1804: REACH 7030 (C-5B, 87-0030, 60th AMW Travis) couple of calls to Command Post (Didn't say McGuire or Dover)...has 53 pax, 95,700 pounds of throughload cargo (none of it hot) on 13 pallets, needs pax rep, crew bus, fleet service and is A-2 for Comm 1 radio...134.1 (Let's make a call that he's going to Dover)
1830: There's a JENA pilot (FBI) cruising around the area at 4000 feet in his trusty little Cessna 210, registration N5315U....TRACON
1846: DC 43 (KC-135R, 57-1479, 756th ARS Andrews) reports airborne at 2245Z to LIBERATOR....378.1
1853: E-6B, 164406 from VQ-3 apparently took off from Pax and headed northeast out to sea....looking for him on the ZDC VHF freqs but again can't find him. I always seem to catch them with SHADOW Ops or Maintenance at Pax on 310.15 and then they disappear.
1859: DC 43 meets up with JEDI 52 (C-17A, 04-4135, 514th AMW AFRC McGuire) on AR primary freq 238.9. They swap squawks - 2715 for 52 and 4625 for 43 - and tail numbers and both agree with what I posted here and above for DC 43. JEDI 52 says the other ship broke and is not going to be with them. They are preparing to meet up at FL 250.
1903: JEDI 52 asks something of DC 43 (not sure what it was) and 43 replies with a time of 2350(Z)...238.9
1913: DC 43 asks JEDI 52 if he's going to need an offload tonight...couldn't quite hear what JEDI 52 said but took it to mean no he doesn't. DC 43 said he needs some boom mic contacts and practice breakaways on his end. Guess JEDI 52 just has a mission requirement to make boom contacts....238.9
1932: CRAB 57 (C-130J, 98-1357, 135th AS MD-ANG) airborne and squawking 1200 so must be on a VFR mission...385.9
1933: CRAB 56 (C-130J, 98-1356, etc) also up...385.9
1937: REACH 290 (C-17A, 98-0057, 62nd AW McChord AFB WA) to Andrews CP with arrival message....25 minutes out, has 1 baggage pallet, 26 pax, is A-1, needs crew and passenger transportation, fleet and lav service....378.1 (he began calling about 5 minutes prior to this)
1939: REACH 290 repeats message after getting no reply to last arrival message...now 20 minutes out....repeating yet again because ADW is either not responding or asking for repeats...378.1
1942: PETRO 61 (KC-10A, 83-0082, 305th AMW McGuire) to McGuire CP...30 minutes out, A-2, no cargo, 5 pax...problems are air temperature indicator inop and runway turnoff indicator lights inop....319.4 (Not sure where he went but was in the North-Central states an hour or so ago.)
1945: REACH 290 repeating his arrival message yet again to Andrews CP....378.1
1948: PETRO 61 to ACY Approach at 8000 feet....looking for ILS to runway 24 at Mcguire...says he's probably going to have to hold....124.6
1957: REACH 290 to ADW Tower...cleared to land on runway 19R...gear down...118.4 (Wonder if Command Post has his message yet. He was repeating it until he was almost at the field and CP was still having trouble copying him. Guess no one has bothered radio maintenance with this problem yet. Let's see....857-xxxx....dialing....)
2001: CRAB 10 (not sure if this is 56 or 57) to Phillips AAF to announce 10 minutes out from CDS drops at Swann's Creek....126.15
2004: THUG 04 (C-17A, 95-0106, 437th AW Charleston) with ACY Approach descending to 8000 (heading into McGuire)....124.6
2007: CRAB 10 reports abeam of Susquehanna (sp?)...then that he's cleared to drop...126.15
2013: CRAB 10 tells Phillips he's going off to the west and will return in 30 minutes for a low level approach to runway 22 and the next drop will be an hour from now....126.15
Although I'm only hearing one of the CRAB C-130s, I have reason to believe both of them (98-1356 and 1357) are flying together. I can't seem to find an interflight freq though since they should be talking to each other. Checked both CRAB Ops freqs - 385.9 and 148.925 - but haven't managed to catch anything yet so they may be using something else.
2015: ROYAL 50 (C-17A, 06-6166, 436th/512th AW Dover) flying somewhere in the area - currently at FL 300 (missed freq)
2016: The E-6B, 164406 from VQ-3 is coming back into the area from off the Delaware coast...currently at FL 250....heading toward Pax...310.15
2025: FOUND HIM!!!...GAGE 76 (our E-6B, spelled callsign but is pronouncing it like GAUGE) on 364.2 looking for a Modes & Codes check...IDs as a Navy E-6 and gives position as 80 miles northeast of Norfolk at FL 240
2027: JEDI 52 to someone (presumably DC 43 again) saying after they're done, they should be with Washington Center on "3382" (meaning 133.825 ZDC-Norfolk)....238.9
2032: BLACKJACK 1 (USCG HH-65) on HUNTRESS freq....260.9 (Unusual...they normally stay on VHF 139.7)
2033: And here's BLACKJACK 1 on....139.7
2034: DC 43 to Washington Center (ZDC-Norfolk)...says they just finished their work...at FL 250 and would like 260...says JEDI 52 is down at FL 240 and will call in just a minute....133.825
2034: JEDI 52 and DC 43 thank each other for the work...and the female boomer pipes in with her thanks too. Says she needed the work....238.9
2035: BLACKJACK 1 and 2 working 260.9 for practice intercepts.
2037: CRAB 10 tells Phillips AAF they'll do another drop in about 30 minutes....126.15
2039: Guess GAGE 76 is not going back into Pax, at least not yet. He's currently about 10 miles due east of Langley and still at FL 240....course of 200 degrees.
2040: Think it was CRAB 10 talking to someone, perhaps the drop controller (but he's very weak since they are flying at 2600 feet)....148.925
2044: Another AR op setting up but this time on....228.0....one of the aircraft has a suffix of 42...can't hear the other guy...42 asks him for his requirements tonight and says he needs practice separation.
2047: And someone on AR freq 238.9...don't know if it's still DC 43 or the guys from 228.0.
2049: REACH 7045 (C-5B, 87-0045, 436th AW Dover) to Dover CP....20 minutes out, A-3...problems are anti-ice valve won't close, CSB disconnected, PTU doesn't pressurize....no cargo, 3 pax, needs short stairs for the pax and transportation for them and crew bus for 12 crew members, need parking spot...get Spot Oscar....349.4
2054: The players on 228.0 are FUZZY 42 (KC-135R, 136th ARS/107th ARW NY-ANG) and MOVER 45 (KC-10A, 305th AMW McGuire)
2057: HUSKY 5x to his Base Ops at Wilmington...343.0
2058: ARMY 01053 (UC-35A, 00-1053) calling Andrews....several calls, no joy...141.55
2059: DC 43 was descending to the Andrews area and currently at 10,000 feet...apparently ready to come home.
2059: BLACKJACK 1 & 2 still doing their practice intercepts....260.9
2100: Time for a break...gonna sit outside in the nice cool night air and talk to the neighbors.
Before I go, there's a "286" on VX-1 freq 341.1 at Pax saying he's going to need some ground help and then tells them they're the best. Now I'm gone for a bit.
2211: Back and not much going on. DC 43 is still in the pattern at Andrews doing ILS approaches to runway 19. Says he's going to do this one and then one more at least...118.4
Let's call the night done.
Had a bunch of foreign flag aircraft into and through the area today....
1225: Canadian Air Force CC-144, tail 144615, 412 Squadron
1327: NATO 025, a CT-49A (B-707), tail LX-N20199
1522: German Air Force C-160D, tail 50+34
1557: German Air Force C-160D, tail 51+13
1606: Canadian Air Force CC-177, tail 177701, 429 Squadron
1610: German Air Force C-160D, tail 50+62, LTG 62
Yesterday, around noontime, I logged those three THUG C-17As (01/02/03) coming into the area. Today, had THUG 01/02/03/04, 89-1192/92-3292/96-0005/95-0106, all from the 437th AW at Charleston going out. Actually, THUG 04 came first in the 0900 hour and then 01/02/03 late in the 1000 hour. THUG 04 was apparently not part of the other THUG pack.
Travis, I still haven't heard anything on that 127.325 ADIZ West freq. Like you said, perhaps just low level stuff.
