Low pass

[Eclipse]

Snapped this afternoon as close to the end of ORD 10 as anyone can legally get, making its way over
the aptly named "Beeline Drive".

[Danger]

WOW. Are you right next to an airport? I don't believe it's legal for those planes to fly that low..

[Danger]

My bad.. I should have observed a little better.. It must be landing or taking off if the gear and flaps are down.. My bad.

[SarDragon]

You ought to fly into San Diego some time. We fly below the tops of some of the surrounding buildings. It's #10 on the list of world's most dangerous airports.   

[Майор Хаткевич]

Reason number-not-needed as to why I'll never move that close to O'Hare.

[SABRE17]

And yet people DO move in near airports then complain about the noise...

Same with NASCAR tracks, shooting ranges, and football stadiums.

[bosshawk]

Dave: you should fly an instrument approach to Lindbergh down to minimums, between those buildings.  Tons of fun.  I did it once with three big, burly cops in the plane: should have heard the exhaling when we broke out.

[SarDragon]

And yet people DO move in near airports then complain about the noise...

Same with NASCAR tracks, shooting ranges, and football stadiums.

Noise? What noise?

I've lived within a mile of the approach/departure path of an airport much of my life (47+ yrs). I lived "under the airport" for 3 years. Noise is relative. If you want it to bother you, it will. If not, it won't.

[SarDragon]

Dave: you should fly an instrument approach to Lindbergh down to minimums, between those buildings.  Tons of fun.  I did it once with three big, burly cops in the plane: should have heard the exhaling when we broke out.

I think I'll pass on that. It was only just recently recently that I got to be in a 'little' airplane in real IMC, and it was "interesting", to say the least. Thankfully, someone else was flying it.

[Eclipse]

And yet people DO move in near airports then complain about the noise...

A phenomenon which never ceases to amaze me. 

I live due West, and anytime they are coming in on 10 or 9R they are over the house with the gear down - just far out and high enough
to not be annoying, but close enough to seem like you can touch them.  I considered this a >plus< when we bought the
place, but regardless I actually knew where I was moving and you'll never catch me whining at a noise abatement meeting.

There's a GA airport close enough to be able to see the pattern work on a clear day - +#2.

I have a commuter rail in my backyard - that means the yards have 160+ foot setbacks (i.e. huge back yards), not to mention
a 30 foot berm that insures privacy.  That's the trade-off.  It also meant I have a station 2 blocks from the house.
AFAIC when the trains are running that means all is right with the world - +#3.

That little orchard is the engine for about 5 or 6 states.  It's the busiest in the world (don't bother looking it up, the Sears tower is
also the tallest building).  One of these days people are going to figure that out and quit whining.

[NIN]

That little orchard is the engine for about 5 or 6 states.  It's the busiest in the world (don't bother looking it up, the Sears tower is
also the tallest building).  One of these days people are going to figure that out and quit whining.

(emphasis mine)

LOL.  I take it you like things to sort of "stay they way they were," Bob?

[Eclipse]

That little orchard is the engine for about 5 or 6 states.  It's the busiest in the world (don't bother looking it up, the Sears tower is
also the tallest building).  One of these days people are going to figure that out and quit whining.

(emphasis mine)

LOL.  I take it you like things to sort of "stay they way they were," Bob?

Permanent award!

[Huey Driver]

Took a squadron trip down to the National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center at IAD and went into the city later. I found a nice place to spend a good 45 minutes plane spotting right under the River Visual RWY 19 at DCA, about 800ft from the numbers.

[Eclipse]

A million years ago, when ORD still had an AFRES unit, and base access was much more lax, I used to go with my Loadmaster buddy on
our motorcycles, and we could literally sit on the very leading edge of 22R, inside the fence.  I'm pretty sure it's been reconfigured since then,
but I have a mental picture of runway lights near enough to touch, and landing gear at eye level.

We also accidently drove out onto a taxiway.  Seriously.

When they were building out the cargo section on the SW side of the airport, that entire side of the field was open to whomever was so inclined.
See Cargo Road at Irving Park.  They finished the intersection, but the lights didn't work, and the North view was just a pitch black "nothing" at night.
So, being goobers, we drove in to "check it out". About 10 minutes in, we realized we were on a taxiway!  Again, things have been moved around,
but I'm guessing it was the one just SW of Lake O'Hare.  I don't think it was open yet, and we didn't see planes or anything else, but the '90's
were sure a different time.

We boogied out of there and no one seemed to notice or care.

These days they've gone so far as to bulldoze a town to move the perimeter out and lock things down!

[Al Sayre]

Normal glideslope path is 3 degrees, with the steepest around 3.5 for normal operations.  This puts the aircraft at somewhere between 276 ft and 323 ft above a horizontal line drawn from the touchdown point.  (5280 x tan(glideslope angle)) The minimum obstacle clearance decreases as you get closer to the touchdown point. ...

[lordmonar]

Lived and worked on Airbases all my life........I don't feel comfortable with out the smell of JP-8 in the air and whine of Pratt and Whitneys all day long.

[Major Lord]

Lived and worked on Airbases all my life........I don't feel comfortable with out the smell of JP-8 in the air and whine of Pratt and Whitneys all day long.

How much hearing loss have you sustained?

Major Lord

[Woodsy]

Dave: you should fly an instrument approach to Lindbergh down to minimums, between those buildings.  Tons of fun.  I did it once with three big, burly cops in the plane: should have heard the exhaling when we broke out.

I think I'll pass on that. It was only just recently recently that I got to be in a 'little' airplane in real IMC, and it was "interesting", to say the least. Thankfully, someone else was flying it.

Ha, I feel your pain! A few months ago I flew right seat in a CAP 182 from Jacksonville to Lakeland, at night and complete white out.  I was never nervous, as I trust the pilot who was flying completely and have no doubt in his skill (he's a very experienced airline pilot) but it was kind of funny when I asked "where's the prop?" and he said "it's out there somewhere, I hope.." 

[lordmonar]

Lived and worked on Airbases all my life........I don't feel comfortable with out the smell of JP-8 in the air and whine of Pratt and Whitneys all day long.

How much hearing loss have you sustained?

Major Lord

What?!?!

[bflynn]

Lived and worked on Airbases all my life........I don't feel comfortable with out the smell of JP-8 in the air and whine of Pratt and Whitneys all day long.

How much hearing loss have you sustained?

Major Lord

What?!?!

Knew that was coming

The original picture was taken about 1800 ft from the threshold of runway 10 at O'Hare - that's close.  I can remember doing this at Raleigh before they moved the fence and waiting for the 747s to come in from Europe.

[SarDragon]

It is possible to live in such an environment, and not suffer hearing loss, if (and this is a big if) you take specific measures to prevent it. My dad spent 30 years in the Navy, the last half of which was in aviation, and he suffered significant noise-induced hearing loss. I learned that lesson early, and did everything I could to protect my ears (muffs AND plugs most of the time). My current hearing loss is due mostly to just getting olde, but I still hear pretty well.

I do cringe when I see all these young folks destroying their hearing with the loud car stereos and mp3 players. Get your stock in hearing aid companies now.

[lordmonar]

Isn't the threashold for one of the runways at Midway something like 200 feet from a major road?  I remember laying over there (waiting for connections to Dallas) and seeing these large jets zooming right over the houses.

[Eclipse]

I do cringe when I see all these young folks destroying their hearing with the loud car stereos and mp3 players. Get your stock in hearing aid companies now.

Yep. Born Jovi and Cinderella did more damage at the Horizon (10feet from a speaker) then these planes ever will.

[Eclipse]

Isn't the threashold for one of the runways at Midway something like 200 feet from a major road?  I remember laying over there (waiting for connections to Dallas) and seeing these large jets zooming right over the houses.

They pushed them out and closed some streets after that runoff crash a few tears ago, but they are still scary close.

[bflynn]

Isn't the threashold for one of the runways at Midway something like 200 feet from a major road?  I remember laying over there (waiting for connections to Dallas) and seeing these large jets zooming right over the houses.

All the thresholds are displaced at KMDW, so they're 1000 ft or more from the roads.  But yes, the entire area around the airport is pretty much residential and businesses.

Flying in there Sunday evening...ok, riding in there...(grumble, grumble)

Correction, 31R is not displaced, so it's only about 650' from the road and 800' from houses.  I have to imagine that rattles the dishes.

[NIN]

Yep. Born Jovi and Cinderella did more damage at the Horizon (10feet from a speaker) then these planes ever will.

But you have taste. 

"What?"

(yeah, I did a lot of hardcore punk concerts in my day. Took my son to see Social Distortion back in November, I made sure he was properly earplugged the entire time)

[Eclipse]

The nightly "Dance of the Angels".


Taken directly over my deck as I cooked dinner.  The helo made passes under 1000 for sure, right overhead.

A traffic helicopter orbiting a major exchange dancing with planes coming in on 10.  The plane is East bound and the helo is orbiting
counterclockwise.  Sometimes its a State PD fixed-wing doing mark-timing speed enforcement, others it's the local news stations.
If there's accident, they will be lined up all along the corridor.

It's about 1500-2000(ish), and seems to be timing its orbits to avoid the aircraft about 1-2000 ft higher. 

This is a terrible photo, I was trying to catch the both in the shot.

Why do objects in photos look further away then they really are?