6 ms·

I imagine it's someone that doesn't have the monetary means to rent or buy a plane combined with a bit of mental health issues. At the uncontrolled community a

I imagine it's someone that doesn't have the monetary means to rent or buy a plane combined with a bit of mental health issues. At the uncontrolled community airport I got my PPL at there were a few pilots who were known to have expired medical certificates and long expired flight reviews flying planes that they owned that hadn't had an annual inspection in years. All older guys who had nothing to lose if the FAA found out and grounded them. I'm not sure why the owner of that aircraft doesn't setup an alert for it's tail number on one of the many aviation tracking sites. Call the airport management, police or local FBO once he sees it on approach to land at some airport.

MBCook 1y ago
He’s 75, he may not know those sites are an option. That said how is the airport not doing something about this? They just keep letting it happen?
- geoffeg 1y ago
  Some smaller airports are pretty sleepy. There's no control tower at his home airport (Corona Municipal Airport) and it doesn't look like there's an FBO there. There's probably generally no one at the airport unless someone is there to take their plane up. Even if there is someone there running out to the ramp every time they hear a plane startup would get tedious very quickly.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - b112 1y ago
    There are even just 'airfields' here, if that's even the proper name. They're just well maintained grass fields with a place to tie up a plane and refueling. Maybe that's too far in a rural area for this conversation though.
    - ritabratamaiti 1y ago
      Why would we need to tie up a plane? Would they fly away otherwise?
      - starkparker 1y ago
        Strong gusts can move an unsecured plane, and damage its wings, tail, or propellars. Properly securing the plane prevents it from rocking or tilting in a manner that might do those things.
      - esseph 1y ago
        Yes, they can!
- arcfour 1y ago
  They literally mention FlightAware and him using it in the article.
  - MBCook 1y ago
    He knows the website exists, does he know he can put an alert on for his plane?
MarcelOlsz 1y ago
I'm leaning towards it being some extremely cheeky DCS/flightsim nerd because of the shortness and randomness of the flights.
- geoffeg 1y ago
  > I'm leaning towards it being some extremely cheeky DCS/flightsim nerd because of the shortness and randomness of the flights. It screams "do it because I can and report back to the boys" to me. It's not so easy to land a plane in real life, even if you have a lot of flightsim experience. It is definitely possible and there are people who have done it, but I don't think it's the norm. A lot of flying, especially landing, involves sensory inputs. Additionally, replacing the battery in that Cessna probably requires taking the cowling off. Not properly securing the battery or cowling may result in a bad time if something comes loose. Once again, doable, but you can do as quickly as you can with a car. > I know literally nothing about flying. How does this work? Wouldn't the air traffic controllers see it on radar and try to radio it then call in the military (I've probably watched too many movies.)? Always blows my mind when I hear this kind of stuff in this day and age. If you takeoff from an uncontrolled airport and stay clear of controlled and restricted airspace you don't have to say a single thing on any radio and no one will care about you. The controllers would see the blip on their radars but there's no requirements to check in with them (although it's generally a good idea) so they'll mostly keep other aircraft who they are talking to away from you. Now, if you do fly into controlled airspace near an airport with a tower without talking to anyone, things will change. A slight excursion into the controlled airspace for a short time may go unnoticed, but the more blatant and prolonged the deviation, the larger the response will be. Fly into LAX's airspace and get in the way of their flights and you'll eventually get a visit from some friendly fighter jets. (There are some exceptions. For instance, there's a few narrow corridors through LAX's airspace that don't require talking to ATC. One of those corridors even goes directly over LAX's runways at a few thousand feet.)
  - MarcelOlsz 1y ago
    Fascinating. Are there instruments that show you in realtime 3d airspaces you can enter and not?
dylan604 1y ago
> All older guys who had nothing to lose if the FAA found out and grounded them. If you're someone that has enough land to make a strip and can afford the plane, you'd be amazed at what you can "get away" with out the anyone of authority noticing.
- RandomBacon 1y ago
  I've been to my friend's friend's bachelor pad, and that guy takes off and lands in his yard, maybe 200 feet long on a decent slope. At least he is an airline pilot and has a license.
  - tomcam 1y ago
    OK he's living the life

MBCook 1y ago

He’s 75, he may not know those sites are an option. That said how is the airport not doing something about this? They just keep letting it happen?

geoffeg 1y ago
Some smaller airports are pretty sleepy. There's no control tower at his home airport (Corona Municipal Airport) and it doesn't look like there's an FBO there. There's probably generally no one at the airport unless someone is there to take their plane up. Even if there is someone there running out to the ramp every time they hear a plane startup would get tedious very quickly.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- b112 1y ago
  There are even just 'airfields' here, if that's even the proper name. They're just well maintained grass fields with a place to tie up a plane and refueling. Maybe that's too far in a rural area for this conversation though.
  - ritabratamaiti 1y ago
    Why would we need to tie up a plane? Would they fly away otherwise?
    - starkparker 1y ago
      Strong gusts can move an unsecured plane, and damage its wings, tail, or propellars. Properly securing the plane prevents it from rocking or tilting in a manner that might do those things.
    - esseph 1y ago
      Yes, they can!
arcfour 1y ago
They literally mention FlightAware and him using it in the article.
- MBCook 1y ago
  He knows the website exists, does he know he can put an alert on for his plane?

MarcelOlsz 1y ago

I'm leaning towards it being some extremely cheeky DCS/flightsim nerd because of the shortness and randomness of the flights.

geoffeg 1y ago
> I'm leaning towards it being some extremely cheeky DCS/flightsim nerd because of the shortness and randomness of the flights. It screams "do it because I can and report back to the boys" to me. It's not so easy to land a plane in real life, even if you have a lot of flightsim experience. It is definitely possible and there are people who have done it, but I don't think it's the norm. A lot of flying, especially landing, involves sensory inputs. Additionally, replacing the battery in that Cessna probably requires taking the cowling off. Not properly securing the battery or cowling may result in a bad time if something comes loose. Once again, doable, but you can do as quickly as you can with a car. > I know literally nothing about flying. How does this work? Wouldn't the air traffic controllers see it on radar and try to radio it then call in the military (I've probably watched too many movies.)? Always blows my mind when I hear this kind of stuff in this day and age. If you takeoff from an uncontrolled airport and stay clear of controlled and restricted airspace you don't have to say a single thing on any radio and no one will care about you. The controllers would see the blip on their radars but there's no requirements to check in with them (although it's generally a good idea) so they'll mostly keep other aircraft who they are talking to away from you. Now, if you do fly into controlled airspace near an airport with a tower without talking to anyone, things will change. A slight excursion into the controlled airspace for a short time may go unnoticed, but the more blatant and prolonged the deviation, the larger the response will be. Fly into LAX's airspace and get in the way of their flights and you'll eventually get a visit from some friendly fighter jets. (There are some exceptions. For instance, there's a few narrow corridors through LAX's airspace that don't require talking to ATC. One of those corridors even goes directly over LAX's runways at a few thousand feet.)
- MarcelOlsz 1y ago
  Fascinating. Are there instruments that show you in realtime 3d airspaces you can enter and not?

dylan604 1y ago

> All older guys who had nothing to lose if the FAA found out and grounded them. If you're someone that has enough land to make a strip and can afford the plane, you'd be amazed at what you can "get away" with out the anyone of authority noticing.

RandomBacon 1y ago
I've been to my friend's friend's bachelor pad, and that guy takes off and lands in his yard, maybe 200 feet long on a decent slope. At least he is an airline pilot and has a license.
- tomcam 1y ago
  OK he's living the life