Backcountry Pilot • ADS-B, Drones, and MVFR/IFR

ADS-B, Drones, and MVFR/IFR

A general forum for anything related to flying the backcountry. Please check first if your new topic fits better into a more specific forum before posting.
3 postsPage 1 of 1

ADS-B, Drones, and MVFR/IFR

So last Monday, again on my Taos trip with nearly all of Texas MVFR/IFR, as I approached Abilene/Dyess AFB I got to a pocket of VFR/MVFR. I was probably 3,000 agl and all around me/under me in this pocket are little puffy clouds with more clear space around them they the size they occupied so I had pretty good visibility to the ground.

As I neared Abilene an ADS-B target came up on Foreflight. It was on an intersecting course with me, 700 feet below me. Speed was 178kts, much faster then the 185. It came alongside me about two miles away, slowed down and paralleled me. I turned away and it followed me. I turned toward it and it turned away from me. I scanned the sky hard looking to see what it was. Eventually it moved to five miles from me and continued to parallel. Every so often it would turn to an intercept course and close to within 2 miles. Then after a few moments it would move back to five miles.

After maybe ten minutes I was passing Dyess AFB and it turned and headed in the general direction of Abilene/Dyess and I lost the ADS-B target.

I never could see it so have no idea what it was. But my bet is some kind of small drone. But who knows for sure.
Barnstormer offline
Posts: 2700
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:42 am
Location: Alaska
Aircraft: C185

Re: ADS-B, Drones, and MVFR/IFR

I think you're paranoid. Doubt it was a drone. Why didn't you turn to intercept it? or slow down and see if it could have kept up at 50 kts? Could have been a number of things, however "drones" would be one of the last on my list.
Timberwolf offline
User avatar
Posts: 193
Joined: Sun May 11, 2014 1:24 pm
Location: Panhandle
Aircraft: RV-6 with Glass and too much power
Murphy Moose M-14

Re: ADS-B, Drones, and MVFR/IFR

He did try to intercept it. It turned away from him when he turned towards it.
A1Skinner offline
Supporter
User avatar
Posts: 5186
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:38 am
Location: Eaglesham
FindMeSpot URL: [url:1vzmrq4a]http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0az97SSJm2Ky58iEMJLqgaAQvVxMnGp6G[/url:1vzmrq4a]
Aircraft: Cessna P206A, AT402/502/602

DISPLAY OPTIONS

3 postsPage 1 of 1

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

Latest Features

Latest Knowledge Base