Low Flying Plane over NW Calgary - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

jkstuart12 · 10-15-2011, 10:21 AM

Has anyone else seen the plane that's been circling around NW Calgary for the past 30 mins or so? I'm no plane expert like some of you on here so I can't tell you what type of plane it is, all I know is that it's pretty big (about the size of a 727) and is circling VERY low. Seems odd...

I should also note, the plane is flying over the Citadel/Edgemont/Hamptons area

chummer · 10-15-2011, 10:25 AM

Probably Nav Canada's plane they use to test the ILS at YYC.

Is it a white and blue CRJ?

jkstuart12 · 10-15-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chummer

Probably Nav Canada's plane they use to test the ILS at YYC.

Is it a white and blue CRJ?

Yeah it looks like it.

worth · 10-15-2011, 10:40 AM

SeeBass · 10-15-2011, 10:44 AM

Well that explains that, I remember seeing that a couple of months back and wondered what was up.

pylon · 10-15-2011, 11:24 AM

Thankyou!

I saw that thing in August circling around the city, and actually got out of my car to try and figure out the markings. It just circles for a couple hours, then disappears in a very NWO lizard person like fashion. And the thing is quiet.

I am sure it is dropping chemtrails on the city though. Maybe Mikey can chime in and let us know for certain.

Flash Walken · 10-15-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chummer

Probably Nav Canada's plane they use to test the ILS at YYC.

Is it a white and blue CRJ?

What's the ILS?

normtwofinger · 10-15-2011, 12:17 PM

Instrument Landing System.

SeeBass · 10-15-2011, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pylon

Thankyou!

I saw that thing in August circling around the city, and actually got out of my car to try and figure out the markings. It just circles for a couple hours, then disappears in a very NWO lizard person like fashion. And the thing is quiet.

I am sure it is dropping chemtrails on the city though. Maybe Mikey can chime in and let us know for certain.

Same as me in August. I just dropped everything and tried to read the markings.

sa226 · 10-15-2011, 12:25 PM

Yea, its probably The NavCanada dudes testing the Navaids (ILS)

It is kinda fun to watch them because they don't fly the approaches like an airliner would, they do it clean and at high speed. Almost TOP GUN like.

They were probably circling around in a Hold, to allow other aircraft to land. I'm not sure how many times they will shoot the approaches, but at a busy airport like YYC they won't be able to get them in back to back. ATC will have to put them in a hold to fit the other guys in.

ILS stands for Instrument Landing System. It is a precision system independent of GPS (or WAAS, GNSS etc, etc) That depending on aircraft\airport equipment and certification can get you as low as 100ft.

There are basically 2 types of instrument approaches: Precision and Non Precision, and a few different ways to navigate those approaches. (GPS vs Traditional Navaid)

The two main differences between Precision and Non precision is:
1) Precision approaches typically allow you to land with lower minimums (crappier weather) than Non Precision
and
2) Precision approaches give you lateral and vertical guidance. Non-precision only gives you lateral guidance.

For example in on a precision approach you have a little bar to follow to make sure you stay on your lateral track , and also a little bar to follow to make sure you stay on your descent slope. On a non-precision, you only have a little bar to follow for your lateral tracking. For your descent profile, it is only guidelines of when to descend by what point. So slope vs step down.

Wow did I ever go off on a tangent....

pylon · 10-15-2011, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sa226

Yea, its probably The NavCanada dudes testing the Navaids (ILS)

It is kinda fun to watch them because they don't fly the approaches like an airliner would, they do it clean and at high speed. Almost TOP GUN like.

<snip>

Wow did I ever go off on a tangent....

That's what blew me away, the thing was going FAST when I saw it. Very nice looking plane BTW. Do they have some sort of special noise supressor on it? Because it is unusually quiet. I would assume so, since they are flying so low over major cities.

And thanks for the tangent... learn something new every day.

Bigtime · 10-15-2011, 04:56 PM

Runway 10 has finally had an ILS installed, that was most likely what they were testing.

Bigtime · 10-15-2011, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pylon

That's what blew me away, the thing was going FAST when I saw it. Very nice looking plane BTW. Do they have some sort of special noise supressor on it? Because it is unusually quiet. I would assume so, since they are flying so low over major cities.

And thanks for the tangent... learn something new every day.

No noise suppression, you just don't need a lot of thrust to fly an approach when you have no gear and flaps hanging out.

Think of how quiet it gets when an airliner you are on starts its initial descent, it isn't until they really start slowing down and putting down the flaps and gear that they increase the thrust to counter the increased drag.

Beerfest · 10-15-2011, 05:07 PM

Im pretty sure I saw the same plane circling around a few weeks ago at a Stampeders game.

Bigtime · 10-15-2011, 05:13 PM

It has been here for a couple of weeks, usually they don't stay this long but perhaps since it is a new ILS system on runway 10 they need longer to get everything tested out properly.

JonDuke · 10-15-2011, 09:08 PM

They test the ILS at least once every other month.
I work at the airport and see it quite often.
Can also confirm for sure that the Nav Canada RJ was indeed making its rounds today.

KelVarnsen · 10-15-2011, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Runway 10 has finally had an ILS installed, that was most likely what they were testing.

10 has ILS now? Cool.

Drury18 · 10-15-2011, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sa226

It is kinda fun to watch them because they don't fly the approaches like an airliner would, they do it clean and at high speed. Almost TOP GUN like.

I don't know if fun is the first word I'd use watching them. I saw this thing while at a stop light in Citadel today. All I saw was the plane go into a high speed turn at what looked like a 180 degree angle and then zip out of site behind some houses. I was pretty sure I was about to witness a plane crash.

Cluelessboy · 10-15-2011, 10:59 PM

I was told it was a ufo

Bigtime · 10-16-2011, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drury18

I don't know if fun is the first word I'd use watching them. I saw this thing while at a stop light in Citadel today. All I saw was the plane go into a high speed turn at what looked like a 180 degree angle and then zip out of site behind some houses. I was pretty sure I was about to witness a plane crash.

This is a perfect example of why eyewitness accounts of plane crashes can be so very, very wrong.

They were probably banking no more than 45 degrees, perhaps even 60 but no way were they even close to going over that.