1615- Troy 195 (DHS helo) working Wash Helo (134.35) reporting they are holding at 1,000 ft nears Woods Corner. Maybe all these Troys are providing some sort of surveillance related to the African Summit?
Yes, 171, 217 and 218 all rotating out providing video feeds over the summit. Same thing they do at many NSSEs (I've heard the same thing at UNGA, SOTU etc). And as you pointed out earlier, they're coordinating with each other on 136.275 AM, usually when they meet up for the hand-off. Operating pretty high, 4,500-6,500 all day (well above hearing them from the ground)
TROY171 just arrived, I forgot the callsign of the A-Star he switched with. 171 made sure that he had the protected location (the Capitol for the leader's reception tonight) in the camera before the other one left. But now 171 is talking to a ground station (I presume because I can only hear 171) about how his downlink is not working.
..."I'm sure if it continues to do, they'll relaunch Shawn... hard shutoff of all systems. Brian downstairs says getting intermittent at best." I presume Shawn is the pilot who just left. I wish I knew a way to record this, I'll have to figure it out before SOTU.
Update: I was wondering where the CBP H-60 airborne tactical team (officially: Air Mobility Package) was. They're also a regular presence at NSSEs. Turns out I wasn't looking closely enough. 08-72764 aka N72764 (UH-60M) AE4A88 is here from the Great Lakes AMO base at Selfridge ANGB. That is who TROY195 is. They were on the ground during the day at College Park, just like during the last SOTU, but operated in a racetrack pattern near ADW (when you heard them at 1615) for the President of Egypt's arrival.
Here they are flying to College Park this afternoon. Look closely, you can see the boots of the combined USSS/CBP tactical team hanging out. Must be frigid up there.
They did a big public affairs hit for the Air Mobility Package during Sept's UNGA. Result:
