Strange lights? Make sure to report on guard I guess
Posted by duprass@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 34 comments
Been doing transcons for the last couple bids. Every time I’m westbound, after sunset, starlink satellites come in and out of view right in our faces in the western sky. You know what I don’t do? YELL ABOUT IT ON GUARD
Or play music from Mars Attacks on guard
Or say “my position is KS12U and I can see them to my left” on guard
as if we’d.. plug in the K position on the map?
Dear lord. Can we get a national ALPA campaign educating pilots about how satellites in varying orbits at low angles of view can sometimes look funky?
FOs, educate your captains. Please, I beg you. You can even say they’re Mr. Musk’s satellites and they’ll love it.
TheMarineLayer@reddit
Nothing like spending 3+ hours with a CA calling every satellite a UFO. Even after you pull out the starlink map and line it up with the light he’s currently pointing at. Great times.
aftcg@reddit
Oh yeah there is. When he's a flat earther on top of the UFO thing. Then they whip out the tin foil lined maga hat. Makes me want to pull n rotate
sjmuller@reddit
Wait, are there actually flat earther pilots? I would think that profession is only second to astronaut in dispelling the flat earth myth since you can see the curvature of the horizon if you go high enough. Not to mention long distance navigation. Your heading would be completely different on a flat earth vs a globe.
aftcg@reddit
Yeah there are. I fly with 2 of them. I give them such a hard time I don't let them speak of it or any of their other crazy shit or else they don't get to fly.
nascent_aviator@reddit
But sectionals are flat. Checkmate, round earthers.
nascent_aviator@reddit
An airline captain being a flat earther is a special kind of stupid.
rckid13@reddit
The ISS has a tracker too, and it's really cool if your flight path lines up with it going across. It's bright enough to look kind of like airplane traffic up above you, but it's absolutely hauling ass. Like will be past you and out of your view in about a minute or two. I can see people getting really confused by that one.
nascent_aviator@reddit
I wonder what's the record number of transits any pilot has seen the ISS go over in a single flight? It only takes 90 minutes or something to circumnavigate the globe iirc.
nascent_aviator@reddit
So the UFOs' trajectories match exactly with Starlink satellites...
IT'S THE PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE!
aypho@reddit
WB flying means basically every trip starts with a redeye… which means every trip starts with the litmus test of “Does my CA think Starlink flares are UFOs?”
Flat6Fanatic@reddit
I enjoy the free entertainment on guard. Or I tune the ADF and pick up that sweet sweet Mexican Mariachi music to keep me going on those red eyes
randylush@reddit
I don't listen on guard and I certainly don't talk on guard. But I really don't see the harm in someone meowing once in awhile. In what scenario is someone saying "meow" dangerous? Even if there was an emergency? Would someone really get stepped on with a meow - "MAYDAY MAYDAY OUR LOCATION IS-" - never to be heard from again? I know flying is Serious Business but some people really get their knickers in a bunch over trivial shit.
Derp_McShlurp@reddit
I miss having ADF's in the plane. Somebody said Radio Disney stopped broadcasting a few years ago though. That was my go-to.
ThirdBrain@reddit
how about posting some of those satellite maps and tracker info here instead of creating a passive agressive whine thread, jeez
hawker1172@reddit
Okay but also to the “ITS STARLINK” crowd, someone yelled “it’s starlink” after an aircraft reported the rocket explosion debris on San Juan Center as if they were crazy.
It was in fact not starlink it was a massive exploding debris in the atmosphere appearing to head towards commercial aircraft.
satans_little_axeman@reddit
In all fairness it was more space trash from the Starlink guy
videopro10@reddit
Why are you trying to hide the truth?
hoppertn@reddit
💥 It’s not a UFO. What you saw was some swamp gas from a weather balloon got trapped in a thermal pocked and refracted the light from Venus. 😎
Carlito_2112@reddit
What you saw was some swamp gas from a weather balloon got trapped in a thermal pocked and refracted the light from Venus.
Don't you mean, "Uranus"...?
ThatLooksRight@reddit
Also, hire a decorator, because….damn.
JATO757@reddit
Preach! Can’t even count the amount of times I’ve given clear explanations how how geostationary, mid earth, and low earth orbits work, only to get the “I dunno, satellites don’t move like that” argument back.
My favorite part is then seeing on the news/some sensationalized social media article that a pilot spotted “suspicious lights” in the sky.
It never ends.
trying_to_adult_here@reddit
The silent cry of dispatchers everywhere when the captain can’t pull up the latest release.
N546RV@reddit
meow
aftcg@reddit
Ops RJ123 20 minutes 30 bags no specials
Twarrior913@reddit
“HEY WE NEED SOME PAHTABLE HERE AT ALPHA5”
PullDoNotRotate@reddit
JETWAY DRIVER TO SIXTY-NINE
duprass@reddit (OP)
Guard is emergencies only
Hi delta
makgross@reddit
No it isn’t. It’s for establishing communications. Emergency or otherwise.
Now, meowing on that is beyond stupid.
root_at_localhost@reddit
plays dangerzone MEEEOOOOOOOOW
makgross@reddit
I work with a bunch of engineers building yet another satellite network.
Lately they have been going into the parking lot after work, pointing at the bright light in the western sky, and asking “what’s THAT?”
It’s Venus. It’s always fucking Venus. That’s just what a magnitude of -4 looks like.
FrankThePilot@reddit
The education in this country could really use some work. The number of captains I've flown with that spout some easily disproven Q-Anon type stuff is insane.
Elgard18@reddit
These days I hear "What's that?" "Starlink" almost as often as meowing on guard.
ExcelCrazy@reddit
That would be something
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Been doing transcons for the last couple bids. Every time I’m westbound, after sunset, starlink satellites come in and out of view right in our faces in the western sky. You know what I don’t do? YELL ABOUT IT ON GUARD
Or play music from Mars Attacks on guard
Or say “my position is KS12U and I can see them to my left” on guard
as if we’d.. plug in the K position on the map?
Dear lord. Can we get a national ALPA campaign educating pilots about how satellites in varying orbits at low angles of view can sometimes look funky?
FOs, educate your captains. Please, I beg you. You can even say they’re Mr. Musk’s satellites and they’ll love it.
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