagine, F-22s, F-35s, C-17s, C-130s, military helicopters, you name it. If at any time you don't hear a plane in the sky, something has gone horribly wrong.

I can only think of two times this has happened. 9/11, and when Obama visited a number of years ago.
 

timelord

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 30, 2017
949
1,966
Gallifrey
There are over 500 private helicopters registered in the city of São Paulo (I think it may be city with largest number of privately registered helicopters in the world) so it's not unusual to see and hear them passing overhead. The private ones are not too bad as they pass fairly quickly (that said; there are least 3 helipads visible from my lounge window including one on the university building on the opposite side of the street!) but it's the tv and police ones that really disturb as they circle around (admittedly not a frequent event but usually at least once a month we'll notice one hovering close by).
 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,248
Alaska
There are over 500 private helicopters registered in the city of São Paulo (I think it may be city with largest number of privately registered helicopters in the world) so it's not unusual to see and hear them passing overhead. The private ones are not too bad as they pass fairly quickly (that said; there are least 3 helipads visible from my lounge window including one on the university building on the opposite side of the street!) but it's the tv and police ones that really disturb as they circle around (admittedly not a frequent event but usually at least once a month we'll notice one hovering close by).

Anchorage is the same way with private planes. We have nearly 6x the number of private pilot's per capita as the lower 48. They are like bees on a hive and there are airstrips both private and public littered all over the area.
 
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timelord

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 30, 2017
949
1,966
Gallifrey
Never cared to take off in a c130 but i would rather jump than land in one. I often wondered how they stayed together
You wouldn't have been reassured talking to my late father. Years ago I helped in strip down the engine in his car; when we put it back we found a couple of bolts that we'd obviously overlooked in the re-assembly. Expecting us to have to repeat the strip down until we found where they went I was surprised when dad exclaimed "it's the same with aircraft engines; there's always a few bolts left over when you rebuild them" and proceeded to start the engine. \

His job at the time?

In charge of the maintenance (and air worthiness...) of the UK Meteorological Office Research Flight (operated by the Ministry of Defence) consisting of a Lockheed Lightning, Canberra and C130 which were used in weather research over the Arctic; the Rockies and the North Atlantic in the 1970s.

He was ex-RAF and had worked on pretty much everything the RAF had from the start of WWII to the mid-60s ending his RAF career with the Victor and Vulcan v-bombers.
 
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philobeddoe

Lifer
Oct 31, 2011
7,405
11,579
East Indiana
Where I grew up was about 15 minutes from an Army base, it was quite common to see and hear Hueys then later Blackhawks passing several hundred feet above on their way to and fro. Where I live now is on one of the approach paths to Wright-Patterson AFB. We get aircraft overhead fairly often, but they are still quite high as they pass over so not much noise, except when the A-10’s go by, as they fly lower and those turbines are VERY loud. The A-10’s still give me a thrill when they fly over, I’m so glad they are on our side.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,435
I grew up about four miles as the crow flies from O'Hare Field in Chicago. It was amazing how, over the course of about fifteen years, the noise abatement improved. It used to sound like they were flying through the living room; conversation and audible TV or music were just drowned out. When I left home at 19, you could easily tune it out. Now I live maybe a little closer to a much smaller, but still an international airport, and it is quiet enough so that I immediately reacted to this U.S. Marshal helicopter hanging over this side of town. Both flight patterns and aeronautical engineering have improved that much.
 
Dec 6, 2019
4,296
19,375
33
AL/GA
A couple of months ago a few fighter jets passed over our house, just over the trees. It was intense, left chill bumps on all our arms. We never figured out what they were doing, and I'm sure we never will. The power was amazing, the whole house shook.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,435
Jets and rockets are controlled explosions. Hard to imagine riding that fire as a pilot. I guess the training takes people a step at a time so it doesn't feel unnatural when you finally mount the cockpit to open that explosion up. I guess the incredible sound and vibration is somewhat left behind for the pilot. The first time a pilot lands a jet on an aircraft carrier seems like a suicide attempt.
 
Mar 11, 2020
1,404
4,476
Southern Illinois
Jets and rockets are controlled explosions. Hard to imagine riding that fire as a pilot. I guess the training takes people a step at a time so it doesn't feel unnatural when you finally mount the cockpit to open that explosion up. I guess the incredible sound and vibration is somewhat left behind for the pilot. The first time a pilot lands a jet on an aircraft carrier seems like a suicide attempt.
Some people saying jumping out is the same way. Fortunately in my training there was a nice gentleman at the door to make sure you went out the door one way or the other ?
 
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