Mid-Air Refueling over Nova Scotia

[darrylcn]

I was out from about 8-9:15 but didn't see anything uber cool. Couple 767s, 777s and a SB AFR 747 that for a brief instant I thought to be a KC-135 but that's it other than the C-17. Spied a few unidentified jets to the West but couldn't VID them. Maybe that's what you were seeing, were you toward the centre, AR20, section of the province from Halifax?

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

and post that pic..cant be any worse than mine

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Spied a few unidentified jets to the West but couldn't VID them. Maybe that's what you were seeing, were you toward the centre, AR20, section of the province from Halifax?

I was down on the waterfront in Halifax, they were headed North'ish across Dartmouth, so yea, they would have been out of site for you I'm thinking, at least the one I saw that looked like it was moving quick. I would think they were out over the airport to the West tho, so you might have seen them at first?

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Cactus704 and 609 are the 2 Cacti I heard

 

[darrylcn]

Don't think mine are worse? Beh I wish!

You'll have to trust me that this is a C-17. It looks worse here than I thought when I viewed it on my camera's LCD.

These two were sort of pacing each other:

Oh, remember how I said the hotel we stayed at in Bangor a couple weeks ago was close to the runway?
Look who showed up when we were coming home:

What KBGR loses in commercial traffic (Halifax has more, bigger stuff as far as I can tell) it makes up for it with An-124s and KC-135s..

Oh and the windows/patio door in our apartment face WSW so we see just about everything that flies overhead at altitude. I'm sitting out there tomorrow night too if the weather's nice. Might have a few beer too. I got a pair of 20x binoculars for my birthday last week. Like my 12x pair the openings of the big lens are big enough to thread in a 1.7x 35mm lens. Planes show up real nice at 34x zoom. I could make out the tail colour on an Alitalia 767 that flew over tonight even though they were out over the water. If something flies almost directly overhead (haven't seen anything yet) I should almost be able to count rivets.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Ahh! Commies! look out

I wish I had the view like that, with the trees, and hills in the area, I only have about a 10min long window of flyover, and only about 200 degrees of view mostly west. Its great for AR-20 tho, they are perfectly set in the middle of my field of view

I wanna mount one of these things on my roof...when I win the lottery.. : Contraves EOTS Cinetheodolite Telescope Missle Tracking on eBay.ca (item 230449918884 end time 12-Aug-10 14:03:25 EDT)

Thats a camera for this hobby

Edit, great pic of the AN, would love to have seen that beast lumbering along.

 

[darrylcn]

Yeah we have it pretty good up here in Clayton Pk. I have a full 180 view, and on top of that we're up high so there's no obstructions. I'm gonna go crazy obsessive an see if I can't spy something cool over the next while. VFA-103 Super Hornets or bust!

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

haha, sweet! definatly post your pics if you catch something. I've been trying since I got that camera.

One thing you might want to keep in mind, I've noticed they have been doing "unscheduled" refueling in the mid evening, and sometimes thru the day as well, I say unscheduled, going by the SUA website, so its not 100% accurate, but I'm thinking they don't post it on the site for the more interesting aircraft, there was no mention of that flight of B1's, that I had noticed that day, and again tonight I'm sure that was a KC getting left in a faster bird's dust There was no mention of the flight tonight.

 

[darrylcn]

Oh great now I'll be looking up ALL the time.. Heh

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

lol, thats why I want an outdoor camera of some sort, been looking at telescopes and stuff, that could be used remotely from my desk, but nothing out there really fits the bill, unless I wanna drop a couple grand, or more, like that crazy tracking thing I posted lol.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Heads up guys, Ethyl69 just checked in with Moncton, and asked what altitude they were clear to refuel at. They will be overhead soon.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Another heads up, AR-20 is scheduled for 15:30 local time, and the clouds are breaking up nicely as I type.

AR20(SW) 08/01/2010 18:30 08/01/2010 19:30 ZBW 220 240

 

[darrylcn]

Heard some stuff this afternoon very clearly - C-17 out of Charleston, but didn't see anyone though. Still pretty cool, but it seems it's always either night time of cloudy when I hear them on the air lately. Oh well. I'm headed to Gore for a mountain biking thing next weekend so I'll be right under the action. I also noticed that the regular planes seem to be well south of NS for the last few days. Anyone know the reason for this? Is that dang volcano at it again? It forced traffic south last time it went off.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

I dont know about the volcano or anything like that, but I have noticed they have been finishing up in the southern half of the track, that's why I had asked before about them using AR80 into 20. Maybe they are starting earlier for some reason.

Should be something coming by in the next hour according to SUA.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

I think they did it again I even heard a pilot talking to Moncton, asking if that was 2 planes refueling off his left side, but I didnt see anything in the last hour or so.

 

[jetcrafter]

Heads up - another B-1 flight over you soon

Here's the comms I've heard so far:

2003z 128.400 ETHYL B2 wkg Pease tower.
2005z 269.200 RAMA 51-53 wkg ZBW.
2005z 128.200 ETHYL B2 check in w/ZBW climbing out from Pease.
2013z 341.750 ETHYL B2 and RAMA flight initial contact coordinating their rendezvous for AR-20NE. Tells RAMA he is a single ship and discussed with their command post about giving 50k to each of the two B-1s going further on and they will get the rest on the back side.
2014z 290.300 RAMA 51 flight check in w/ZBW.
2018z 133.450 ETHYL B2 wkg ZBW, MARSA with RAMA flight block 190-220 AR-20NE.
2021z 267.000 RAMA 51-53 Air to Air (Thanks Joe!!) Discussing fuel situation due to only having the one tanker.
2051z 307.000 RAMA 53 wkg ZBW. Returning.
2103z 267.000 RAMA 53 calling RAMA 51, telling him their next refuel time is outside the Altrv window.


There is 3 B-1s and 1 tanker. 2 B-1s will continue overseas and the tanker and the spare B-1 will return home.

Look up - get those cameras clicking away!!

Good luck!

 

[darrylcn]

Rama flight is over Halifax now. Heard them clear as a bell but no visual from the car. Awesome though!

 

[jetcrafter]

Rama flight is over Halifax now. Heard them clear as a bell but no visual from the car. Awesome though!

Great! Glad you heard them. Don't get into an accident trying to look for them while driving! (pull over and scan the skies!!)

 

[darrylcn]

Not a problem Jetcrafter, wife was driving, I was WSO so I was able to do the head spin-o-rama safely.

 

[jetcrafter]

Not a problem Jetcrafter, wife was driving, I was WSO so I was able to do the head spin-o-rama safely.

Whew! I can breath easier now that I know you weren't driving!