Do You Look Up?

[Airmutt]

Whenever you’re outside and you hear the drone of an airplane do stop and look up?

Living in NW Atlanta offers a lot of opportunities to airplane gaze. Whenever I hear the rumble of a radial and eagerly look to the sky my wife gives that look like she just met one of my old girlfriends. I still watch the northbound traffic climbing to altitude coming out of ATL. I enjoy the bi-weekly low level flyovers of the reserves in their C-130s out of Dobbins. The amount of GA traffic has certainly decreased since 9/11 and just never really came back. Most it today seems to be corporate jets. I miss the bug smashers.

I was up in Wisconsin last week, and yes it was cold and it did snow, and heard the putt-putt of a Champ. Low and slow hopefully enjoying the view of dairy country. Have to admit I was a bit jealous. My tree planting efforts stopped until he disappeared behind the tree line. Didn’t really see him but you could hear the deep rumble of a military fighter most likely burning bunches of kerosene in the Volks MOA, lucky dog.

So....Do you look up?

[robert l]

Every time Airmutt, since I was a kid, every time !
Bob, still a kid at 73

[Dana]

Doesn't everybody?

[CHICAGORANDY]

I live a short 2 miles from Midway Airport. After a while the jet engines become white noise you don't even hear anymmore - but a chopper or a prop plane will have me scanning the skies for it. In truth I look up at the jets too, especially when in my SUV at 55th & Cicero or Central and they're close enough to touch while landing.

[jimlittle]

OK Mr. Randy, you have done it now! I fly helicopter air ambulance and my track puts me directly over Midway (that's where the controllers want us) and your location frequently on trips from my base in South Bend to Loyola hospital. I'll now do my best to make some extra chopper noise when I fly over Cicero!

[Airmutt]

Ah ha! There is justice in the world for those really bad groaners. Randy, ya better bring your A game in 2021 cuz you be a marked man

[lnuss]

Certainly I look up, and around. Yesterday morning I heard a radial engine, and after searching I found a southbound biplane silhouetted about half or 3/4 mile east of me. It was hard to be sure, but it was either a Stearman, an N3N or a Waco. We're about 6 miles NE of Rocky Mountain Metro (it's still Jeffco to me) and about 3 miles SSE of Erie Municipal, near I-25 north of Denver, and get a fair chunk of GA traffic (now somewhat reduced) every day. I've even seen formations (RVs, T-6s, etc.) go by when there's an airshow or fly-in.

[skyranger]

My Father was an airplane guy, not a pilot but as a mechanic inn WW2. When I was a youngster growing up in Ohio I was always looking up . We lived near Warren , Ohio on a line between Cleveland and Pittsburgh and there was always traffic . Youngstown airport was also an Air Force base which was near by and there was always noise . F-102, C-119, DC-3, small aircraft were always in the air . I remember a B-47 was really low over the house and I could see both crew members. Also Akron, Ohio wasn't that far away and the blimps would come over and could see the ropes hanging from them. I was always LOOKING UP !

[Kyle Boatright]

I look up every time. Since our house is inside the pattern for Dobbins ARB, I see all sorts of stuff go overhead - military and GA.