Locally Built Ultralight
Seen over Fairhope is what appears to be a Breese 2 ultralight, manufactured by M-Squared Aircraft located in St. Elmo, about 20 miles outside of Mobile…
Airplanes
Fairhope Hosts Air Race Classic
Fairhope was to have marked this morning’s start of the annual women’s Air Race Classic, but thunderstorms have other ideas. The race features pilots ranging from teenagers to seniors, from all vocations and backgrounds, with one common bond: A love of aviation. Forty one airplanes are involved in the event which consists of a timed…
High Altitude airship In The Sky
Too high to be visible to the naked eye due to cloud cover, a high altitude balloon operated by Raven Aerostar floats over Mobile Bay Friday afternoon. Located 64,300 feet or roughly twelve miles high, the balloon moves NNW at a ground speed of nine knots or about 10 mph. Data from the balloon places…
‘Submarine Killer’ In The Air
Nicknamed a submarine killer for its anti-submarine warfare capabilities, a US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon crew flies patterns over Fairhope MAY 21 2025. If the aircraft looks vaguely familiar, that’s because the P-8A is based on the Boeing 737 passenger jet’s airframe. Based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Poseidons routinely make such flights over…
Spirit Over Mobile Bay
Spirit Airlines flight 2398 passes over Daphne’s May Day park late the morning of MAY 13 2025 while on a flight from Orlando to Houston. Captured at an altitude of 38,000 feet or about seven miles, the Airbus A320 moves at a ground speed of 413 knots or 475 mph during the roughly two hour…
From Coast to Coast
American Airlines flight 1251 passes directly over Flying Creek in Fairhope MAY 11 2025 while on a flight from Los Angeles to Miami. Captured at an altitude of 35,000 feet or around 6.5 miles, the Airbus A321 moves at a ground speed of 503 knots or 578 mph during the roughly four and a half…
Chinook Over Fairhope
A US Army Boeing CH-47F Chinook passes over Point Clear late Tuesday afternoon. The helicopter is captured around 3,000 feet high, moving at a groundspeed of 136 knots or 156 mph during a roughly 90 minute flight that started from Houma, LA with landing in Pensacola. A heavy-lift tandem rotor helicopter, the Chinook serves both…
Poseidon Over Fairhope
A US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon crew flies over Fairhope several times MAY 4th 2025 while practicing touch-and-go landings at Brookley Field in Mobile. Based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the Poseidon is a maritime patrol aircraft used for anti-submarine warfare, intelligence and reconnaissance. Also available for search and rescue, Poseidons can drop and…
AWACS Over Fairhope
A US Air Force Boeing E-3 Sentry flies patterns over the eastern shore MAY 2nd 2025. Flying at an altitude of 29,000 feet or about 5.5 miles, the aircraft moves at a ground speed of 400 knots or 460 mph. The aircraft had flown to the Gulf coast from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma…
thrasher Over Fairhope
A US Navy Leonardo TH-73A Thrasher flies along the eastern shore the morning of MAY 2nd 2025. Captured about 975 feet up, the aircraft moves at a ground speed of 140 knots or 161 mph. The TH-73A is used for training aviators in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. A fleet of TH-73As is…