Yes, This Navy Plane Was Buzzing Over Missouri & Illinois Today

I knew something was going on when I started getting messages today about a loud plane flying low over Quincy and Hannibal today. I have confirmed it was a Navy plane flying over Missouri and Illinois today and it has a fascinating history among pilots.

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I received this screenshot via Messenger today about a low-flying plane over Quincy. This is what the Flight Radar 24 app showed. It was later spotted flying southward along the Mississippi River.

That plane, a Beechcraft T-6 Texan II, is a Navy plane which looks like this from the cockpit.

I have known fighter pilots in my life that have shared that this was one of their first training planes back when they began their careers.

Wikipedia defines the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II like this:

The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company (Textron Aviation since 2014). A trainer aircraft based on the Pilatus PC-9, the T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Navy's T-34C Turbo Mentor during the 2010s.

I haven't been able to find out (yet) who was flying this plane over the Hannibal/Quincy area Wednesday morning, but very possible this was a student plane. I'll admit that I'm just guessing at this point. Just know the plane that buzzed over our heads in both Missouri and Illinois today has quite a colorful history among pilots.