
Eyes Aloft: The Sublime Obsession of Plane Spotting - prismatic
http://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2016/10/eyes-aloft
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cyberferret
Former commercial pilot here, and since I was a little child, I can remember
always running out and looking up whenever I heard a plane or helicopter go
overhead. Still do to this day whenever I hear an unusual engine noise, or
hear an aircraft that it outside of the normal flight path in my area (not far
from an airport).

Friends and family look at me in odd ways, and I get the occasional
condescending "Yeeeah, it's just an airrrrplane!!!" type comments, but for me,
they will always be magical things of beauty and interest.

~~~
eth0up
Ditto here, but not a pilot. I almost always lunge outside when I hear an
unusual (usually military) aircraft. A few years ago, a Ford TriMotor was
making frequent passes overhead and I got some good photos of it, due to
hearing it from afar. I almost always accurately distinguish the mid-range hum
of the Sheriff's Bell from the more thumpy Coast Guard helicopters that often
pass by. I have seen many neat aircraft as result of my aerial curiosities,
including WWII bombers, various fighters, re-fuelers, cargo planes, mil
helicopters that made trains seem mute, meteoroids/incoming space debris, and
a few celestial anomalies. Yeah, I used to get some strange looks (and
comments) when I had my Leica Ultravid, Zeiss Victory, and Orion 15x70
binoculars. Be glad you weren't into astronomy; folks come up with all sorts
of big ideas when they see some "creepy" guy staring at the night sky,
"undoubtedly" searching for any insignificant gap in the miniblinds of person
x,y,z while completely indifferent to the rest of the Universe. If looking up
was held in half the esteem of watching telly, it might be a much more
interesting world. On another note, maybe Irvine Welsh will do something with
the title of this article. Apparently, a sequel to Trainspotting is due next
year.

~~~
cyberferret
Coolness! Yes, the airport near me is a combined civilian and military field,
and there are frequent visiting military aircraft from all over the world.
People think I am crazy for saying I can tell the different between an F/A-18
and a Sukhoi SU-27 (Yep, we've had those here too), but I can.

There are also a few warbird enthusiasts based here, and I especially love the
sound of a thumping old radial engine. That one is guaranteed to get me out of
a coma and running outside in my underwear! :D

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notliketherest
There's something incredibly awe inspiring in observing real time air traffic
maps (www.flightradar24.com) and then seeing and correlating them in the real
word. Really exposes just how globally integrated our world is.

~~~
noselasd
And for ships:
[https://www.marinetraffic.com/ee/ais/home/centerx:25/centery...](https://www.marinetraffic.com/ee/ais/home/centerx:25/centery:37/zoom:7)

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flashman
Another long read on plane spotters, this time from Australia:
[https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewmcmillen/things-are-
looking-u...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewmcmillen/things-are-looking-up-
for-planespotters-the-worlds-most-obse)

Usual disclaimer about it being good despite being on BuzzFeed.

Also this discussion was about a bot that tracks dictators flying to Geneva,
potentially for money laundering:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12748169](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12748169)

