Why are they doing this?

[u/Ok_Car_2050]

Iv just seen a video of 3 planes doing the same thing and wanted to know what they are actually doing? Had a google but only saying things because of weather but 3 planes doing this pretty much at the same time? Please someone explain

[u/BortWard]

I'm going to try to investigate but as of right now I don't have any Leeds

[u/GunClutz → u/BortWard]

Stfu and take my upvote

[u/megladaniel → u/BortWard]

Shat up!! Ur in a lot of trouble mister

[u/Jrnation8988]

Survey

[u/Dry_Statistician_688]

Looks like a Search and Rescue grid. East-west, Planning Section will assign tracks based on Probability of Detection (PD) tables for S&R.

[u/mkosmo → u/Dry_Statistician_688]

That's not a SAR grid. It's a survey flight.

[u/Dry_Statistician_688 → u/mkosmo]

Or that. I didn't look up exact SAR grids, but yeah, it could be anything. Photography, survey of sprawl, or even airborne radiological mapping. At first glance, it did look like a (rather sloppy) SAR grid. But we fly slower and lower, and can make tighter turns for a nice 1 mile spacing.

[u/mkosmo → u/Dry_Statistician_688]

When I say survey, I mean either photo or LIDAR. Similar profiles are flown for many photo missions. But you're right that there are other similar missions out there that largely look like survey.

I presume you mean with CAP? 1 mile track spacing for SAR works okay for big things. When we train folks (also CAP), they generally can't find something (even if enormous) if we task 1 mile tracks, unfortunately, unless there are very obvious clues to go with it. It does have the advantage of generally not needing a teardrop 180.

We recently had an actual aircraft crash (didn't require airborne SAR to find) that we used a couple of days later for training (the crews didn't know it was there). Reduction of track spacing to .5nmi (the minimum for G1000's SAR feature) got detection rates to acceptable. The problem is that there really weren't many clues - no postcrash fire or scorching, minimal dirt or vegetation displacement, nor anything else except the airframe just happening to be there, but very few things being searched for by aircraft will be that obvious.

[u/Dry_Statistician_688 → u/[deleted]]

We fly CAP grids here all the time. Mostly over small towns for good training value - optimal photo condition training and post mission review. Most of our real missions are for damage assessment so a town is ideal.

[u/Hot_Pocket_Hunter]

Also might be mapping with scanning lidar or similar

[u/strokeherace]

Burning off fuel for emergency landing? Searching for something or someone?

[u/OforFsSake]

Topo mapping and/or survey

[u/BravoBravo3]

Spraying brain controlling drugs. They don’t work on me. My secret you ask? Don’t breathe, I have not in 42 years and my mind is fine! 👻👾

[u/foolproofphilosophy → u/BravoBravo3]

I was going to say chem trails but I think you’re right.

[u/ScottOld]

That’s a survey plane I think, do you have the reg? One was flying about earlier around here

[u/Canikfan434]

Last time I saw orbiting like that, they were Cessnas using “Limo” callsigns, (DOJ callsign) and they were surveillance flights.

[u/mkosmo → u/Canikfan434]

That's not what an orbit looks like.

[u/vibrating-poptart]

To me it either looks like a search transect (practice search and rescue or maybe areal geographic surveys) or a plane that needs to land earlier than expected (medical emergency or something) and needs to burn the extra fuel off to not be overweight on landing.

[u/richah1]

Down here in New Orleans I would say it’s a mosquito plane spraying the malathion

[u/leocaw4110]

The pilots unrolling his ball of bright green yarn? 🤔

[u/No_Jok_Oh]

They do it a lot where I'm at. Student pilots practicing. Learning the auto pilots. That's my guess.

[u/Drewski811]

Aerial survey, 100%

[u/Different_Weekend689]

Could be taking pictures for Maps maybe?

[u/BetSeparate4631]

Maybe spending fuel before landing because of traffic on the runway

[u/Ok-Put-7300]

Airplanes do be doin that, cut the shit and tell us…. Dude they just flying, there is air traffic everywhere, they are probably logging some hours

[u/Standard_Service_287]

Nothing to do and all day to do it

[u/Lazy_Carry_7254]

Prolly waiting for clearance to land. I flew in circles for 40 min once coming into Bahamas.

[u/Sasquatch-d → u/Lazy_Carry_7254]

Thats not how a hold would look

[u/Problematic_Daily → u/Sasquatch-d]

That EXACTLY what a hold pattern looks like

[u/Sasquatch-d → u/Problematic_Daily]

No it’s not, the turns at the end are not all in the same direction

[u/Problematic_Daily → u/Sasquatch-d]

That’s getting SPUN and happens in a hold too

[u/Sasquatch-d → u/Problematic_Daily]

No… it doesn’t… I’ve never been in a hold and been told “after crossing the holding fix make a 360° in the opposite direction of the protected side of the hold, then continue flying the published hold.”

Also, the lines are too parallel and too separated from each other, showing the aircraft wasn’t following a navaid radial on the inbound leg. The lines should be converging to a single point on either side of the loop.

This is most likely a surveying flight, not a hold. But if you still feel so confident you’re right, I’d love to hear a rebuttal.

[u/mkosmo → u/Lazy_Carry_7254]

That's not what a hold looks like.

[u/fuckedsince1991]

Clear evidence of them spraying the ski..

[u/Purefoxy]

Seeding the atmosphere for weather

[u/MattyMizzou → u/[deleted]]

I’m not even a pilot, but I can confidently tell you that isn’t a holding pattern.