What airplane did I see?

Yesterday morning walking my daughter to daycare, and a plane I thought was sorta odd flew over us, relatively low altitude. 

We are in the landing pattern for midway airport, so we see a ton of southwest 737s at about the same altitude.

This plane was:

• smaller than a 737
• bigger than a learjet
• twin prop driven, one on each wing
• had large (fuel?) tanks at the very ends or each wing

I rarely see planes like that. I know there are still some turboprop commercial airline planes, but the large wing tanks threw me. Anyone have guesses what it was?

There are a few bases around you.  Great Lakes Navy training, and a couple army bases.

AI L410 comes to mind, but they are primarily puddle jumpers in Eastern Europe.

Beech B200 works, but not bigger than a Leer

Older Cessna 414 or King Air from back when they had tip tanks?

Was it a big, pretty, white plane that looked like a big tylenol?

First thought was MU-2 but they're not any bigger than a Lear. 

High wing or low wing?

I believe it was a high wing. It was white, not sure it reminded me of tylenol...

The wing tanks were pretty substantial in size compared to the rest of the plane, and it may have been closer than I thought making it smaller than I thought too. MU-2 images on google look similar for sure, though I really thought it was bigger than that.  

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

that L410 really seems to nail the size I remembered, but again, I could have easily mis-seen something

Depends what Lear you are talking about.  The old ones are very small.

The MU-2 can generally be identified by the sound also.  The constant speed motors mean they make a lot of noise, even when just sitting on the ramp.  Cool planes.

So, can I ask another 'what did I see' Q?  It's actually my mom, not me.  Now, before you jump to conclusions about an 80 year old woman and aircraft knowledge, I grew up with a family who all had an interest in aviation.  We went to many airshows as a kid, and my parents would work the P.F.A. (Popular Flying Association, now L.A.A. for Light Aircraft Association, similar to the EAA over here) rally / fly in's every year.  She also worked in the wind tunnel doing early airfoil development for Concord before came along.  So she knows more than the average mama bear BooBoo.

Anyway, over Northern England last week, she saw a triple tailed four engine prop plane, she wasn't sure if it was piston (almost impossible), radial or turboprop, but she's sure it wasn't a Constellation, not that there are any flying in the UK that I know of.  She felt the general shape was implied 40's-50's.  I'm wracking my brains, I can't think of anything else it could be.  At the back of my mind I can't help thinking there was some off shoot of the Lancaster / Shackleton series that may have had a triple tail, but I'm not finding it.  Any possibilities I could look up and share with her?

Pic of a Connie, as although it wasn't one they sure are beautiful.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

I'm going on memory of my long-lost reprint of Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1945-46 , but wasn't there a Stirling variant that had little sub-fins on the horizontal stabilizer?  Similar to the Connie above, but with the center fin being larger and the outriggers smaller.

I don't know if there are any Connie's flying in Europe (maybe one semi-flyable in US?).  But maybe an Avro Shackleton?  It's essentially a post war re-worked Lancaster with Griffon engines (trivia: where all those race boat engines came from in years past).  They are not tri-tailed, but could easily be mistaken as three tailed from below?

In reply to Duke :

Hmm I'm not finding a Sterling, but I do see a triple tail Manchester.  Although the Manchester is only twin engines, it at least shows that series had a triple tail somewhere.  Ths thing is she saw this a week or so ago, flying.  There's not many of these planes in airworthy condition though.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

Avro York?   Apparently Churchill flew in one some...

edit:
BAE Sys Page on it

Sounds like a De Havliand Dash 8 to me.  They came in different fuselage lengths and are still in production.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

EXCELLENT suggestion.  I completely forgot about the York.

the only other thing I see coming up frequently is the Airspeed Ambassador, but it's a twin...

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Good one.  I'll send her a pic.

Nija Edit. Doh, Wikipedia says there are no flying examples.

In reply to aircooled :

Yup, I mentioned the Shackleton above.  I must admit I thought there was a triple tail version, but perhaps it was the Avro York Sleepyhead mentioned, other than there are no flying examples.

Wiki doesn't list any flying Shackletons either, although I remember seeing them fly on more than one occasion as a kid in the 70's, but it may have been the same plane on more than one occasion.

No tip tanks, but what about an Islander?  Probably not common over here, but there used to be lots in the UK.

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to aircooled :

Yup, I mentioned the Shackleton above.  I must admit I thought there was a triple tail version, but perhaps it was the Avro York Sleepyhead mentioned, other than there are no flying examples.

Wiki doesn't list any flying Shackletons either, although I remember seeing them fly on more than one occasion as a kid in the 70's, but it may have been the same plane on more than one occasion.

That's why there where so many Griffons available for boat racing, because the Shackleton's did not fully retire until the early 90's!  So you where likely seeing actual in service planes.

Auxiliary Tanks, or lack thereof, is going to rule out a lot of planes. 

Cessna 340 would probably be the most common with range extenders. 

I recently saw a Sherpa, and was thinking maybe a E9-A would fit the description, but I'm not sure they have wingtip range extenders.  Other military aircraft could be an MC-12. 

yeah, I know... this doesn't fit at all... other than the unlikelihood that you misheard some part of it... three engines, one in the tail...

besides, it's just fun to link pictures to a Britten-Norman Trislander

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

That takes function over form to new heights.  I always loved the purposeful no BS look of the Islanders.

I didn't realize until I went hunting thanks to this thread that Islander is still in production 55 years later.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

Could your mom have seen the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Lancaster? 

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

They are fairly popular here for mosquito control planes.