Transcript Aircraft Recognition 2006

Aircraft
Recognition
2007
Global Flyer, flown solo, non-stop around
the world by Steve Fossett.
Just one of the many cool airplanes you
may see at Oshkosh!
Welcome to the second generation
aircraft recognition CD.
Several of you have requested airborne photos, a great idea, so again,this year that’s
some of what your getting. In many cases I have included nauseating detail about a
particular aircraft or similar types. My point is not to be boring or make you memorize it
all,but, rather to show you how easy it is to guess wrong; and, guessing wrong is way
worse than saying something descriptive like red and white high wing taildragger.
Even with a 300mm zoom lens, these photo’s still had to be cropped and enlarged, so
quality is just so-so. Just like at Fisk, you can never see all the details as well as you
would like. Consequently, some may be mis-identified. If you catch one, you passed.
To take the lesson, you will first see just the photo. Make your best guess, then click the
left mouse button once to see the answer. Click a second time for the description, and
so on…
Suggestions on what to call the aircraft, on frequency, are usually shown in yellow.
If you have any problems running the CD, assuming you got this far, give me a call. I’ll
send you a new one or try to help figure it out.
Jerry Hough, GRR ATCT, work 616-575-1905, home 616-874-3235, cell 616-481-2102, or
[email protected]
Have fun! I’ll see you at the greatest aviation event in the world.
Piper Apache
Red & White Apache
Normally the wingtips are rounded, like the tail.
Note the short stubby nose and fat round nacelles.
If the wingtips and tail are both squared off and it
has a pointed nose, it is either an Apache with the
Geronimo conversion or an AZTEC.
Beech Bonanza
Bonanza
The gear is standard Beechcraft, wheel on the
inside of the gear leg and doors on the outside.
Note conventional tail. Makes it either an A-36,
B-36, an F-33 (all Bonanza’s) or a Debonair.
Light can be in the nose or wings.
Nose shaped like an upside down triangle.
Cessna 172 Skyhawk
172 or Skyhawk
Skyhawk has struts…single light in wing, may have two
lights close together below the spinner.
Outboard half of wing is always tapered.
If no wheel pants and the gear legs are more curved, it’s
probably a Cutlass which is basically a retractable gear
Skyhawk.
Nose is not as large, or deep, as a C-182 or 206.
Cessna 180
One of several Cessna tail-draggers.
Longer, tapered wing makes it a Cessna, not a Piper.
Big round spinner covers the constant speed prop and
makes it a C-180 or C-185, not a C-170.
Light in wing makes it a C-180. C-185 has two lights in the
nose. C-185 also has a third side window if you can see it.
Cessna 182 Skylane
182 or Skylane
Two widely spaced lights in the nose mean it
can’t be a C-172
Cabin is longer on a C-206, with 3rd side window.
RG would have a little curve down in the gear leg
near the wheel, and two dark wheel wells in belly.
If you can see the rear side window, it tapers top
and bottom to a point toward the back.
Piper Aztec
Aztec
Differs from Apache with squared tips on wing
and tail, pointed nose and more streamlined
cowlings.
Actually larger than Apache with 6-seats
Baron would have tapered wing and tail, where
Aztec only has taper last couple of feet before
wingtip, and no taper in the horizontal tail.
Beech Baron 58
Baron
Nose more rounded than Aztec, and Barons
engine nacelles are flatter.
Baron wing and horizontal tail tapers full span.
Gear looks just like a Bonanza’s.
Baron 58’s have 4 side windows, Baron 55’s
have three, but they’re both Barons..
Breezy
Note the bright pink ATM shirt operating as
pilot in command. Fortunately the co-pilot in
front seems to have his hands on the controls.
Seriously, Arnie will give controllers a ride
anytime. Wear your pink shirt and he puts you
in the front of the line.
Cessna 170-B
Silver and Red Taildragger
or Cessna 170
Single strut and outboard wing taper makes it a
Cessna, not a Piper. Exception: C120 / C140 and the
170-A model have constant chord wings and two
struts per side.
Smaller nose and rounded tail means it is not a C180
or C185.
Cessna 180 on Floats
Floatplane
Floatplanes are those where the wheels were removed
and two long, narrow floats were put in their place.
They are not seaplanes.
This airplane has amphibious floats which means
there are retractable wheels in the floats themselves.
Seaplanes have a single boat type hull for the bottom
of the fuselage. If they have wheels, they will retract
out of the way for water landings.
Cessna 310
Similar to Baron but with Tip-tanks.
You can see the retractable lights extended
below the tip tanks from great distance.
Barons, except the Pressurized ones have a
light in each wing, but it is several feet in from
the wing tip. P-Baron has a light in each
nacelle.
Cessna 401, 402, 411, 414,
421, ????
Blue and White Twin Cessna
Not enough detail to tell which model. Short
nose means it is an older 400 series, but could
be one of several.
If you can’t use color, pretty good chance it’s
the only twin Cessna or call it a 400 series.
Piper Cherokee Archer
Cherokee
Wheels on outside of gear leg means it can’t be a
Bonanza or Mooney.
Only outboard half of Cherokee wing tapers, Bonanza
and Mooney wings taper full span. Only Cherokee has
a non-tapered horizontal tail. NOTE: Early Cherokee’s
had short, stubby wings with no taper.
Grumman wing is longer and narrower with no taper.
Also Grumman gear originates near the fuselage and
extends out an an angle.
Cirrus
Easily confused with Lancair Columbia, but Cirrus is
much more common. Lancair 4 has much narrower
main gear and there is a lot of curve to them.
Cirrus main gear comes out of the wing, Columbia
gear comes out of the fuselage at a greater angle and
looks narrower than the Cirrus.
Columbia nose gear goes straight down while Cirrus
nose gear curves forward like a Grumman.
From the side, Columbia’s main gear has a sharp
forward angle to it.
Citabria
or Red & White Taildragger
Not a Piper because wing is too long and narrow.
Champs are similar, but with rounded wingtips and tail
surfaces. Same rounded belly to the fuselage.
Decathlon looks the same, but with symmetrical wing,
bigger engine and constant speed prop. You’ll need to
look real close to see these.
Comanche
Not a Cherokee Arrow because entire trailing edge of
wing tapers forward. Also, horizontal tail on Cherokee
is constant chord, I.e. no taper.
Not a Mooney because front of Comanche’s horizontal
and vertical tails sweep back. Just the opposite on a
Mooney.
Beech Debonair
or Yellow Retractable
Deb pilots will usually answer to Bonanza, but:
Slightly rounded wing tips mean this is not a
straight tailed Bonanza.
Diamond DA-40 Diamond Star
Diamond Star
Front and rear of wingtip tapers to a point.
Aft fuselage is really skinny, with a T-tail
Smaller two seat version is a Katana or Eclipse.
Looks like this but with two wing mounted
engines,and a pointy nose, it is a TwinStar
Glasair II FT
Glasair
FT = Fixed tricycle gear, also available as RG=
retractable tricycle gear or as a taildragger .
Aft fuselage not as severely tapered as a
Lancair
Glasair III has longer nose and is always RG.
ATG Javelin
Prototype may be here. It was last seen as an
all gray speedster with a somewhat clunky
canopy framework.
Easily confused with the ViperJet, which is
shorter and with a single vertical tail.
ViperJet
Also similar to an L-39 Albatross, but smaller.
As of last year, this was the only one flying.
L-39 Albatross
Czechoslovakian jet trainer.
Very Popular, you can buy 5 or 6 for the price of a P51.
Probably be 8-12 of them at Oshkosh.
If pilot calls in as an Albatross, find out if it’s the jet or
the big Grumman Seaplane.
T-2 Buckeye
An older Navy jet trainer used to teach carrier
landings.
Lancair
Except for the Columbia’s, most all Lancair’s
have retractable gear.
Similar to Glasair II RG, but with smaller aft
fuselage and tail.
LongEze
EZ Type
Bad picture of a very hard to see type of aircraft. Even
the camera couldn’t find it to set the focus.
Skinny fuselage like this is either a VariEze or a
LongEze. Don’t think they’re any Berkut’s left.
Wider, side by side fuselage is either a Cozy or a
Velocity. All three gear retracted = a Velocity
Luscombe 8A Silvaire
Luscombe or Yellow Taildragger
Similar to Cessna 120/140 series, but:
Luscombe has a longer, narrower wing with a double
taper at the tip and a cutout on the inboard trailing
edge.
Luscombe vertical tail is smaller and less rounded.
Luscombe gear legs appear much wider due to fairing.
Mooney
Wouldn’t be Oshkosh without at least one!
Tail should be obvious.
From head on, gear legs are very short and fat,
compared to an Arrow or Bonanza
Wing and horizontal tail have straight leading edges
and the trailing edges slope forward, just like the
vertical tail.
Pitts
or Red & White Biplane
Rounded tail is classic Pitts, but can be
confused with that of a Steen Skybolt.
Can’t be a Starduster II, which has a squared
off vertical tail.
May or may not have enclosed canopy.
RV-10
Very similar to RV-6, but with four seats. Hence
larger fuselage and noticeably taller tail.
Only available with fixed tricycle gear.
Like all RV’s, can pick it up to 200mph if you
need it, but slows down to 60 to land.
RV-4
Silver RV
Looks like the RV-4 cowling with bulges (cheeks) on
each side. RV-8 cowl is full width with no bulges on
the sides and usually no air intake underneath.
Looks like RV-4 gear which come out of the motor
mount at a rearward angle. RV-8 gear legs come out
of the wing with a similar angle outward.
RV-4’s are taildraggers only, RV-8 can also be tricycle.
RV 6A or 7A
Yellow RV
Wider fuselage makes it an RV6, RV7 or RV9,
Instead of an RV3, RV4 or RV8
Nosewheel makes it an “A” model.
Longer and narrower wings would make it an
RV-9.