119
votes
Accepted
Can this helicopter/wrecking ball combo remain airborne?
EDIT
Huge apologies to one and all, in my first version of this answer I mistyped 184 as 84, and then proceeded to do all my calculations based on that. This is the corrected version.
Also, huge ...
- 936
107
votes
Accepted
What is this aircraft with elaborate folding wings?
Fairey Gannet ECM.6, c/n F9311, stored at White Waltham Airfield in the county of Berkshire in England. This place is incidentally where the Fairey Aviation Company built and test-flew the Gannet. An ...
- 80.9k
105
votes
What is this quad-jet plane at El Paso Airport?
It's the McDonnell 220, registration N4AZ.
(Source)
Wiki says
The McDonnell 119/220 was an attempt at making a business jet by McDonnell Aircraft in the late-1950s. It had a configuration that ...
- 3,186
91
votes
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What is the make and model of this biplane?
It's a De Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth
Source Wikipedia. Photographer: Chris Finney
With a bit of image contrast and brightness modification, the registration can be read on the underside of the wing: ...
- 84.5k
87
votes
What is this high flying aircraft over Pennsylvania?
Using the location you gave, I tracked back aircraft in that area at that time, and found a scenario that fits with your photo:
(Source: Flightradar24)
So, judging by that, the jet in question is ...
- 781
83
votes
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Did these parts come from a T-33 crash?
It looks like the nose skin panel with the gun ports that some T-33s had. So I'd be willing to put serious money down on "yes".
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star ‘69330 / TR-330’ (N651)
Alan Wilson from ...
- 136k
77
votes
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Can you help me identify a vintage airplane in a painting?
The aircraft in the painting (I’m not sure it is a painting?) is a North American P-51C Mustang in the Tuskegee Airmen colors of the U.S. Air Force in WW II.
I cropped the image above and then used ...
- 37.9k
70
votes
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What is this quad-jet plane at El Paso Airport?
This appears to be a McDonnell 119/220, a 1950s vintage business jet attempt (from before McDonnell merged with Douglas). The four engine layout with engines under the wings, coupled with the size, ...
- 17.3k
63
votes
Accepted
From this cockpit picture I cannot identify this aircraft. Any ideas?
That is the cockpit of the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a modified Grumman Gulfstream II. Here is higher resolution picture:
(Wikipedia)
The STA is a "highly modified Gulfstream-2 aircraft," ...
- 58.3k
62
votes
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What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Special mention for Raúl Pateras Pescara de Castelluccio (good article) who was fond of lots and lots of rotor blades, settling on sixteen for most of his designs, although his Model 3 had twenty.
...
- 14.6k
61
votes
Accepted
Is this contrail from an airplane or a rocket?
I am pretty sure it is an aircraft.
When aircraft fly straight towards you they can appear like rockets. The contrail is distorted by winds in the upper airspace. Yesterday there were a lot of ...
- 84.5k
60
votes
Can you identify this helicopter seen near Boscombe Down?
Apache Longbow headed a slightly different direction.
Specific model is AH-64E, indicated by the presence of datalink antennas (OP's photo) on the stub wings.
- 21k
58
votes
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Is this really a British Airways 727?
Interesting question!
In the background, a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 can be seen. Therefore, I assume the airport is a Lufthansa destination. Since the 727 is not exactly a long range aircraft, but ...
- 84.5k
56
votes
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Is the aircraft in this image real?
I am 100% sure this is fake.
I found the same picture on Twitter in a tweet from April 28,2020 , but in higher resolution:
You can see the registration on the aircraft clearly: D-AVXA. This ...
- 84.5k
55
votes
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Can you help identify this vintage aircraft?
This is a Dornier Do D, a floatplane torpedo bomber variant of the Dornier Komet, which was built for the Yugoslav Royal Navy. It's considerably bigger than it looks in your picture!
203 served with ...
- 14.6k
54
votes
Accepted
What type is this aircraft with "inverted" wings?
If I am not horribly mistaken, it seems to be an Antonov 72 or 74, that were produced together, hence the similarity.
Another image (not included for copyright reasons) can be found here.
The ...
- 32.7k
54
votes
Accepted
Can someone identify this unusual plane at SeaTac airport?
There is a big clue right underneath the "Sea-Tac Airport" decal - it says
FIRE RESCUE
It can be seen a little better on this image
source: wikimedia commons
It is a rig used for fire and ...
- 35.7k
51
votes
Can this helicopter/wrecking ball combo remain airborne?
The helicopter would be a UH60 Blackhawk. Max payload on a hook is 9000lb. At your mild steel density this is half a cubic meter, so the picture as you describe is impossible.
- 21k
51
votes
Accepted
What is this jetliner seen in the Falcon Crest TV series?
It is a Grumman Gulfstream II business jet, not an airliner.
The oval windows are very unique to both the Grumman Gulfstream I business turboprop, and Grumman Gulfstream II business jet. The small ...
- 37.9k
51
votes
Accepted
Can anyone identify the Make and Model of this nosed-over plane?
I believe this is a Stinson HW-75 (Also called the 105 Voyager).
I know for sure this is a Stinson aircraft due to the logo which was often rendered on the side of aircraft with a double underline and ...
- 35.7k
50
votes
Accepted
What is this Lufthansa passenger jet plane, based on these three photos?
TLDR: The picture shows an Airbus A340-300, either registration D-AIGH or D-AIGI, parked at gate B49 at Frankfurt airport.
From the general shape of the nose of the aircraft, and the fact that the ...
- 84.5k
49
votes
What is this abandoned airplane parked in Tegel airport?
In the far corner of Tegel Airport, to the southwest (here a satellite image), lonely a plane with a special story rots: The Boeing 707 was a gift from the manufacturer to the Lufthansa and landed in ...
- 461
49
votes
Accepted
What is this crashed WW2 era aircraft?
It looks like a four engine bomber lying on its back. The air intakes on the leading edge leads me to believe it is a B-17.
I have inverted a couple of B-17 photos for reference:
- 37.9k
48
votes
Can anyone help me identify the plane in this photograph?
What you have there is I believe a Boeing Model 80A-1:
Source
Source
You can read more about it on Wikipedia: Boeing Model 80
The Model 80 air transport aircraft was built in the mid 1920's. It ...
- 36.2k
48
votes
Can this helicopter/wrecking ball combo remain airborne?
Of course the photo is absolutely real. I know a guy who knows a guy who says he met the guy in front!
3) Assume the wrecking ball is solid mild steel with a density of 7.85 g/cm3.
That's where ...
- 30.1k
47
votes
How can you identify an Airbus or Boeing from the inside?
Look at the safety card in the seat pocket in front of you:
As a side note, it will be beneficial to read the safety card as well.
- 39.8k
47
votes
What is this high flying aircraft over Pennsylvania?
I'd say it's a corporate jet. Corporate jets normally play between 40-55000 ft, above the bulk of the airline traffic down in the 30s, so this is a perfectly normal sight.
Based on the wing planform ...
- 136k
47
votes
Accepted
Why was this commercial jet accompanied by small plane near Seattle?
It's a Fedex 777F N894FD in (probably) pre-delivery aerial photography/test flight accompanied by one of Boeing's chase aircraft.
After some maneuvers (shown below), the plane headed to MEM, Fedex's "...
- 4,515
47
votes
Accepted
Flaming plane-like object in the night sky
It is the pyrotechnic Bandit Fly Team flying over the Carolina Hurricanes Stadium in North Carolina on 18 February 2023.
There are a large number of videos online of the event, including one from the ...
- 14.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible