# What aircraft did I see? (Airfoils on nose)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 24, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352 "2026-09-24T18:49:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352/1 "2026-09-24T18:49:18Z")
I live in St Louis about 12 miles from Lambert International, and a couple days ago saw an unusual plane. I’m not an aviation maven, so any detail of my description could easily be an error. The craft was flying low — not alarmingly so, but the noise made me look up. It wasn’t directly overhead, but my view was mostly of the bottom, almost nothing of the sides.
– The Big Thing: It had a pair of airfoils on the nose. At first I thought it could be a strange propeller, but no.
– Without the nose wings I would have thought it was a small two-engine commercial jet.
– I believe the wings were swept back — like a small commercial jet. Nothing about the wing shape struck me as odd.
– The only pictures I’d seen of planes with extra wings were of small experimental aircrafts, so I tried to guess the plane’s size. I have no training, but it looked like it might seat 30-70 passengers. That could be way, way off.
—The other odd thing: As the plane circled out of my view the back of the fuselage – where it tapered to meet the tail – was very narrow (like a swordfish or a P-38 Mustang?). It almost seemed to vanish for an instant.
This could have happened September 23, mid-to-late afternoon, but could have been the 22nd. Presumably the color was white, possibly silver. That’s probably all the info I have.
The only photos of large planes with front airfoils I’ve found are of the Piaggio P-180. I can’t rule out that the plane had rear-facing propellers, and could be convinced that the wings were not swept back, but do have trouble believing the Piaggio could look like an ordinary commercial plane from below.
> **[File:Piaggio P-180 Avanti Rennes 2010 (cropped).jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piaggio_P-180_Avanti_Rennes_2010_(cropped).jpg)**
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### Author:  [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352/2 "2026-09-24T19:14:57Z")
I’m obviously guessing, but I think the Beechcraft Starship matches the description.
[Beechcraft Starship - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship)
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352/3 "2026-09-24T19:24:55Z")
There is a Piaggio that used to live in St. Louis when I did. I’m not there, but it may still be.
Most of the very few Starships sold have been withdrawn.
Just on a numbers basis I’d say Piaggio. Those also have a very weird distinctive sound. Which IIRC the Starship does not.
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### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352/4 "2026-09-24T19:25:44Z")
That does come close to my description, thank you Thumper668. However, I just found a view of the Piaggio that shows the back end of the fuselage — which is almost two dimensional. So, that’s almost certainly the plane.
> **[File:2010-04-11 14 28 33 Switzerland Kloten Kaserne (cropped).jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2010-04-11_14_28_33_Switzerland_Kloten_Kaserne_(cropped).jpg)**
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### Author:  [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-aircraft-did-i-see-airfoils-on-nose/1033352/5 "2026-09-24T19:31:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
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> Most of the very few Starships sold have been withdrawn.
Fair point. I should have read the whole Wikipedia article.