Odd Plane Flying Tonight (Aurora)

[JONOV]

Predator Drone.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pred...TZ_eKYLOfFQtM:

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by Gearcrasher

Sounds like maybe a Beechcraft Starship but I think only a couple are still flying.

I was thinking a Piaggio P.180 Avanti which has a similar pusher prop (turbo prop) setup, and canard wing up front. I do see them flying here in the U.S. on occasion. Rare, but I have seen them.

[2Loud]

It was a group of six propeller planes in formation. It was not a single plane in the shape of an "X". They flew over Garner last night. They are part of the airshow that's going to be taking place in Smithfield this weekend called Skyfest. They also do fly overs for NC State games.

https://abc11.com/entertainment/clas...yfest/5606826/

[SFspiderman]

I can't speak to what exactly the OP saw, but yes, the Bandit Flight Team does flyovers for all NC State games, some Duke and Wake games, and many other events.

Bandit Flight Team

The Bandits light up the sky over Carter-Finley Stadium #banditflightteam #flyingfortheflag #vansaircraft #yak52 #gopack #ncsufootball #formationflying #pyrotechnics #wolfpack #aviation pic.twitter.com/wppVgHaXUL

— Bandit Flight (@Bandit_Flight) October 11, 2019

[spambrosia]

Originally Posted by JaPaKoMom

That is not what I saw. I would have been able to recognize that.

Not what I saw either! It was flying very low, and was either large or multiple plans flying VERY close together.

[2Loud]

Originally Posted by spambrosia

Not what I saw either! It was flying very low, and was either large or multiple plans flying VERY close together.

Propeller driven stunt planes flying in formation close together at night. That's exactly what you saw.

[newbee2]

Originally Posted by JaPaKoMom

Did anyone happen to see the odd shaped plane flying around this evening about 7:30-8:00? I was at Lochmere playing tennis and it was the oddest shaped plane I have ever seen. It almost looked like a butterfly shape. The front was a short V and the body/wings were an X. It seemed to be flying slowly and did 2 circular passes overhead. It was very large, like a passenger plane, definitely not a drone.

Anyone?

This?

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/...tary-aircraft/

[JaPaKoMom]

Originally Posted by newbee2

This?

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/...tary-aircraft/

Close, just needs a second set of wings

[take57]

Originally Posted by JONOV

Predator Drone.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pred...TZ_eKYLOfFQtM:

In the drone department:

I was driving through Nevada on US 95 a few weeks back and caught a very brief glimpse of what I believe were a pair of RQ-170 Sentinel drones paralleling the highway for a short time. They might have been RQ-180's, it was hard to tell for the all of 15 seconds you could track them over the twenty miles you could see ahead in the desert.

We were about 200 miles north of Creech AFB (a major drone base) and relatively close to the Tonopah Test Range airport where 30th Recon Squadron operate the Sentinels out of. It's not unusual to see Predators and their variants in the air, but these things were something altogether different.

Fast, with a capital "F". Almost like a missile. Dead silent except for the air getting pushed around (apparently the engine being used is still classified). They also couldn't have been more than a few hundred feet off the ground. Wild to see them hugging the deck like that. Thrilling and spooky all at the same time.

Made me wonder, if they are willing to fly these near a public highway in the middle of the day what do they fly at night when they don't want to have folks looking? (Area 51 is in that neck of the woods )

[turkeydance]

"Made me wonder, if they are willing to fly these near a public highway in the middle of the day what do they fly at night when they don't want to have folks looking?"

you made me wonder what they do not fly At All....at least, right now.