Interesting observation on my time lapse exercise

[DMKAlex]

I tried yesterday to have another go of the time lapse exercise. It didn't work out because the beautiful cloud turned dark and crowded over where the sun was supposed to be.

But I saw an interesting phenomenon that's kind of unexplainable. I observed that most of the planes trying to land would take off right at the end of the runway. That outnumbered those which actually landed.

Can someone explain that to me? I have written down the few incidences in the description. You may have to do frame by frame to see that.

 

[Off The Mark]

I left a comment on your youtube channel, too.

The main reason is probably practice, since landing and take off are the most dangerous times for pilots. They might be a student and getting instruction, or they might have a test to keep their license current, or they just wanted to practice to keep their skills honed.

Too bad about the cloud, but it still turned out nice.

BTW: It might be interesting for you to look up the film Koyanitsqatsi, which made EXTENSIVE use of time lapse.

You can see the trailer (very low resolution) here:

 

[sludge21017]

You can probably watch on flightradar24.com.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I observed that most of the planes trying to land would take off right at the end of the runway. That outnumbered those which actually landed.

What you're seeing is called a "touch and go". It's a standard method for teaching student pilots how to land safely. Landing an aircraft is one of those "muscle memory" skills that requires practice to perfect, so early flight training focuses on it. Usually after perhaps 10 to 20 hours, depending on the student, they've gained enough proficiency at landing that they are allowed to take the aircraft up by themselves without an instructor. That's not the end of their training, though, as there are lots of other things to learn too.

If you watch an aircraft that has done a touch and go you'll almost certainly see it take off, turn 90 degrees (typically to the left), turn 90 degrees again so that it's flying parallel to the runway but in the opposite direction to landing, then make two more 90 degree turns to line up with the approach end of the runway and then do another touch and go. And around and around they go. The path they trace in the sky is called the "pattern " or sometimes the "circuit", and on a good day at a small airport you'll often find multiple aircraft going round the pattern, practicing. Pattern altitude is typically 1000 feet above the ground.

 

[DMKAlex]

Thank you all for the explanation. I didn't realize that many student pilots in that airport.

Back in the 90's, my office was on the hill behind where I took those time lapse video. Down the hill was the highway (Rt. 7) dividing the airport and the offices up the hill. The planes would fly from behind the building and drop rapidly to the runway.

There was one incident that the plane dropped too fast once it passed the office buildings and crashed onto the hill before the runway. I think the pilot was killed.

Here is a short time lapse clip of the office on the hill. I took this a few years back.



Looking back, I think I had never noticed the beautiful sunset as I left the office back then. I guess I had, in those days, too much on my mind. Glad that I'd rediscovered it after my active life.