Buzzed by Hercules

[RotorWash]

The area where I fly is rural and has very few planes of any size buzzing the skies plus my nearest NFZ is a helipad 40miles away. So I'm out flying along at my home field putting in some practice time and I hear this low rumble off in the distance. I can tell it's a large airplane, my ears perk up and I think to myself, what is that, where is that? Sounds like it's at low altitude. I'm scanning the skies but don't see anything, yet the sound continues getting louder and seems to be heading in my direction. So I decide to land my Spark to be on the safe side.

I waited in the field still listening to the aircraft coming my way. About 5 minutes later, a C-130 Hercules flies over the field I'm standing in at no more than 1500' AGL but it looked more like 500'! I could feel the vibration go through my boots as I stood there holding my Spark, watching this beast of a plane with its four big props buzz my head! Moral of the story, you just never know, fly safe!

P.S. There was no record of this flight anywhere including no NOTAM and no Class F had been set up. As I later found out, it was military spec ops doing a training exercise.

 

[rangemaster728]

You must not be in the USA... we don’t have Class F airspace.

 

[RotorWash]

You must not be in the USA... we don’t have Class F airspace.

Yeah that's right, I'm a Canuck.

 

[Hotwire]

It gets worse if you live on the coast. Everyone with an aircraft thinks 500ft is a suggestion. Not to mention hang gliders who all mostly lunatics.

 

[Tentoes]

Had one of those monsters surprise me once. Wasn't flying anything:

Our church hosted a picnic for the whole town. Hotdogs, activities for the children, games, prizes. Lots of fun.

There was a little girl in town who rarely spoke. When it was time for a different activity, she wanted to keep tossing bean bags in buckets. That was fine with me, if she wanted to play that, I'd keep fetching them for her. After quite a while, she said, "Airplane."

"She spoke," thought I. "I've never heard her speak before." Just as I was feeling privileged...

ROAR!

That monster flew over just above the treetops, giving everybody a fright, particularly me.

"Well, she DID warn me."

 

[RotorWash]

lol, that's a great story! Thanks for sharing that Tentoes.

 

[Spark 317]

... as I stood there holding my Spark, watching this beast of a plane with its four big props buzz my head! Moral of the story, you just never know, fly safe!

Sounds like my story last year.

There were Memorial Day flights from an air show about 50 miles away and apparently the air space above my town was part of the flight pattern.

This bad boy flew over...



The trees are about 100'.

I'm use to seeing single engine aircraft in my area at low altitudes, not this.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

We've had similar fly-bys here in Ontario... always military, and sometimes very low. But you can certainly hear them coming. We also get Chinook helicopters, and if low enough, you can feel the ground absorbing the sound.

 

[Hotwire]

Do you think, if one of those monsters collided with a Spark, they would notice?
I would but I don't believe they would hear a thing.

 

[Tentoes]

Do you think, if one of those monsters collided with a Spark, they would notice?
I would but I don't believe they would hear a thing.

Well, to hear some tell it, the death toll would be in the hundreds, but no, they'd likely not notice.

 

[Pearson]

Sounds like my story last year.

There were Memorial Day flights from an air show about 50 miles away and apparently the air space above my town was part of the flight pattern.

This bad boy flew over...

View attachment 11097

The trees are about 100'.

I'm use to seeing single engine aircraft in my area at low altitudes, not this.

Haha! Awesome. I live near a large Metro Int'l Airport, roughly where the planes turn onto the base leg and am used to seeing some really awesome stuff. Most notable as of late: 2 or 3 Osprey Tilt Rotors about that high up. Shook the neighborhood but way too fast to photograph!!

 

[Tentoes]

I live altogether too close to the municipal airport for a drone flier. Might be fun it if was a little more active.

 

[JoostGT3]

Sounds like my story last year.

There were Memorial Day flights from an air show about 50 miles away and apparently the air space above my town was part of the flight pattern.

This bad boy flew over...

View attachment 11097

The trees are about 100'.

I'm use to seeing single engine aircraft in my area at low altitudes, not this.

Now that's a B-29 right? You realize how fortunate you are to have seen that? Fantastic!!!

 

[Spark 317]

2 or 3 Osprey Tilt Rotors about that high up. Shook the neighborhood but way too fast to photograph!!

Years ago, I was traveling on a highway while on vacation and spotted a pair of somethings in the distance sky and I couldn't figure what they were until I got closer.

Yep, tilt rotor Ospreys.
Pretty neat seeing one (or two) other than a picture.

 

[Spark 317]

You realize how fortunate you are to have seen that?

And hearing it.

I can only imagine how loud a squadron of those were when on missions.

 

[Tentoes]

About 1981, I was in southern Oklahoma heading north on I35 in the middle of flat country.

Suddenly there was this frightful noise and 2 F4 Phantoms flew over heading north. They were going so fast it looked like they just flew into the ground as they went over the horizon.

 

[Baronvonstrong]

Sounds like my story last year.

There were Memorial Day flights from an air show about 50 miles away and apparently the air space above my town was part of the flight pattern.

This bad boy flew over...

View attachment 11097

The trees are about 100'.

I'm use to seeing single engine aircraft in my area at low altitudes, not this.

Looks like a b17 bomber

 

[Justcoz70]

While on a drive here in Australia, we were near Amberly Airforce Base just out of Brisbane when this big bugger appeared on a training flight it just kept doing circles around the airfield. Very Impressive at such a low altitude.