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I need your help to identify a plane I saw fly over my school today. I didn't have a camera with me so i don't have any pics.

Description:

A wide-body jet liner with 4 engines. It makes a really low rumbling sound, a sound I have never heard before from a 747 or that time I saw the A380. I flew past already so I only saw the back end of it. Paint was a dark grey a might be silverish. Quite big.

I don't know but I might have just mistaken it for a 747 or something. I need to know.

It was on the flight departure path of Ontario International (KNOT) or Los Angeles International (KLAX).

Military maybe ?   C-5, C-17,  KC-135   ?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-5_Galaxy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-17_Globemaster_III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC-135_Stratotanker

I know A340's are quite large and quad-engine... Could it have been one of those? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A340

A plane like a C-5A, C-17, or KC-135 would be very easy to recognize; especially so for those first two. And I'm fairly sure a1 knows enough about military aircraft to recognize them.

The grumbly engine sound and the gray color made me think military.. A340s are relatively quiet, and usually in nice colors...

You're right in that a T-tailed plane would be distinctive, but maybe not from a distance and from that angle...

Definitely not an A340. I was thinking of a military plane too. One more thing it was quite wide the fuselage.

Il-86 / Il-96?

Dunno how common the russian metal is around your neck of the woods, it might explain why you didn't recognise it very well, but these are really the only 4 engine widebodies I could think of remaining...  :)

Might e a far fetched guess but An-124?

Probably just a C-5.  From the bottom the fuselage is very wide...could have been a C-17 as well but those are smaller.

It wasn't a C-5. C-5's make a high pitched whining noise.

It wasn't a C-5. C-5's make a high pitched whining noise.

Does that include the re-engined ones?

Might e a far fetched guess but An-124?

That may very well be it. Volga-Dnper has flights scheduled into LAX often with a 124.

I think it would be either an A340 or AN-124 but never seen a grey 124 Maybe it could be a KC-135 that can be grey but i don't know if mil. planes go out and into LAX,  :-? i guess it's the A340 because there are some grey ones out there somewhere and you might of been lucky enough to see it! and it might of been a 747 with different engines to the one you heard before.

My 2 cents

OK, we have several possibilities here.

Il-96 - mostly grey, Russian flag paint job at the front for military. Medium sized body. HOLY, THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END sound.

A340 - Qatar airlines is a possibility. Pencil thin body though.

C-5 Galaxy - BIG, GREY, and VERY distinctive engine sound (I assume). Likely. Cruising to KEDW, possibly?

C-17 - Medium, engine sound as any other. I have seen one take off over my school too, the day after my birthday. Easy to recognise, despite "plane" engine sound.

An-124 - EU forces have painted their loaned An-124s grey now? Big, distinctive engine sound (I assume), probably not, despite flights into KLAX (have to move there to see more An-124s).

KC-135 - distinctive engine sound, quite small. Possible flight to KEDW?

747 - lucky duck, you saw a YAL-1 didn't you? Only 747 I know of that is painted grey, unless Qatar have started using 747s. United is a maybe, they are part blue and grey though.

Big + grey + rumbling sound + KEDW nearby, carry the one = C-5 Galaxy.

Thanks all for helping.

OK i think I know what it is now. The Il-96 you described seems the closest thing to what I saw. I looked up pictures and what do you know there it is. Most likely guess.