Painter1
Pre-Flight
We encountered some traffic near dusk last Sunday that I am still wondering about. Maybe one of you has a better understanding.
We were IFR at 6,000 ft, approximately 25 miles west of ST. Louis, heading 030 at 142 kts gs & 155 tas. There was a solid deck a few hundred feet below us with the ceiling at 900'. We were talking to St. Louis Approach inbound for landing at Spirit of St. Louis (KSUS), on the west edge of the metropolitan area, and the only other traffic on the wire were jets.
It was a nasty evening to be out in a GA aircraft without K-ice as there were 5K feet of icy clouds to contend with. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would be up & not filed.
We spotted traffic at 12:30, slightly above us. The aircraft was properly lit with nav lights and beacon. I called it in and center replied with "negative traffic in area". We were closing on the traffic but not at a speed that indicated opposite direction travel and it's position certainly was not changing relative to N&S.
Now, I'm not traveling fast enough to be overtaking anybody that I could hear on the frequency and we were clearly hearing both sides of every transmission center was engaged in. I told the controller that I definitely had traffic at my 1 o'clock, 500 above me and closing. "No known traffic-not showing any traffic in the area" was the reply.
My partner stayed in visual contact with the aircraft as we passed it and he deduced that it was flying very slowly eastward. Like less than half our speed. Short fuselage. long wings.
As we passed it I became busy calculating and communicating our need for a steep and late descent to the IAF that was east of SUS. We picked up more than a cocktails glass worth of ice but otherwise the approach was uneventful.
Talking to my son today, who is just out of the Air Force, he suggested that we saw a drone. What do you think?
We were IFR at 6,000 ft, approximately 25 miles west of ST. Louis, heading 030 at 142 kts gs & 155 tas. There was a solid deck a few hundred feet below us with the ceiling at 900'. We were talking to St. Louis Approach inbound for landing at Spirit of St. Louis (KSUS), on the west edge of the metropolitan area, and the only other traffic on the wire were jets.
It was a nasty evening to be out in a GA aircraft without K-ice as there were 5K feet of icy clouds to contend with. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would be up & not filed.
We spotted traffic at 12:30, slightly above us. The aircraft was properly lit with nav lights and beacon. I called it in and center replied with "negative traffic in area". We were closing on the traffic but not at a speed that indicated opposite direction travel and it's position certainly was not changing relative to N&S.
Now, I'm not traveling fast enough to be overtaking anybody that I could hear on the frequency and we were clearly hearing both sides of every transmission center was engaged in. I told the controller that I definitely had traffic at my 1 o'clock, 500 above me and closing. "No known traffic-not showing any traffic in the area" was the reply.
My partner stayed in visual contact with the aircraft as we passed it and he deduced that it was flying very slowly eastward. Like less than half our speed. Short fuselage. long wings.
As we passed it I became busy calculating and communicating our need for a steep and late descent to the IAF that was east of SUS. We picked up more than a cocktails glass worth of ice but otherwise the approach was uneventful.
Talking to my son today, who is just out of the Air Force, he suggested that we saw a drone. What do you think?
