What's going on, Albuquerque?

APD Aerial Surveillance

This morning's early coffee break was intruded upon from the air above our neighborhood with the buzzing of a waspy sounding airplane that kept coming and going, coming and going. As my wife notes on occasion, I might be called, Too Much Coffee Man. This morning was one of those moments for this fairly caffeinated man to look up, take some pictures, and to have fun with Photoshop.

This little doozy of a plane looked sweet in the morning sky over downtown Albuquerque, flashing its white wings and baring its oil-stained belly in a clear sky. Oh so pretty, and then, again ... and again.

KOB reporter, Jeremy Jojola, wrote about Google's use of aerial photography over the City Of Albuquerque on The Fix long ago. [See Being Nosy High Above Albuquerque] This incessant airplane though, is not what he was referring to, because when the Googley uses its satellite imagery, you don't even know they are photographing your backyard when they do.

This fellow is in plain sight and certainly is not a satellite ... but just in case it is the Googley Patrol, I'm going to move my car and see if that change shows up on my next Google Earth search.

But wait, they aren't actually looking at our neighborhood; they are peeking down into the Huning Highland area north of us, taking a gander at that mysterious cultural corridor known as the E-D-O. Perhaps an early spring Don Schrader sighting is taking place or a movie shoot.

So what is that C.I.A.-like device at this plane's tail? Looks a bit odd for a civilian Cessna. Indeed.

Here it comes again. Buzz, buzz. Gotta get more coffee ... and a Tylenol for the neck strain.

Ah, you know, those blue and red stripes on the fuselage look kind of familiar. Kind of reminds me of an Albuquerque police car. Well Siree Bob, it turns out this flightly and incessant airplane is owned by the City of Albuquerque's Police Department and is better known as AIR FIVE.

Coffee's gone cold anyway ...

My hat is off to the men and women in blue, way up in those blue skies overhead (and so far today without any head winds), but don't you guys and gals get a little dizzy flying in circles?

Maybe I'll just step back inside. Adios amigos.

[Photography courtesy Aquila Arts LLC]

Tags: APD, Air_Patrol, Google_Earth, aerial_surveillance, airplanes_over_albuquerque

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Comment by Onfixiate on March 2, 2011 at 10:09am: That antenna isn't anything unusual--it's a "towel bar" style antenna often used with VOR/Localizer Glide Slope instrumentation. That's just a well equipped, upgraded older Cessna Skylane...

Comment by misterhinkydink on March 2, 2011 at 12:23pm: That's one dirty belly. They should try not topping off the oil until it gets under a quart low.