[Scan-DC] slow plane at Andrews

[Joel Kahn]

Rick & Cathy:

I, too, have had a similar experience when I used to drive on MD
450 near Bowie. Looking West toward Andrews, you could see these
HUGE planes just hanging there!  I actually pulled onto the
shoulder (when the turf farm was there that is now a shopping
center & houses!) and watched for several minutes. What I
realized was that the combination of plane size, direction and
atmospherics were all in play there.  The plane was coming in for
a landing, so air speed was reduced, but because it was so low to
the horizon and yet at a fairly large distance, the atmosphere
magnified the size to appear 3 or 4 times larger than the actual
plane (usually a large cargo plane coming from Germany/Europe)
the direction was slightly away from horizontal, so it appeared
slower, again magnified by the position on the horizon.  It
seemed to take forever, so I timed it and within three minutes it
was gone, so it was not really unusually slow.  It is a really
freaky occurrence when you see it.

jk


-----Original Message-----
Hi Cathy,

I've had that kind of experience watching the C-5 Galaxy fly. The
C-5 just
seems to hang there. Sometimes I'll see a large plane fly over 66
into
Dulles, like a 777, and they seem so slow that you feel you're
driving
faster than they are flying.

The C-5s and 777s fly at the same speed as smaller aircraft. Our
eyes must
equate speed with the "plane lengths" of progress that a plane
made in a
given amount of time. A C-5 is huge and appears to be going much
slower.

I never thought about "why" this happens before. Thanks!

May you listen well 'n often,

R. 

-----Original Message-----
From: scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Cathy
Drzyzgula
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 4:38 PM
To: scan-dc at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Scan-DC] slow plane at Andrews

While driving south on Rte 5 from the beltway today we noticed a
plane
heading NW towards the base that seemed to be not moving. This is
the second
time we've seen this. The plane seemed to be commercial in style,
not like A
fighter, but on the small side. Is there some type of plane with
a lower
than usual landing speed, or is this more likely an optical
illusion? Didn't
have my scanner with me to listen for transmissions.

Cathy D
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