How do I find the jet owner?

[Travis]

I work directly under the flightpath for ABIA (Austin Bergstrom International Airport) in Austin, Texas.

Every couple of days, and sometimes twice a day, I see an F-5 Tiger fly over, taking off out of ABIA, which is a non-military airport.  And it is the only one I ever see (pretty sure) and there are NEVER two at a time in the sky.  All of this leads me to believe it is a privately-owned aircraft.

Now, I would like to find out the name of the owner, without having to go to the actual airport and try asking around, since I would have no idea where to start.

Does anyone know of any way to look up the takeoff schedule for an airport?  I know which day I want, and I know what type of aircraft I'm looking for, I just don't know the tail number.

[Mobius]

You could just probably go to the FBO at the airport and ask the people at the desk  I do that exact thing all the time when I'm at the airport, and interesting airplanes come in.  I've got a look inside of a Learjet, a Citation, and a few nice, big twins because the owners of the aircraft are usually very nice, and very proud of their toys, and very willing to show them off.  If you don't want to do that though, I would still go to the airport, and see if you can find a tail-number for the aircraft, then you can look it up online (I can't remember where), and if it doesn't have a tail-number, then it's military.  Other than that, there really isn't a way to find out who took off when without going into ATC recordings, if there is a tower at the airport, or getting a scanner and just listening to the CTAF/UNICOM frequency there.

[C]

Mmm, can't find any link to a civvy F-5 type at Austin...

However, Randolph AFB is only just down the road (relatively for a fast jet aircraft), and of course, the T-38 Talon is one of the types based there, so you could be seeing USAF aircraft doing approaches at Austin.

[beaky]

I'm with Mobius- go over there or call and ask if they know. Who knows? Somebody might say "I'm the owner... "


That's pretty much your only option, other than trying to see the tail number and looking up the registration.
There may be a record of which aircraft took off when, but I doubt these F-5 flights are scheduled...

[Mobius]

Somebody might say "I'm the owner... "

"...want a ride?"

Wouldn't hurt to ask.

[Travis]

Thanks, ya'll.  I'll keep you posted on the progress (if there is any ).

[beaky]

"...want a ride?"

Wouldn't hurt to ask.

I was going to add that, then realized it's probably not the B version (trainer)... if it is, I'd offer to clean it every weekend for a year and mow the guy's lawn all summer for a chance to take a ride.

[RitterKreuz]

it is probably NASA. they use F-5s and Citations for pilot training throughout houston austin san antonio and also the gulf coast regions.

[Mobius]

I'd offer to clean it every weekend for a year and mow the guy's lawn all summer for a chance to take a ride.

Yeah, or I'd just offer to clean the backseat after the ride.

[Travis]

If it were NASA, wouldn't it be white?  Its a US Air Force or Marine brown, with no distinguishing marks on it . . .

[RitterKreuz]

Yes - they look like civil registered privately owned relatively unmarked jets.

they are painted all white with a red and blue pinstripe down the side with a small NASA logo on the tail not likely any larger than 15 inches across.

here is a photo of their typical paint scheme - this particular F-5 has had its nose - belly and cockpit area very slightly modified for supersonic testing - it looks very much like it would be privately owned. ie. no stars and bars, little or no official markings of any kind etc.

(low quality photo)

http://www.rol.ru/pictures/misc/spacenews/f-5e.jpg

i have not been to ellington field in houston texas in quite a while but the last time i was there these guys were landing 1 and 2 at a time about every 15 minutes - same story - unmarked white F-5 tigers - only way i knew they were nasa was that i was holding short of the landing runway and every time they would roll by i could see NASA on the tail. they also had a Cessna Citation with the same markings. i asked about the aircraft and one person told me that the citation is modified to look like the shuttle cockpit inside and they do power off glides in the Citation from high altitude into ellington and other large airfields all along the gulf coast and into the interior of texas and florida.

i cant say with any certainty that what you saw was a NASA F-5 tiger 100% because i didnt see it with my own eyes, but if one went over your head on approach to landing  the paint scheme would certainly look very civilian in nature.

what i can tell you with a good degree of certainty is that NASA F-5 tigers routinely operate into new orleans, houston, austin, san antonio, tyndall AFB (?) and various large airports in florida, and that anyone who captured a fleeting glimpse of one of these guys would almost certainly insist that they were privately owned.

you could do an N# search on the internet if you know the aircraft N# but short of going to an FBO and simply asking "who runs the F-5 tigers into and out of this place?" those would be the only sure fire ways to find out for certain.

[RitterKreuz]

see above post but...

... lets also not forget that the F-5 is AKA the T-38. a friend of mine is curretnly flying these in Georgia for USAF flight training. he said that some units do operate khaki colored T-38s with low profile markings that are not ordinarily visible unless your approaching the aircraft on the ramp. he also said that a lot of these aircraft operate in desert environments like arizona, california, texas and new mexico etc.

you might try searching for your aircraft on airliners.net under the T-38 criteria, not the F-5.