Please help me identify this craft.

All day today this really big jet has been flying low over my house. I believe it is some sort of military below radar training exercise. They fly over every year and this year I happened to get a picture. I'm curious to know what kind of airplane it is and if anyone knows anything more about any exercises going on around Cumberland, MD.



Note: Image has been rotated 90 degrees and cropped to cut out some of the extra sky. I couldn't figure out how to get it on there any other way. To look at the original click below:

Originally posted by Bunson
All day today this really big jet has been flying low over my house. I believe it is some sort of military below radar training exercise. They fly over every year and this year I happened to get a picture. I'm curious to know what kind of airplane it is and if anyone knows anything more about any exercises going on around Cumberland, MD.

Note: Image has been rotated 90 degrees and cropped to cut out some of the extra sky. I couldn't figure out how to get it on there any other way. To look at the original click below:

Looks to me like a russian cargo plane the Ilyushin Il-76 i mabe wrong but it does look similar, ill try and dig up some photos

Its a USAF C-17.

Look, you can even see big black USAF on the under side of the wing.

Nice, and they practise flying low and fast at times for operations over denied / unfriendly territory.

You should see their emergency landing steep descent training... thats hairy scary!

reply to post by Dan Tanna


Thanks. They nearly gave me a heart attack this morning flying over my house. I saw one fly just a couple hundred feet or so over the field right below my house. It was amazing.

Originally posted by Bunson
reply to post by Dan Tanna

 

Thanks. They nearly gave me a heart attack this morning flying over my house. I saw one fly just a couple hundred feet or so over the field right below my house. It was amazing.

Yes and I think ill go to specksavers tommorow to get my eyes checked

I concur, it's a C-17.

I live near Wright-Patterson AFB, and there is a maintenance wing located here that works on the 17. There are actually 6 or so airframes on base at all times. I have them flying over my house all the time. Fortunately all the flying stops at dusk (usually.)

Yep its a C17. I've jumped out of one before. You can do one hell of a mass drop out of one. Fits over a hundred dudes and they can all be out in less than a minute. Or if you want to get real crazy, it can drop 8 (I think) HMMWVs or 105mm Howitzers.

Can anyone else see the similarity between this aircraft and the 911 images that show the ´pods´ on the aircraft´s fuselage?

In the 911 footage, one of the things that particularly struck me was that the ´pods´ were not symmetrical. One was longer than the other.





Could there be any connection?
What are the pods for on a C-17?

reply to post by Psychopump


i agree, remind me to show you the pics taken in northern Quebec of large planes with pods underneath.

snoopyuk

The pods on the C-17 are the wheel housigns, that way they save internal space for the stuff that matters, i.e. boots for the ground or armour and guns.

reply to post by Bunson
what state do you live in and how low was this cargo plane? i had a hugh cargo plane just above the tree tops in ellijay, georgia at exactly 11 pm in 2004.

reply to post by musselwhite


I live in the eastern panhandle of West Virgina, in Fort Ashby to be exact. It's fairly close to Cumberland, MD which would be easier to find on a map. They were flying very low and I've heard from neighbors that it is a below radar training mission or something of the sort. They've done it every year that I've lived in Fort Ashby since 1999. I don't think they are doing anything sinister, but it is very interesting none the less. Sometimes I worry that they may smash into my house though....

Originally posted by musselwhite
reply to post by Bunson

 

what state do you live in and how low was this cargo plane? i had a hugh cargo plane just above the tree tops in ellijay, georgia at exactly 11 pm in 2004.

a cargo plane flew over your house in 2004??

Oh. my. god.

reply to post by Psychopump


They were symetrical they were just at an angle to the camera. Those "pods" serve the same function on the C-17 as they do on the 767/757. On the 757/767 they're where the wing box meets the fuselage, and make room for the landing gear, to save space. On the C-17 they do the same thing, and give more room for the landing gear, and assorted equipment.