Sticky Thread for MilAir II

[bigred10]

I don't know what's happening at Reading with the F-117A flyby and now the Willow Grove A-10s doing the same thing. That was a lucky catch getting to see him fly over your area Jack. Nothing ever flies over my house since I'm in the landing pattern for the short runway at BWI....except small business jets.
I did a Google news search for Reading but nothing shows up.

I found a short article on WFMZ.com (local news channel) that indicated the stealth flyby kicked off their Armed Forces Day Parade. Someone in Reading must have some connections. There was no mention of the A-10's so perhaps they had a flyby somewhere else (Harrisburg?)

I had the scanner on for a while yesterday but missed the stealth flight and only heard the A-10's on their way back chatting on 142.25. I'm too far away to hear much of anything from the Andrews airshow. McGuire was very active yesterday with a lot of tankers and transports flying around. The only thing out of the ordinary was TEAM 62 declaring an emergency due to a flap problem...they were going to have to land with the flaps up. There were 6 souls aboard the aircraft and requesting emergency vehicles be standing by as they land on runway 6 (120.25 & 319.4). It must not have been too big of a deal since TEAM 60 and a REACH aircraft were lined up behind TEAM 62 to also land on runway 6.

 

[TinEar]

80-1076, from the 99th RS at Beale.

Thank you very much Matthew.

Another NORAD Falcon Virgo exercise planned for Monday night for you local DC area night owls.
My question is if these exercises are carefully planned etc then how realistic can this be?

Not very. I don't think they can take the chance of an "unplanned" exercise over the top of the city. Too many things could go wrong. However, over the water is another story that should probably be tried at some point such as they do in the Giant Killer offshore areas but without total planning of the intruder's route, etc. In this day and age though, no one is willing to do the things the Air Force used to do in its earlier days. In the old days they would try to be realistic in their training. If something went terribly wrong, there would be an "oops" and they'd regroup and do it right. These days generals get fired if a plane or lives are lost and they've become timid. And let's not forget the politicians that always get involved to get face time that cause some of this reaction. There are many reasons for this new mindset but the end result is the same - exercises planned down to the last detail without any spontaneity.

 

[trainman111]

Thanks for the report. Very nice. I still hope someone can grab the tail number of that U-2.

That U-2 was a pain in the butt to get a good picture of. They had the front facing Rwy 1L and it was right along the fence so you could only really see the back of the aircraft. I would have loved to have gotten a few shots from the front of the aircraft, but it didn't happen...

 

[ScanManQSL]

That U-2 was a pain in the butt to get a good picture of. They had the front facing Rwy 1L and it was right along the fence so you could only really see the back of the aircraft. I would have loved to have gotten a few shots from the front of the aircraft, but it didn't happen...

I'm about to leave for the Andrews in a few minutes. I will try to get a better picture for you if I can.

 

[bigred10]

I hope everyone enjoyed the airshow today. I know Andrews puts on a good show, I made it there for one about 10 years ago.

There was a big treat this evening at Willow Grove. While eating dinner I saw a C-5 do 2 approaches. I almost didn't bother looking since there was a C-9 doing multiple approaches just before this, but I could definitely tell this plane sounded different (bigger!). Did anyone catch the callsign of this C-5 on it's way into KNXX? Not sure if it landed or left after the 2nd approach as we had a decent rain shower move in.

 

[Mark]

I was at Andrews also this afternoon and as usual I bugged out before end.
Seen the T-birds before so best to get out of there before end of show.
Working on pics to add later.
Overall about same as last year with decent static displays.
Couldn't find any freq cards though like last year..
Hard to get pics sometimes cause Chun-Li has to get his family in front of every plane.. ARGH!
"Just take the damn picture and move today sometime!!!!"
Sorry about that line but was frustrating at times..

Mark

 

[TinEar]

I hope everyone enjoyed the airshow today. I know Andrews puts on a good show, I made it there for one about 10 years ago.

There was a big treat this evening at Willow Grove. While eating dinner I saw a C-5 do 2 approaches. I almost didn't bother looking since there was a C-9 doing multiple approaches just before this, but I could definitely tell this plane sounded different (bigger!). Did anyone catch the callsign of this C-5 on it's way into KNXX? Not sure if it landed or left after the 2nd approach as we had a decent rain shower move in.

The only C-5 I know of that was up at that time was a C-5B from the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover. Didn't get his callsign but his tail was 87-0039.

The past three days have seen very light MilAir activity. The normal traffic into/out of Andrews dried up of course (other than what needed to fly and that was out of Dulles) so that alone caused a big drop in transport activity. Fighter activity was fairly normal Friday but almost nothing over the weekend. Tanker activity seemed heavier than normal over the weekend with lots of KC-10A McGuire activity.The show participants should be pulling chocks and leaving tomorrow morning and things will get back to normal.

 

[trainman111]

Hard to get pics sometimes cause Chun-Li has to get his family in front of every plane.. ARGH!
"Just take the damn picture and move today sometime!!!!"
Sorry about that line but was frustrating at times..

Mark

That drove me crazy too! As soon as I would try and snap a photo of an aircraft, someone would just have to walk up and take a family picture. And then people would just blatantly walk right in front of you. It was a little bit aggrivating, but I expected it.

 

[WA3CSX]

yeah I was there,too.I had a blast,I tried to be considerate of folks taking pics.But sometimes,well.....,I really enjoyed the F-22 and the T-Birds.

 

[md_p97]

Thanks for the report. Very nice. I still hope someone can grab the tail number of that U-2.

Would it look something like this?

 

[md_p97]

Here's the front half.....feel free to ...um...cut and paste!

 

[TinEar]

Would it look something like this?

It would indeed. Excellent pictures Paul. Thank you.

I hope some of the other pictures that I'm sure will appear also show tails.

Alan

 

[freqhopping]

I took up a position at the intersection of Suitland Pkwy and Old Marlboro Pike around 10am when the F-86 (#N86FR) and T-33 were flying around. Next was a fly by of a C-17 from Charleston, that was the only airborne one low, slow and close enough to catch a tail number, 70046.

But I was able to get tail numbers by listening to my scanners. TG 1616 on the 400mhz system is the refuelers who would always relay tail numbers. This TG was also heard on 413.375 which is noted as a T-bird freq. 1680, 3216, 3664 and 3696 were the only other TGs heard on the 400mhz system. 3216 and 3664 were cross-patched with the 380mhz system, 153 and 203 respectively. I also logged another 14 TGs that I didn't have before and I've been able to associate activity with many.

I saw departures of the C-47, B-17 and B-25 among others. Some left immediately after their show or as soon as they had refueled. The Skytypers, Navy Corsair, P-51 are some that I remember leaving, to the north or east. The Red Bull BO 105 departed and headed west- taill #N699RB.

Based on what the refuelers said:
F-18 from Oceana # 166659
F-15 from Eglin # 78049
A-10 from Arizona #???673
9200473
82000168
86000041
Sometimes it seemed like they were adding extras 0's.

 

[Mark]

Here are some of the Heavies tails I saw there..

KC-10 #84-0190 from McGuire
Dyess B-1 #85-0065
Barksdale B-52 #60-0008
C-130J #06-1438 Rhode Island ANG.. Looks brand new!
J-Stars E-8 #01-2005 GA tail.
E-3 Offutt #82-0007
C-17 March AFB #05-5144
C-5A Stewart #68-0212

FORCE 81 the KC-10 arrived home McGuire from Andrews,said he had 2 pallets from the airshow.

Mark

 

[Mark]

VFA-106 demo FA-18F model rolled by center stage on way to demo..

Mark

And tail of one of our regulars heard here on Milair board... RHODY C-130.
Nice and almost brand new...

 

[ScanManQSL]

That drove me crazy too! As soon as I would try and snap a photo of an aircraft, someone would just have to walk up and take a family picture. And then people would just blatantly walk right in front of you. It was a little bit aggrivating, but I expected it.

I had a blast today after a hundred pictures and a sunburn later; it was well worth it.

I posted some pictures & video onto webshot for everyone to see.
http://community.webshots.com/user/scanmanqsl

I still don’t understand why people are not considerate of others. I see some people who decided to take their large (about 4x6 in size) picnic blankets and lay it out right in front of the fence. I see room to stand to get a better view but I did not want to stand on their blanket and get them all mad. It drive me nuts!

This is a tip for everyone. I was standing in the middle of the crowd (North side of the base) when suddenly the F-117A Nighthawk started warming up its engines. Well, like a herd of cows they all started moving over to the other side of the fence to see what’s going on. When that was happening I made my way up to the fence line for the best view in the house

 

[WA3CSX]

Did anyone see the one T-Bird pilot giving the raise the roof sign? That was funny.And I love their poetry before they taxied down the runaway.

 

[BM82557]

Andrews AFB 05202007

What a great show! The sky cleared off just in time for the main event. As expected 143.85 (Tbirds) & 125.35 (Andrews alternate tower freq)were busy. Also found 2 freqs in the LPRS that were used today by the Tbirds:
216.725 NFM - PR feed carried over the base pa system
216.975 NFM - on the ground interplane/misc?? - before engine start heard "canopies down NOW...throttle idle ready NOW (emphasis was his on now), then each pilot told a short rhyme pertaining to the Tbirds, AF etc. This was followed by each one's squawk, the altimeter setting & clear to taxi.

MUSSEL 02 got to participate with two passes over the hangers before the Tbirds performed. The Red Bull helo performed some maneuvers that I've never seen a helicopter do before.

This is the first airshow I've been to where I've been able to monitor the action in progress. This certainly made for a more complete experience and I couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm all the performers there (both civilian and military)had during their performances. I think it's great that they enjoy flying that much & can have fun while being true professionals!

All in all a great day (except for the crowds and the traffic backup on the beltway)

Brian

Edit to clarify

 

[ka3jjz]

Brian what's 'LPRS'? Interestingly MT had these freqs as NBFM and slightly different - were these AM or FM? I would expect AM, of course. These should go over to Milcom to update the list....73s Mike

 

[TinEar]

It's an exodus from Andrews this morning of the show participants. Currently listening to DEMO 1 climbing out and leaving on 257.2 at 0950 and then over to 343.7
Someone on 384.55 - might be the DEMO 1 flight.
0954: DEMO 1 handed to ZDC-Montebello and check in at FL 270...284.7
Confirmed 384.55 is the DEMO 1 flight
0957: DEMO 1 flight handed off to ZDC-Gordonsville...check in at FL 270...cleared to 280...351.9
Not MilAir but interesting..a Chinese B747 lifting off from Dulles...tail B-2447, callsign 2447 w/TRACON

1000: DRAGO 51 flight with Andrews Radar...279.575
1003: BOBCAT 14 with TRACON...257.2
1005: BOBCAT 05 also with TRACON...257.2
1005: FENDY 12 (C-20H, 92-0375, 76th AS/USAFE) overhead at FL 380 (ZDC freq but missed which one)
1006: DRAGO 51 handed off to ZDC-Calvert and checks in at 8000 feet...133.9
1006: BOBCAT 05 handed off to TRACON and checks in at 11,000 feet...121.05
1008: And now ?????? 03 w/TRACON...257.2
1012: ????? 203 handed to TRACON and checks in at 11,000 feet...343.7 (Actually this sounds like 203 now)
1017: ???? 203 (could be ROCKET 203) handed off to ZDC-Montebello and checks in...284.7
1018: FIRST 51 (Langley F-22A) off Andrews and climbing rapidly w/departure TRACON...348.725
1021: FIRST 51 handed to ZDC-Calvert and check in at FL 190...cleared to FL 230...281.4
FIRST 51 is a flight of three aircraft.
1021: BOXER 44 (C-40C, 02-0202, 201st AS Andrews) heading into Dulles...124.7
BOXERs use both 2 and 3-digit suffixes and there seems to be no rhyme nor reason which is which. At first I thought it might be the C-38 and C-40 types that determine which but that isn't true.
1028: FIRST 51 turning left direct HEELS...281.4
1029: FIRST 51 handed off to Norfolk TRACON...370.925
[Heard one BLACKJACK 1 transmission on 139.7 in the middle of that FIRST 51 liftoff and nothing since.]
1032: FIRST 51 not going into Langley....they change to Giant Killer and announce entry at FL 230 into W-386 for the next 30 minutes on mission V2104...249.8
1036: For the past 10 minutes there has been a Navy RH500 working TRACON 335.5 and then to Pax 250.3 and now 281.8
1040: TUFF 05 (B-52 Barksdale AFB LA) lifting off from ADW...climbing from 1000 feet...257.2
1041: Also ??? 19 from ADW...257.2 and over to 121.05 climbing out
[I'm striking out on callsigns this morning.]
1045: TUFF 05 handed to TRACON and climbing to 15K...cleared to FL 210...343.7 (TRACON kept giving him 121.05 as a handoff and he kept asking for UHF...finally got it)
1047: TUFF 05 cleared to FL 270...343.7
1051: TUFF 05 cleared direct MOL...343.7 (MOL=Montebello)
1051: TUFF 05 handed off to ZDC-Montebello and checks in at FL 270...he wants to go to an area called "Pointset" (not sure of spelling but that's how he's pronouncing it) to do some weapons training...says it's in the vicinity of Shaw AFB...apparently controller doesn't know it so TUFF 05 is going to settle for direct Shaw...284.7
1058: SAM 1474 (C-37A, 97-0400, 99th AS Andrews) landing ADW...reports gear down...118.4
1059: TUFF 05 handed off to ZDC-Gordonsville and checks in there...again tells the story of trying to get to that place near Shaw...351.9

1102: TUFF 05 says Shaw is right in the middle of the place he's trying to go...again calls it "Pointset" and tries to explain but the controller just isn't aware of the area...351.9 (Wish I had time to look it up but don't at the moment.)
1105: TALON 1 (sounds like) off from ADW...climbing out...257.2
1108: TALON 1 handed to TRACON...343.7 (callsign is very shaky)
1114: TALON 1 handed off to ZDC-Montebello...284.7

And I've got to leave it right there. Hope someone else can log some of these aircraft leaving Andrews.

Ref Below: That's very interesting Tony. Looks like someone is trying to hide the flight....or maybe he's making a speed record round trip ZBAA-KADW....in a 747.