Strange old cargo plane in Michigan
Posted by Godmadius@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 16 comments
When I was a kid, there was an old plane that I assume was cargo that I would spot flying over Southeast Michigan. This would have been about 1995 or so.
It was a straight front wing four engine (piston driven) configuration. If memory serves, it was a pusher configuration, but I'm a little fuzzy on that. I have never been able to figure out what plane it was, and it didn't seem to be flying with relation to any airshows or special events. It was a working plane, for what thats worth.
Anyone have any ideas what this might have been? Given the location, I assume it was stationed out of Willow Run airport.
Spin737@reddit
Probably a Zantop L-188.
Why do you think it was piston?
Godmadius@reddit (OP)
It was pretty clearly piston, I've never seen a jet with a leading edge wing so straight that also had four engines.
Spin737@reddit
Maybe it was a turboprop? That’s propellers but is powered by turbine engines, not piston.
That would still be an L-188.
cleverkid@reddit
Convair 550's were used to fly cargo from smaller cities...
DaveB44@reddit
Two, not four, engines!
cleverkid@reddit
Yeah, I know, I’m just saying these were heavily used on routes to smaller communities so it could be a possibility.
quietflyr@reddit
I can't think of anything that would fit that description and would be flying in the 90s. Are you sure it was pusher props?
Godmadius@reddit (OP)
Not 100% sure, no. Sadly I was like.... 10. so my memory is a little unreliable from that period of time. I think it may have been the L-188 posted below, it definitely had a very straight leading edge for the wings.
It definitely stood out though, a plane with that silhouette in the 90's was extremely unusual.
JaggedUmbrella@reddit
Lockheed L-188 is my best guess.
I used to live near Willow Run and I'd see them all the time in the 90s and even early 2000s, maybe even later than that.
Isord@reddit
The nacelles on the L-188 also give it a slightly weird profile where I could see someone mistakenly thinking it was a pusher.
JaggedUmbrella@reddit
Yep, this plane and that are exactly what I thought of when I saw this post.
Nebnotrab1965@reddit
XC 99. Piston pusher prop
pumpkinfarts23@reddit
It had 6 engines, and the only XC-99 was in Fort Worth at the time.
Jessie_C_2646@reddit
...which in 1995 was a pile of parts in Arizona :(
Also, it had 6 engines. Probably not the OP's aircraft.
Jessie_C_2646@reddit
If it was piston driven, it could have been a DC-6 or -7.
Direct_Cabinet_4564@reddit
I can’t think of any large 4 engined plane flying in 1995 that used a pusher configuration.
Zantop was the largest operator of Lockheed Electras in the world for a time. They were based in Willow Run (Ypsilanti). They all got broken up with front end loaders and thrown in dumpsters around 2010.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-188_Electra
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-188_Electra
They also operated DC-6, but I don’t know when those were retired. There was a lot of old junk flying around Detroit because the Big 3 would use them for cargo if a factory was running short of parts.
There are also Air Force bases around the area and one probably operated C-130’s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules