Amazingly quiet small prop plane? Ungodly loud jet?

I've said a couple times I live right under the flight line of a somewhat busy international airport. I've gotten pretty good at knowing what im hearing when different planes either come in for a landing or take off.

If you hear a prop plane but its not right about where you Hear it A: it's either small and way past you or it's a medium/big one and its still coming.

Little private jets sound kinda like A-10's with a muffler or something. Same whine noise.

Airliners are pretty loud. I've seen some big grey cargo planes come and go and they are pretty loud too BUT these 2 latest encounters have me wondering. They just weren't normal.

First one was at night and I heard a doozy of a big jet coming in for a landing. Lotsa lights on it and it just sounded powerful. Not overly loud tho. Well once she was passed me and I heard her kicking in the reverse thrusters at the airport I noticed another very small prop plane coming in only 30 seconds behind for a landing. Thing is I could barely hear it. Honest to god it sounded more like a weed wacker or a motor scooter then any plane I've ever heard. Just blinking lights and no landing lights on it either. None that i noticed anyway. Most cesna's and other small planes are very illuminated I've noticed when landing. This one was dark. I thought maybe it was on a perpendicular path and farther out then I was thinking but as it went over the trees I could see it was continuing to drop in altitude right on the landing path. I followed it right over the roof and garage light of the same house every other plane goes over when it lands so I'm thinking it was on the landing path and not further out. Any ideas? Drone?


And just 20 minutes ago something took off on this same flight line headed E to W and banked it Hard N right over my house. It's a cloudy day so I couldn't see anything but it was heading to the same place I see a lot of guard choppers head. This sucker was so loud I got scared. I dropped everything and ran outside to try and see but no luck. She was soooo deep. It sounded AND FELT like a giant subwoofer was humming a deep deep bass tone in the sky. Just unbelievable. Any big jets have very very bassy exhaust?

Anyone every built one of those plane trackers? What were they called? It reads the identity of planes as they go by? One of those would be handy I reckon. Any website to check takeoffs and landings based on time?

a reply to: mindseye1609

FlightAware

I have never heard a drone but that sounds like what I imagine one would sound like. Sorry I can't be of more help I have no idea.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Would military aircraft be on there? I just checked through all those pretty good on flightaware and no luck

a reply to: mindseye1609

Military aircraft occasionally appear on Flightaware and Flightradar, but they have to have a broadcasting ADS-B transponder. Not all the military aircraft have switched over to them yet.

a reply to: Zaphod58

An older one might correspond to a loud one too ehh?

a reply to: mindseye1609

You'd be surprised. The KC-135 is 50 years old or so, and has one of the quietest engines on the market attached to it. Frequently the older aircraft get engine upgrades to keep them flying longer. Some still have the older engines, like the B-52H still using the TF33 engine, but quite a few use new engines.

maybe a VC10 ?

a reply to: mindseye1609

a reply to: weemadmental

Retired already.

The small plane could have an ultra light or an autogyro. The big engine sound of the one taking off could have been a C130 equipped with afterburner rockets. C130s use the afterburner rockets to make a short roll takeoff. Also, the low pitched droning sound could have been caused by the planes props. The props can be pitched in away to get the low frequency sound.

In the video you will notice the low frequency sound of the props and the sound of the rockets.

a reply to: eManym

Honest too god that's about what I pictured in my head. I had just watched a video of a x-43 scram jet earlier today and all I could picture when hearing/feeling the rumble was some sorta crazy jet lol.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: mindseye1609

You'd be surprised. The KC-135 is 50 years old or so, and has one of the quietest engines on the market attached to it. Frequently the older aircraft get engine upgrades to keep them flying longer. Some still have the older engines, like the B-52H still using the TF33 engine, but quite a few use new engines.

Over the years I have seen/heard B-52 flyovers, B-1's in full afterburner, the Concorde in afterburner and even heard the mighty An-225 fly over in Seattle back in the late 80's.

The loudest Jet I have ever heard has to be the AV8 making the transition to hover, simply astounding.

a reply to: Drunkenparrot

Wudya reckon the loudest one that might be heading to the Alpena guard post?

a reply to: mindseye1609

Alpena is a CRTC, which means they get C-17s, C-5s, C-130s, and just about every other type of aircraft in there for training with ground units.

originally posted by: mindseye1609
a reply to: Drunkenparrot

Wudya reckon the loudest one that might be heading to the Alpena guard post?

Zaph has a much better handle on specific deployments and such but my guess is it could have been a C-17 you heard landing and either an F-15 or F-22 departing over your home.

Both the F-15 and F-22 are ungodly loud in afterburner.

Right on thanks both of you.

Hey do you think it would be cool if I ever called the airport to ask what just took off? Maybe gotta make a friend in the tower first?

a reply to: mindseye1609

No, you are welcome to call them. They may not tell you what it was, but you can call them and ask them about it.

a reply to: eManym

And you know what the smaller one did sound like an ultralight. Do they ever fly those in and out of normal airports?

a reply to: mindseye1609

They occasionally fly them near airports. Some smaller airports fly them in and out. There used to be a gliderport that I flew out of that would have something like that flying around.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I might have to do that the next time.