Mistery flight with my N-number

T

thito01

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
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224
Location
Central Florida
Display Name
Display name:
Tony T
About every 6 months or so, my aircraft is 'spotted' by FlightAware in California. It happened again today.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N4306F/history/20220219/2141Z/
How can I find any communications or ADSB information for this flight.
I would like to at least verify that they don't have a mis-configured transponder and it's simply a communication issue and not something they need to fix.
 
I dunno. This has happened to just about everybody I know, including me. But not repeatedly, so it doesn't seem to be due to a configuration issue in another plane. It's odd.
 
Since it doesn’t look like a full flight, just a blip, I think it’s erroneous data. You can setup FlightAware to send you an email when it sees you’re airborne, I recommend this, just in case your aircraft gets stolen.
 
It's a mystery to me what a mistery is.
 
So I’m guessing it’s a controller mess up. And I say that because N4360F is a plane in my flying club and it happened to go to a club fly in at L77 today which is 22 miles east of TRM so that’s probably why your plane showed up in CA.
 
ATC put the wrong tail number in the system. Pure and simple.
 
Some have expressed concerns that this can lead an overzealous tax collector or airport fee collector to incorrectly chase you. T? F?
 
MarcusSD said:
So I’m guessing it’s a controller mess up. And I say that because N4360F is a plane in my flying club and it happened to go to a club fly in at L77 today which is 22 miles east of TRM so that’s probably why your plane showed up in CA.
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I have always thought it was just a controller mistake, but due to the frequency, I was concerned it was a seldom flown aircraft that was mis-configured. It always happens in southern CA. Now that I know there is a N4360F out of Carlsbad, my concerns are squashed. Thanks for the reply.

Let'sgoflying! said:
Some have expressed concerns that this can lead an overzealous tax collector or airport fee collector to incorrectly chase you. T? F?
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Being near the southern border, I was more concerned that I might get a visit from a fed concerning a cross-border "issue".

MooneyDriver78 said:
Since it doesn’t look like a full flight, just a blip, I think it’s erroneous data. You can setup FlightAware to send you an email when it sees you’re airborne, I recommend this, just in case your aircraft gets stolen.
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I wonder if the controller put it in wrong, then the pilot corrected him, then the controller fixed the radar blip tag. Thus, the short flight.

JOhnH said:
It's a mystery to me what a mistery is.
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Ok, so I can't spell sometimes. I used to blame it on old age, but now I just blame it on having had Covid.
 
thito01 said:
Ok, so I can't spell sometimes. I used to blame it on old age, but now I just blame it on having had Covid.
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I apologize. I should have used a ;) to show that I was joking. I make too many of my own mistakes to criticize others.
 
My N number used to show up elsewhere occasionally. Then I convinced everyone that I was hauling cocaine around. My N number no longer shows up elsewhere anymore.
 
FlightAware has been known to make mistakes from time to time.
 
thito01 said:
About every 6 months or so, my aircraft is 'spotted' by FlightAware in California. It happened again today.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N4306F/history/20220219/2141Z/
How can I find any communications or ADSB information for this flight.
I would like to at least verify that they don't have a mis-configured transponder and it's simply a communication issue and not something they need to fix.
Click to expand...

OK you busted me, I have been taking your plane to Calif every once in a while. I have been filling it back up with gas when I return. I hope you don't mind?
 
The most common reason is an aircraft with an N number close to yours is miss-entered by a controller when providing FF.
 
I've had that happen to me as well. What made it even more amazing was that my plane was flying at over 1000 kts. As far as "controllers" screwing it up, well, have you tried to listen to some pilots talk? Controllers type in what they hear and sometimes don't get it right the first time.
 
Got probably the easiest tail number ever 4123 and controllers routinely have an incorrect read back... Even after I try to correct. Fat thumbing when entering it is a thing too.
 
I get the same thing sometimes, in fact, mine just popped up off Long Beach, CA for a minute or two and my plane was at the airport.
 

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A plane I used to own shows up almost every week on FlightAware somewhere in Iowa. Funny thing is, it's a Canadian C-registered airplane that has never been in the U.S. - at least not with me, or any of the previous two owners (so a good 25 years).
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Since it doesn’t look like a full flight, just a blip, I think it’s erroneous data. You can setup FlightAware to send you an email when it sees you’re airborne, I recommend this, just in case your aircraft gets stolen.
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Will a thief turn on ADSB when stealing a plane? Hehe
 
Four digit ca
Racerx said:
Got probably the easiest tail number ever 4123 and controllers routinely have an incorrect read back... Even after I try to correct. Fat thumbing when entering it is a thing too.
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Four digit call signs are not easy for Controllers. They don’t fit the usual form. It upsets the rhythm. Don’t know what you fly but let’s say it’s a Bonanza. Call yourself Bonanza November 4123. Put that N in there.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
A plane I used to own shows up almost every week on FlightAware somewhere in Iowa. Funny thing is, it's a Canadian C-registered airplane that has never been in the U.S. - at least not with me, or any of the previous two owners (so a good 25 years).
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I wonder if sometimes transponders get removed from an aircraft and reinstalled, but then aren't updated. I've seen several on ADS-B exchange where the ADS-B tailnumber does not match the Mode-S registration.
 
midwestpa24 said:
I wonder if sometimes transponders get removed from an aircraft and reinstalled, but then aren't updated. I've seen several on ADS-B exchange where the ADS-B tailnumber does not match the Mode-S registration.
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It can happen. The other common screw up is when one obtains a new N number, but does not update the transponder. A 91.413 transponder test includes verifying the transponder is using the correct assigned address:

(f) Mode S Address: Interrogate the Mode S transponder and verify that it replies only to its assigned address. Use the correct address and at least two incorrect addresses. The interrogations should be made at a nominal rate of 50 interrogations per second.
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midwestpa24 said:
I wonder if sometimes transponders get removed from an aircraft and reinstalled, but then aren't updated.
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That is physically impossible. Regulations require transponders to be installed by qualified individuals who are trained to make the proper tests and log entries.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
That is physically impossible. Regulations require transponders to be installed by qualified individuals who are trained to make the proper tests and log entries.
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I wouldn't say it isn't physically impossible. Its not all that hard to slide one GTX345 out of a tray and swap it with another GTX345. Or someone not paying real good attention at the avionics shops accidently swaps them on the bench and they get installed back into the wrong aircraft.

I believe there was a thread or story recently about someone who discovered their GPS/radio in their aircraft had the wrong serial number compared to the logbook, and was trying to figure out how and when it was swapped, and by whom.
 
midwestpa24 said:
I believe there was a thread or story recently about someone who discovered their GPS/radio in their aircraft had the wrong serial number compared to the logbook, and was trying to figure out how and when it was swapped, and by whom.
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That is a common method of hiding a theft. Steal a radio from one aircraft and install it in another aircraft without the owner's knowledge. Then sell the one taken from the second aircraft which is not reported as stolen.
 
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