Unusual Sighting (What was that?)

Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At
first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that routinely
fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio, skinny aft fuselage,
trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that it wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and had a
V-tail.

What was that thing?

UFO???

Did (or does) Sonex make a V-tail motorglider?

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:
Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At
first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that routinely
fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio, skinny aft fuselage,
trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that it wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and had a
V-tail.

What was that thing?



--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

Was this it??

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

Scott


Scott wrote:

UFO???

Did (or does) Sonex make a V-tail motorglider?

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:

Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home
of Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high.
At first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that
routinely fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio,
skinny aft fuselage, trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that
it wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and
had a V-tail.

What was that thing?



--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

Don't think so. Don't forget the "skinny" aft fuselage I described. It was
wasp waisted, like the current Diamonds or maybe a Lancair.

For what it is worth, I don't think it was a Moni either.

KB

"Scott" wrote in message
news
Was this it??

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

Scott


Scott wrote:

UFO???

Did (or does) Sonex make a V-tail motorglider?

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:

Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At
first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that
routinely fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio, skinny
aft fuselage, trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that it
wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and
had a V-tail.

What was that thing?



--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

Like all UFOs, I don't suppose you got a good photo!

Maybe a Robin ATL L as in the article below? Doubtful, as it looks
British, but I can't help thinking it approriate with "ATL" in the name
I don't think you would have mistaken it for several of the others
listed in the article

http://www.answers.com/topic/v-tail

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:
Don't think so. Don't forget the "skinny" aft fuselage I described. It was
wasp waisted, like the current Diamonds or maybe a Lancair.

For what it is worth, I don't think it was a Moni either.

KB

"Scott" wrote in message
news
Was this it??

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

Scott


Scott wrote:


UFO???

Did (or does) Sonex make a V-tail motorglider?

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:


Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At
first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that
routinely fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio, skinny
aft fuselage, trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that it
wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and
had a V-tail.

What was that thing?


--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)




--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

It very well could have been a Robin. The fuselage looks very Diamond like.
The size and proportions look right too.



"Scott" wrote in message
.. .
Like all UFOs, I don't suppose you got a good photo!

Maybe a Robin ATL L as in the article below? Doubtful, as it looks
British, but I can't help thinking it approriate with "ATL" in the name
I don't think you would have mistaken it for several of the others listed
in the article

http://www.answers.com/topic/v-tail

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:
Don't think so. Don't forget the "skinny" aft fuselage I described. It
was wasp waisted, like the current Diamonds or maybe a Lancair.

For what it is worth, I don't think it was a Moni either.

KB

"Scott" wrote in message
news
Was this it??

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/aircraft/xenos.html

Scott


Scott wrote:


UFO???

Did (or does) Sonex make a V-tail motorglider?

Scott


Kyle Boatright wrote:


Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At
first, I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that
routinely fly out of Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio,
skinny aft fuselage, trigear... As we got closer, it was obvious that
it wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and
had a V-tail.

What was that thing?


--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)




--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

Kyle Boatright a écrit :
It very well could have been a Robin. The fuselage looks very Diamond like.
The size and proportions look right too.

Kyle,

Not really sure there are Robin ATLs your side of the Atlantic.
But as you said the aircraft was slow, it may well be an ATL after all ;-)

Best regards,
--
Gilles
http://contrails.free.fr

On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:18:02 +0100, GTH wrote:

Kyle Boatright a écrit :
It very well could have been a Robin. The fuselage looks very Diamond like.
The size and proportions look right too.,

Not really sure there are Robin ATLs your side of the Atlantic.
But as you said the aircraft was slow, it may well be an ATL after all ;-)

None listed in the 2 November 2007 FAA Registration Database. Just for S&Gs, I
looked in the July 1997 database; wasn't there, either.

Curiously, though, the type is listed in the FAA Aircraft Reference File (Type
05619IM). It's listed as "not Type Certified," which generally means
Experimental category. I'm not sure how planes end up listed in the ARF, but my
suspicion is that someone has to at least start the paperwork to get an
N-number. It wasn't in the January 2005 ARF, but was in the January 2006
version.

The plane Kyle saw may still be carrying its French or British registration
pending completion of its US registry process.

Ron Wanttaja

Perhaps this http://corvaircruiser.com/ ?


"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
Yesterday, we departed Falcon Field, South of Atlanta (also the home of
Aircraft Spruce East) and noticed traffic at about 10 O'clock high. At first,
I thought it was one of the Diamond Eclipse trainers that routinely fly out of
Falcon. Low wings with a high aspect ratio, skinny aft fuselage, trigear...
As we got closer, it was obvious that it wasn't an Eclipse..

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and had a
V-tail.

What was that thing?

Why? Well, it was slower than the Diamonds, was relatively small, and had a
V-tail.

What was that thing?


Probably some sort of motorglider. I've seen both pusher and tractor
prop motorgliders with a V-tail with an aft fuselage that looks like
the Diamond series.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

Harry Frey