Flight Tracking Services - Interesting Observations

[edwin_m]

While monitoring a relative's flight from Larnaca a couple of weeks ago, noticed that the flight had apparently started from Beirut on a previous day but the flight data was incomplete. Apparently GPS spoofing from the Middle East is common in Cyprus, and a look at Strava for Beirut airport might suggest that the locals are taking the term "runway" rather literally.

 

[Spamcan81]

Sorry for going into pedant mode but since the disbandment of 100 Squadron, the 9 Hawks based at RAF Leeming (Hawk T2A) are part of 11 Squadron and mainly used for training Qatar Emiri Air Force pilots jointly with the RAF.
The majority of RAF pilot fast jet training is concentrated on 4 and 25 Squadrons who have 28 Hawk T2 aircraft at RAF Valley .

That would be 11 Sqd Qatari Emiri Air Force as opposed to 11 Sqd RAF would it not?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This can't be right can it...?!

Flight Radar 24 is showing an A321 as being allocated to a Heathrow - Singapore flight; the flight number however is a Larnaca to Heathrow one, which suggests to me that someone is testing something on the aircraft systems and they've just entered Singapore as part of their test?

 

[Mojo]

The flight number on that screenshot is BA15, which is indeed a London to Singapore service, it is the callsign that is shown as for a Larnca to London service.

 

[thejuggler]

If you have the time you will find lots of errors in the data on FR24.

 

[Belfastmarty]

This can't be right can it...?!

Flight Radar 24 is showing an A321 as being allocated to a Heathrow - Singapore flight; the flight number however is a Larnaca to Heathrow one, which suggests to me that someone is testing something on the aircraft systems and they've just entered Singapore as part of their test?

View attachment 166761

Must have been some sort of a systems check. G-TNED is currently headed to Athens.

 

[BananaRepublic]

This can't be right can it...?!

Flight Radar 24 is showing an A321 as being allocated to a Heathrow - Singapore flight; the flight number however is a Larnaca to Heathrow one, which suggests to me that someone is testing something on the aircraft systems and they've just entered Singapore as part of their test?

Must have been some sort of a systems check. G-TNED is currently headed to Athens.

This is just a glitch in FR24’s system.
Nothing to do with the aircraft systems.
You have to appreciate that FR24 is a hobbyist’s web site, using a mixture of data picked up by hobbyist receivers, correlated against data bases of both aircraft identities and airline flight numbers and their routes.
Errors and glitches like this are very common on the web site.
FR24 is not a radar and has nothing much in common with real air traffic surveillance operations.

 

[Iskra]

An Antonov An124-100 has just flown over Sheffield heading SE, from the Eastern US. An unusual aircraft, and loud too. Arms to Ukraine one assumes?

 

[DustyBin]

An Antonov An124-100 has just flown over Sheffield heading SE, from the Eastern US. An unusual aircraft, and loud too. Arms to Ukraine one assumes?

Certainly possible; it may have been heading for Rzeszow.

We had an An-12 fly over the other week, it was at cruising altitude but sounded like it was at 5,000 ft!

 

[DarloRich]

A question:

Something just flew over my house ( c.1645 hrs 24/11/24) in Fenny Stratford, very low and slow. It sounded like a helicopter but a odd helicopter. I checked flight radar 24 = nothing. So I assumed something military. I eventually found it on ADS-B exchange but with a strange code of D000 and an American flag. It vanished off the tracker somewhere near Hemel Hempstead and the track shown on the programme showed it came from Dublin.

Any idea what it was? Sorry to be that person but it sounded very odd!

 

[Bigchris]

A question:

Something just flew over my house ( c.1645 hrs 24/11/24) in Fenny Stratford, very low and slow. It sounded like a helicopter but a odd helicopter. I checked flight radar 24 = nothing. So I assumed something military. I eventually found it on ADS-B exchange but with a strange code of D000 and an American flag. It vanished off the tracker somewhere near Hemel Hempstead and the track shown on the programme showed it came from Dublin.

Any idea what it was? Sorry to be that person but it sounded very odd!

Maybe an Osprey, that's American and has an "odd helicopter" sound?

 

[DarloRich]

Maybe an Osprey, that's American and has an "odd helicopter" sound?

the twist rotor thing? Could be!

 

[thejuggler]

I've been out and about and noticed a rare visitor at Leeds today. An Air Alderney Islander which is probably in for some winter maintenance, Hebridean also send their Islanders to Leeds.

FR24 shows it has been flying around east Leeds.

 

[pug1]

Saw a Jet2 training flight out of Manchester suffer some sort of pressurisation issue (or imitated one, given it was a training flight) over the England/Scotland border this morning - it descended rapidly from cruising altitude to <10,000ft and kept that up until descending again for landing.

Late to the party with this one bit for anyone interested. This will not have been a training flight. Whenever this happens and it’s not 7700, it will be a maintenance check flight. Particularly if it is routing from and to the same airport (usually, although they often complete these flights pre and post maintenance so could be positioning in to a MOR provider), and part of these routine flights includes purposefully depressurising the aircraft.

They’d never do anything like that on a training flight, especially not in modern times! In decades gone by it was apparently not uncommon for crews to practice single engine in flight!! We have good synthetic training environments for that sort of thing now.

 

[Bald Rick]

BA98 (Toronto to Heathrow) just flew right over St Albans at about 7000ft. This is well off any conventional approach to Heathrow, and the first time I can remember it happening. It looks like it has ’swerved’ out of the way of the usual Bovingdon hold pattern, overhauled several other flights and been prioritised for landing. Then on landing it went tout suite to the nearest stand on pier B. Medical emergency perhaps ?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A United A321 en route from Toulouse to Edinburgh on the first leg of a delivery flight to Tampa isn't something you see every day...

PS Funny looking A321s in the photo!!!!!

 

[Tetchytyke]

PS Funny looking A321s in the photo!!!!!

I'm guessing that's a photo of the previous N14524, which was a DC-9?

 

[route101]

A United A321 en route from Toulouse to Edinburgh on the first leg of a delivery flight to Tampa isn't something you see every day...

PS Funny looking A321s in the photo!!!!!

View attachment 172368

Not the first time a new UA A321 has routed via EDI.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Not the first time a new UA A321 has routed via EDI.

I think the whole fleet will route that way, but of course you only have one chance at each one...

 

[Bald Rick]

Its one of those rare days, happens a few times a year where arrivals into Heathrow are using the westbound approach, and arrivals into London City using the eastbound approach, making for some congested skies over Southwark

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Its one of those rare days, happens a few times a year where arrivals into Heathrow are using the westbound approach, and arrivals into London City using the eastbound approach, making for some congested skies over Southwark

Gatwick is also running eastbound at the moment, although Heathrow and Gatwick in opposite directions does seem to be fairly common.

 

[Iskra]

This one surprised me as I was scanning the skies local to me this morning; I didn’t think anything like this would still be in operation.

Some form of Douglas Dakota derivative on a ‘humanitarian flight’ to Haiti this morning

And a Hawker Hunter off Florida:

 

[JN114]

Its one of those rare days, happens a few times a year where arrivals into Heathrow are using the westbound approach, and arrivals into London City using the eastbound approach, making for some congested skies over Southwark

I flew into LHR (27R) on the 10th, and we did do a rather unusual shortcut to final that I’m not used to off of Bovingdon; LCY being on easterlies would explain it though!

 

[DustyBin]

This one surprised me as I was scanning the skies local to me this morning; I didn’t think anything like this would still be in operation.

View attachment 172888


And a Hawker Hunter off Florida:

View attachment 172889

There are actually quite a few DC-3s still operational (well over 150 I believe).

The company that operates the Hunters also has a Bucaneer and an SU-22 of all things!.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There are actually quite a few DC-3s still operational (well over 150 I believe).

Any idea how many of these are true DC-3s as opposed to Basler conversions?

 

[ainsworth74]

Spotted C-5 Galaxy (visually, though I didn't know what it was until I confirmed of Flightradar) this morning of the east coast making it's way from Ramstein in German back home to the US which is a little unusual. It's quite common to spot C-17s on that particular route, probably see them once a week or so (though I'm sure they fly more frequently than that), but first time I've seen a C-5 on it. Must have had something very heavy and/or bulky to move!

In fact looking just now here comes another one!


(Screenshot from Flightradar24 showing a USAF C-5 Galaxy making its way from Ramstein towards an unknown destination (but probably the US) along the east coast of the UK)

 

[DustyBin]

Any idea how many of these are true DC-3s as opposed to Basler conversions?

In a word no, however a bit of research revealed there have been 68 conversions completed, so roughly half if they’re all operational and both figures are accurate. Of the operational DC-3s, I’m guessing some aren’t in commercial use and are flown sparingly.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In a word no, however a bit of research revealed there have been 68 conversions completed, so roughly half if they’re all operational and both figures are accurate. Of the operational DC-3s, I’m guessing some aren’t in commercial use and are flown sparingly.

Yes, I think some will be on restricted use.

I have to say I much prefer the originals rather than the conversions.

 

[DustyBin]

Yes, I think some will be on restricted use.

I have to say I much prefer the originals rather than the conversions.

Agreed, although I suppose objectively they must be an improvement.

 

[thejuggler]

The arriving Atlantic storm is helping aircraft across the pond. Filtering aircraft by speed shows a few travelling in excess of 650 kts - 750mph. The 800 knots for a TAP A321 is an anomaly!