Sticky Thread for MilAir II

[TinEar]

Heard him with the tower as 52 so I assumed he was 70-0452.

That's an assumption we can make with a lot of units but not with this one apparently. Sometimes their DECOY suffix matches the last two numbers of the tail and other times not.

The last time I noted 70-0452 flying, I had him as DECOY 612 when he went to Europe for three days. Within the past month or so I've had 69-0027 using both DECOY 27 and DECOY 17. Today was the second hit I've had on 70-0463 using the 52 suffix. This past summer, the suffix and tail seemed to match closely and then suddenly around the beginning of October, that system blew up. It could be because of the huge amount of maintenance problems they have with the C-5A model. If a replacement aircraft is put into service, it may keep the old callsign and suffix that's on the flight plan that was to be flown by another aircraft.

 

[BM82557]

If a replacement aircraft is put into service, it may keep the old callsign and suffix that's on the flight plan that was to be flown by another aircraft.

That might be the case here. The first comms I had from 52 were to OPS (297.0) asking if they had a copy of the flight plan as he didn't have one due to the last minute replacement. Apparently they had a copy because I next heard him ask the tower & the fbo if they had copy machines as he needed to make a copy. He made a copy somewhere and then went into reading back the flight plan as I posted this morning.

 

[CitationJet]

Re: BRASS

Waypoint is BROSS here.

1041 local - 167th C5A 70-0452 copied with MRB tower on ground freq 121.800 reading back flight plan. Direct MRB>SWANN>BRASS (??) J42 to Robinsville then continue as filed. Callsign on the ground is DECOY 52 HEAVY. Takeoff is emminent.

Edit to add - squawk is 1356

 

[TinEar]

1805: BATON 55 (EC-130J, 01-1935, 193rd SOW, PA-ANG Harrisburg) to BATON Command with arrival message...ETA 2330Z, A-2 for previous (writeups), estimating 23K on the fuel...395.1
1827: LOCKHEED 121 (C-5B, 87-0035, 436th AW Dover) to Dover Command Post...gives tail as 7035, 20 minutes out but will remain in the pattern until 8 p.m. for a check ride, A-2. One of the problems is the Aux #3 fuel tank refuel valve will not close, second one (missed part) but something about a generator will not transfer...(squawking 6072)...349.4
1836: FURY 01 (F-22A, 1st FW Langley) to Giant Killer preparing to RTB, 2 mile trail for the flight, HEELS, TURET, direct Langley is flight route...249.8
1838: VODKA 51 (F-22A Langley) to Giant Killer for RTB...presently 39 miles east of HEELS, descending to 14,000 feet...249.8
1838: FURY flight working SPAD Ops at Langley...364.125
1840: SAM 2099 (gave it as 12099 the first time) (C-37A, 99-0402, 99th AS Andrews) to Griffin Cmd at ADW w/takeoff report...departed 2330Z, land time will be 0500Z, pax are a D/V2 plus 6...late due to party arriving late (so what's new?)...378.1 (must be heading for Europe...but he's not...heading northwest...just a couple miles east of Martinsburg at 1856 and up to FL 210)
1845: BAC-161NG (Northrup Grumman N161NG based at BWI) working at Patuxent w/ECHO Control...262.95
1848: Langley interflight freq active with F-22A activity...252.775
1850: BANK 61 flight (F-22A Langley) w/Giant Killer for W-386...changing to 39 Prime...249.8
1852: CRAB 57 (C-130J, 98-1357, 135th AS MD-ANG Martin State) to CRAB Ops to report off the ground at 50 past the hour...384.1
1853: N161NG checking out of Patuxent with ECHO Control...wishes him a Merry Christmas and looks forward to working with him in the future...mentions going back to BWI...262.95
1859: CRAB 57 calls DZ (drop zone) controller and says he'll be making a sandbag drop at 0100z and another at 0130Z...384.1

1915: ROMAN 81 (F/A-18 VFA-106, NAS Oceana VA) with ZDC-Cape Charles checking in at FL 180...256.8
1916: ARMY 1778 (C-37B, 04-1778) descending on the way to Andrews...w/TRACON
1919: U/I F-22A flight on interflight freq mentions he just contacted the MARLIN (F-22A Langley) flight and they're still on the ground so he suggests he and his wingman start for home...252.775
1923-27: BATON 55 (logged above at 1805 as he was going home)...now back in the air and trying to contact Giant Killer on both primary 255.0 and secondary 312.3...no joy
1923: CRAB 56 (C-130J, 98-1356, 135th AS MD-ANG) in the air with CRAB Ops...384.1
1924: MARLIN 41 (F-22A Langley) trying to call Giant Killer...no joy...249.8
1926: BANK 61 flight to Giant Killer to report RTB through HEELS...249.8 (Think these are the guys working 252.775 interflight)
1928: MARLIN 41 flight makes contact w/Giant Killer...pushing to freq 39 Prime...249.8
1929: BATON 55 now trying to call Giant Killer on Victor...still no joy...135.725
1929: JOSA 832 (C-21A, 84-0107) to Griffin Control...20 minutes out, has an A-4 plus 1...will RON but needs 3K fuel tonight and a parking spot...141.55
1931: ARMY 1778 w/ADW Tower for landing...118.4
1932: BATON 55 back to the primary freq still trying to reach Giant Killer so he can enter W-107...255.0
1933: NODAK 22 (C-21A, 119th Wing ND-ANG Fargo) calling Andrews Dispatch...20 minutes out, has 6 pax, wants Base Ops called to let them know of the arrival, needs 800 gallons of fuel...372.2
1935: BATON 55 changes radios and again calls Giant Killer...says he's on Event A-2104...same result - no joy...255.0 (He's at FL 210 with a very strong signal so don't understand why GK isn't replying)
1935: REACH 5005 (C-5B, 85-0005, 436th AW Dover) climbing out from Dover (not sure which freq I heard him on...thought it was Tower 126.35 but not sure)
1937: F-22A activity on interflight freq...315.85
1938: FURY 01 (F-22A Langley) flight trying to contact Giant Killer...does...change to 39 Main...249.8
1943: Finally...BATON 55 makes contact w/Giant Killer to enter W-107A on event A-2104 from 0030-0215Z...says he's been calling for about 20 minutes...will give a heads up about 5 minutes before departing...says he'll be in until at least 0130-0200...cleared to work from 6,000 to 50,000 feet...255.0
1951: VODKA 51 flight (F-22A Langley) to Giant Killer to report into W-386 to work with FURY and MARLIN flights on event V-2007...249.8
1952: BLACKJACK 1 (HH-65C USCG DCA) working around Andrews w/Tower and Approach...118.4/119.3
1954: Giant Killer's tactical freq active with F-22A types....373.1
1955: There's a C-17A climbing out from McGuire (04-4136, 305th AMW MCGuire)...callsign might have been JEDI-42...ZDC VHF
1957: Refueling activity on AR freq...one of them is OPEC 38 (KC-10A, 305th AMW McGuire)...74 suffix is the other aircraft...and JEDI 42 also shows up on the freq calling SODA 92 (KC-135, 151st ARS TN-ANG)... 235.1 (JEDI 42 still calling SODA 92 at 2010 - probably for AR-607 work)
1959: NODAK 22 w/ADW Tower for landing...7 miles out, gear down for runway 19L...cleared to land...118.4

Another new C-17A was heard flying today out west. But, it's a new one for the Royal Australian Air Force. Tail was A41-208 and callsign was BOEING 208. It was heard in the 1600Z hour.
Sent the info to Kevin Hall that maintains the best C-17 list on the net. If you don't have the URL, it's here...
http://www.c-17aglobemaster.bravehost.com/Fleet.html

Lots of activity tonight. Time to grab dinner though so I'm done for now. It's all yours JR so take it away.......................

 

[SquelchKnob]

1932: 255.0 BATON 55 up with GK on UNIFORM PRIMARY. "ALPHA 2104"
1934: 285.15 & 315.85 active. 1st FW I guess. One is having problems. Advises may have to do a complete avionics restart.
1935: FURY 11 up GK, 249.8 for W-387.
1942. Looks like they finally got through on 255.0 Tin

Nope I am done as well Tin. Been messing with these things all day.

 

[freqhopping]

JEDI-42 calling SODA-92 on AR primary 235.1. Judging by how clear he is I'd say he's heading to AR328.
2037- Still calling but no answer. Mentioned ROYAL-50 being up on AR primary.
2059- ROYAL-50 just came up, said he's going to VHF. 235.1



I've created AR route points in Google Earth. Save, change extension to .kmz and import.

 

[TinEar]

Deleted post.

I was trying to show a logging program I've been working on. I can't transfer it here and make it maintain correct spacing between items so it's just a mess once I place it on the page. Oh well, it was a nice try. Basically, it was just a log of everything I've heard today in a simple format with callsign, tail number, time heard, type aircraft and unit affiliation.

Ref Below: Thanks Travis. You've got me going in the right direction at least. I just have to figure out the parameters for cut/paste within that format.

 

[freqhopping]

Deleted post.

I was trying to show a logging program I've been working on. I can't transfer it here and make it maintain correct spacing between items so it's just a mess once I place it on the page. Oh well, it was a nice try. Basically, it was just a log of everything I've heard today in a simple format with callsign, tail number, time heard, type aircraft and unit affiliation.

What may work for you is to select the brackets <> option in message editor. It will show [ html ] [ /html ] without the extra spaces. Between that paste in the log. You may need to paste it into Notepad first and copy it from there. It should display similar to this if it is actually delineated. This is what text looks like copied that way from Excel.

3/8/2007    2045    119.3000    REACH-576
3/8/2007    2047    349.4000    REACH-7041
3/9/2007    1542    355.8000    TESTER-15 and -00
3/9/2007    1555    119.3000    ARMY-052
3/9/2007    1556    119.3000    MUSSELL-02
3/9/2007    1612    378.1000    REACH-711
3/9/2007    1624    378.1000    REACH-5144
3/9/2007    1637    119.3000    REACH-791
3/9/2007    1640    378.1000    DC-99
3/9/2007    1819    378.1000    JOSA-537
3/9/2007    1833    119.3000    ARMY-7078

I'm going to do some motorcycle riding tomorrow. Right now I'm planning on heading to Solomons Island with my scanner and cameras. I hope to be there by late morning.

 

[Mark]

1827: LOCKHEED 121 (C-5B, 87-0035, 436th AW Dover) to Dover Command Post...gives tail as 7035, 20 minutes out but will remain in the pattern until 8 p.m. for a check ride, A-2. One of the problems is the Aux #3 fuel tank refuel valve will not close, second one (missed part) but something about a generator will not transfer...(squawking 6072)...349.4
....

Rgr TIN heard him on tape as I am back on evening shift now at the railroad.
Mentioned later before landing tail 87-0035 has been getting worked on for several months.
Prob getting the cockpit upgrade and general overhaul.

1402 local heard BLUE ANGEL 7 with Command Post,landing, guessing Andrews since
they are in line for them this coming May.

Mark

 

[BM82557]

1402 local heard BLUE ANGEL 7 with Command Post,landing, guessing Andrews since they are in line for them this coming May.

Mark

Looks like they will be in the area quite a bit next spring:

MAY 2008
03 - 04 Fort Lauderdale, Florida
10 - 11 Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, Louisiana
16 - 18 Andrews AFB, Maryland
21 USNA, Annapolis, Maryland
23 USNA Fly-By, Annapolis, Maryland
24 - 25 Jones Beach, New York

 

[JohnFB]

1041 local - 167th C5A 70-0452 copied with MRB tower on ground freq 121.800 reading back flight plan. Direct MRB>SWANN>BRASS (??) J42 to Robinsville then continue as filed.

1141L : DECOY 52 working MAINE 86 on 295.800 for AR631. He was arriving early and holding @ the IP.

-----

On another note, ROYAL 50 [Dover C-17, I presume] was having lots of comm port, stuck mike problems today. He was bouncing all over Uniform trying to find someone who could hear him. He was on 5 different frqs within the space of 2 mins. Evenutally checked in with Dover CP 349.400 and advised of the problem, although he didn't say if he was inbound or not.

 

[TinEar]

On another note, ROYAL 50 [Dover C-17, I presume] was having lots of comm port, stuck mike problems today. He was bouncing all over Uniform trying to find someone who could hear him. He was on 5 different frqs within the space of 2 mins. Evenutally checked in with Dover CP 349.400 and advised of the problem, although he didn't say if he was inbound or not.

ROYAL 50 (C-17A, 06-6168, 436th AW Dover) came back into the area around 2030 last night after his (mis)adventures over New England.

It sure is exciting on the radios at this time of night. UPS planes all over the place and little else. Guess those are everyones' Christmas presents going hither and yon.

Far Off Topic: And in these quiet hours also reading something from New Scientist magazine 22 December edition which I quote from the overview:
"The Santa Delusion
Does lying to children about the existence of a supernatural, white-bearded being who flies around the world dispensing presents have negative psychological consequences? "
In my opinion, there are negative psychological consequences just by seeing a magazine write such an article.

 

[TinEar]

GRE Radios: If anyone among the group that posts here (or anywhere for that matter) that uses one of the new PSR-500 (or the soon to be sold base/mobile version PSR-600) radios for MilAir, please give us your impressions. One of the best features of the PSR-600 that I read in the manual was the temporary lockout feature that's also found on the Uniden BC996T. That was the one feature I found most useful during the short period I owned the 996 before dumping it because it wasn't suited for my type of MilAir listening. Being able to lock out a noisy freq but having it unlocked the next time you turn on the radio is a fantastic feature. I don't know how many times I've locked out a freq and then forgotten about it. A month later I realize I've had a good freq locked out for a long time. The PSR-600 will also have the ability to move rapidly from one conventional freq to another so you can follow an aircraft as it quickly changes from one freq to another which you can't do with the 996. However, the PSR 600 doesn't seem to have a scrolling knob though which is a definite downside to it. Once you get in the area you want, it's a pushbutton affair to scroll to nearby frequencies rather than a quick turn of a knob. The PSR-600, however, looks very promising for MilAir monitoring and I certainly look forward to hearing from some of the MilAir nuts that are early adapters to using this radio.

Manual for the PSR-600
http://www.greamerica.com/download/manuals/PSR-600v1.01_Manual.pdf

 

[SquelchKnob]

Tin,
Just so you know I have not forgot about ya. Still trying to work on your VQ-4 thing. I am BETA testing this software and there are allot of new settings for it that I am still trying to dial in. Yesterday's recorded audio was hosed. I clicked some new feature which basically told the software to record everything into one file. I could not tell what audio was on what freq. So that, along with being in a new area, and having to figure out what my radio/PC/Antenna setup is gonna be has made for quite the number of hurdles to over come.

Currently I am trying to narrow down the freqs used at PAX. Have a BC-780 scanning and recording everything from PAX, 'minus the freqs I think are of interest for this'. Then there is a PCR-1000 just scanning and recording only the freqs I think may be pertinent to tracking VQ-4.

Today's recorded audio looks to be about what I want, everything appears to be divided up by frequency, time, date, PL tone etc. So I should be close to being able to make some progress for us.

FWIW I did have a few transmissions for VQ-4 at/about 14:40 I think. I see it on the recorded audio but I don't wanna listen to it while recording just yet as this software is still in it's BETA phase and doesn't seem to like it when I need to play back audio while recording. So I'll to just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

Oh and yep that TEMP LOCK OUT feature is nice. This software I use does that for any radio. I can chose to temp lock as many freqs or even banks as I like. Then later I can click the reset button which sets them back they way I had them. And they automatically reset the net time I restart the application.

That time of 1440 is exactly right. It was 164410 from VQ-4 that I also detected at that time. I'll look forward to your analysis later when you get a chance to play it back.

Am I am a bit more optomistitic about it now because, for this project, I have just locked out everything from PAX that is not applicable to this. Like the Baywatch freqs, RTPS, other projects, etc. Trying to narrow down the freqs used in order to nail this. Being close to PAX 'can" be somewhat of a handicap when scanning the APP/DEP freqs. These people seem to simulcast on about 10-12 freqs and I can figure out when/why they simulcast, That will come over time.

 

[TinEar]

Tin,
FWIW I did have a few transmissions for VQ-4 at/about 14:40 I think. I see it on the recorded audio but I don't wanna listen to it while recording just yet as this software is still in it's BETA phase and doesn't seem to like it when I need to play back audio while recording. So I'll to just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

That time of 1440 is exactly right. It was 164410 from VQ-4 that I also detected at that time. I'll look forward to your analysis later when you get a chance to play it back.

 

[SquelchKnob]

That time of 1440 is exactly right. It was 164410 from VQ-4 that I also detected at that time. I'll look forward to your analysis later when you get a chance to play it back.

BTW, Stoppd the scanner just log enough to see what is going on.
14:41:31 310.15 "Yes, Sorry for the Confusion there. We are off the deck and will see you this evening".

So this was a Departure and hopefully I'll have more on it.

 

[TinEar]

BTW, Stoppd the scanner just log enough to see what is going on.
14:41:31 310.15 "Yes, Sorry for the Confusion there. We are off the deck and will see you this evening".

So this was a Departure and hopefully I'll have more on it.

Excellent. That's good news. That's the usual chat that takes place on 310.15. Hopefully, the Departure commands and handoffs are also on the tape. We'll see later.

 

[SquelchKnob]

Excellent. That's good news. That's the usual chat that takes place on 310.15. Hopefully, the Departure commands and handoffs are also on the tape. We'll see later.

Been asking around at work. It appears these folks fly pretty much round the clock. I am willing to bet over the course of the Holidays, and the rest of the action at PAX slows down a bit, our odds of nailing this should improve dramatically.

 

[TinEar]

Been asking around at work. It appears these folks fly pretty much round the clock. I am willing to bet over the course of the Holidays, and the rest of the action at PAX slows down a bit, our odds of nailing this should improve dramatically.

Probably so. If we can just get that first Potomac TRACON freq and first ZDC freq, we'll have it whipped. We can then follow the progress from there to whatever comes next. I hope we can get it on a day shift when all the normal ZDC freqs are in use. At night, they consolidate so many of them that whatever we hear might not be the regular freqs used during departure.

 

[SquelchKnob]

Probably so. If we can just get that first Potomac TRACON freq and first ZDC freq, we'll have it whipped. We can then follow the progress from there to whatever comes next. I hope we can get it on a day shift when all the normal ZDC freqs are in use. At night, they consolidate so many of them that whatever we hear might not be the regular freqs used during departure.

One of my short term goals is to set up a dedicated scanner for ZDC, VHF & UHF. Record all and start looking into "all" of them that PAX might hand off to. Not specifically for this but just GP. I may have that done this weekend. Picked up a "RADAR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL FACILITY PROCEDURES" booklet for PAX today from the guys in OPS, As wll as a hard copy of the Latest IFR Supp. (20 DEC 2007 - 14 FEB 2008). The RATCFP booklet lists the preferred routes to/from PAX to several GK areas as well as many of the local fields in the area. Also many of the STEREO Departures. A quick glance through it reveals they are not to big on listing the handoff freqs for other agencies. All PAX freqs listed unless the aircraft is heading to a local field them they do list the freqs for the other field.