Sticky Thread for MilAir II

[Gemini]

I caught a flight of 3 helos at first on 246.8 they switched to 256.8 & sounded like they used this for A/A chit chat.Isn't 256.8 a Wash. Center freq?

Jack

Was just looking at your post here Jack. I had some comms on 246.8 a few years back and they kept refering to this freq as CHEERLEADER. it finally dawned on me then what it was. I guess the reference to "2---4---6---8 who do we appreciate" kind of stuff the Cheerleaders say.

I now tag this freq as A-A CHEERLEADER

 

[jerseymilair]

As I type this a Navy C-130 (VR-64) is doing pattern work at Willow Grove...just buzzed over the house. BD-4996 was the tail. Nice and easy to read

I caught the C-130 at about the same time here in Ocean County, NJ on FSS 255.400. Not sure who he was talking to but he did mention doing some pattern work.
Steve

 

[Mateo]

A few military machines heard from this afternoon's pre-rain listening post atop the parking garage at BWI.

1440: -128.7 (Baltimore App)- HAGAR 12 (C-5 Dover seen) direct Baltimore. It was heading SE, probably back to the home base.
1448: -118.95 (Potomac Dep)- SAM 0976 off ADW, and -D> GINYA.
1450: -118.4 (ADW Tower)- ARMY 301 (UC-35 01-0301) on the ILS 19R at ADW.
1505: -118.95- MARINE 212 off ADW.
1515: -118.4- BOXER 906 on the approach to ADW.
1635: -128.7- EVAC 33115 (C-17 03-3115 Jackson) vectors to ADW. To 119.85.

 

[CitationJet]

Hi,

Back to the radios again after brief absence due family, spotting and work in exactly that order. )

Good to be back and let's get right to it.

01.08.2007

1451Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - PAT 259 (C-12) deps DAA @ 1000' to 12000' dir GVE QSY 121.050.
1458Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - AIREVAC 44129 (C-17A 04-4129 6th AS) - deps ADW to 17000' dir LDN QSY 118.675.

1514Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - NAVY 378 (C-37B 166378 Andrews) - deps ADW to 17000' dir GINYA J149.
1553Z 118.400 Andrews AFB TWR - VENUS 21 @ FORRD on the RNAV (GPS) app to rwy 1L.

 

[CitationJet]

Re: REACH TANGO callsigns

Hi Mateo,

Sorry this is ancient, but just catching up on the many pages I missed while away.

REACH TANGO callsigns are not limited to Executive movements, these callsigns are used on all kinds of external transport missions, i.e. diplomatic resupply missions, equipment movements, etc., etc.

)

Best regards,

Tony

^^=someone once posited that REACH xxxT missions were Presidential related. There were lots of xxxT flights during the fall with the extensive campaign travel, and over the past 4 days, I've heard RCH382T with ZDC asking to go "direct Waco, Texas," and today's RCH702T going to Palm Springs, where, presumably, it will have something to do with activities surrounding Gerald Ford's funeral.

 

[TinEar]

Hi Mateo,

Sorry this is ancient, but just catching up on the many pages I missed while away.

REACH TANGO callsigns are not limited to Executive movements, these callsigns are used on all kinds of external transport missions, i.e. diplomatic resupply missions, equipment movements, etc., etc.

)

Best regards,

Tony

Tony, my understanding of REACH 'T' flights is that they are USTRANSCOM directed missions rather than AMC missions. They, of course, use the same AMC assets but with the 'T' indicating TRANSCOM mission support. I recently posted a note about this on one of the other boards and completely forgot to repeat it here which I intended to do.

Their mission statement:
USTRANSCOM is responsible for creating and implementing world-class global deployment and distribution solutions in support of the President, Secretary of Defense, and Combatant Commander-assigned missions.

And it's great to see you back to the board.

Alan

 

[CitationJet]

Re: REACH TANGO callsigns

Hi Tin,

Thanks for the further info on this. I knew there was an acronym involved, but all I could remember was "external transport"...

Best regards,

Tony

Tony, my understanding of REACH 'T' flights is that they are USTRANSCOM directed missions rather than AMC missions. They, of course, use the same AMC assets but with the 'T' indicating TRANSCOM mission support. I recently posted a note about this on one of the other boards and completely forgot to repeat it here which I intended to do.

Their mission statement:
USTRANSCOM is responsible for creating and implementing world-class global deployment and distribution solutions in support of the President, Secretary of Defense, and Combatant Commander-assigned missions.

And it's great to see you back to the board.

Alan

 

[Mark]

The McGuire TEAM KC-10's are up and about.earlier had TEAM 10 tell CP that
they would be 50 minutes late heading down to Cherry Point and relay to MAG 14.
Maybe gonna refuel some Harriers.
TEAM 11 and TEAM 12 A/A 139.875 and ZDC 127.700 headed somewhere.

Mark

 

[CitationJet]

01.08.2007 (CONT'D)

1711Z 126.300 Davison AAF TWR - NIGHTHAWK 14 - on the app to rwy 32.
1727Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - BOXER 918 - deps ADW @ 1800' for 3000' init. alt then to 5000', then cleared to 17000' dir LDN.
1734Z 314.250 BOXER OPS (201st AS DC ANG Andrews) - BOXER 918 reporting a/b at 28 past the hour.

1826Z 257.200 Potomac DEP - WILD 1 FLIGHT - deps ADW to 11000' standard formation heading 360 right over the building here then to 17000' QSY 254.250.
1827Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - REACH 5142 (C-17A 05-5142 729th AS AFRC) - deps ADW to 17000' dir LDN QSY 118.675.
1833Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - PAT 958 (sounds like a C-26 radio) - deps DAA to 5000' heading 070.

 

[TinEar]

1317: MACE 91 with ZDC-Shenandoah checks in at FL 280...270.35 (F-16s but not sure yet from where - a couple of possible choices)
1318: MAD HOG 1 (A-10 Willow Grove) with ZDC-Hagerstown at 13,000 feet...227.125
1319: MAD HOG 1 handed off to ZNY-Middletown and again check in at 13,000 feet (seem to be headed toward home)...322.4
1320: MAD HOG and FLYER flight chatting on Ops freq...one mentions a flight of three heading toward R-4006 (at Pax)....141.8
1325: FLYER flight of three A-10s from Willow Grove checks into the Pax area...250.3
1326: FLYER 1 to Pax Advisory to report they are 3 A-10s at 6000 feet...270.8 (FLYER flight must be working low band FM for interflight...never heard them on VHF)
1329: WILD flight of 3 F-16s off the deck at Andrews...with TRACON climbing out...257.2
1330: WILD flight using interflight freq...139.15
1332: MAD HOG 1 flight to Philadelphia TRACON...passing 10 for 6000 feet, direct Willow Grove...273.575
1333: WILD reports bullseye is at 360 degrees, 153 miles (hmmm...W-107? ..or the Duke?)...139.15
Should've known it was the Duke MOA since they took off to the west indicated by the 257.2 TRACON freq and were headed due north to the bullseye.
1334: MAD HOG 1 flight to Phil. TRACON and down to 5000 feet...291.7
1334: BRAVE F-16 flight scramble from Andrews...with Potomac TRACON...348.725
1334: BRAVE 61/62 flight to HUNTRESS...139.7
1337: WILD flight with ZNY-Middletown...direct Slate Run...322.4 (Heading your way Dave to The Duke)
1339: BRAVE 61/62 into the Pax area and cleared in for simulated work...270.8
1342: FLYER reports to Pax they're rejoining...1 and 3 were doing PARs at Pax and 2 was just hanging around the area...270.8
1349: BRAVE 61/62 still down at Pax doing simulated intercepts..."BONDO simulation GCI"...they are also working with Potomac TRACON on this freq to request altitude blocks for the intercept as they would in a real life situation...139.7
1357: BRAVE 61/62 get a new intercept mission on an airliner...just shadow for now...139.7
1358: BRAVE confirms it's a United Airlines Boeing 767...they've followed it from 12,000 down to 5,000 feet (Apparently it's preparing to land at one of the local airports)...nice simulation...139.7

1404: BRAVE new mission -- going after a "stolen Leer Jet" and must count bodies in the cockpit....report just one body...139.7
1405: BRAVE 61 leaving Pax...270.8
1406: BRAVE 61 to Potomac TRACON...335.5
1407: BRAVE 61 to CAPITOL to report RTB...5 minutes out, Code 1...says he's coming home first...139.7 (BRAVE 62 will probably hang around for another 20 minutes as they often do on scrambles.)
1409: BRAVE 61 to Andrews Tower for landing...349.0
1409: BRAVE 62 to 3500 feet as reported to Pax...270.9
1410: BRAVE 61 reports..."base, gear, stop, right"...349.0
1411: BRAVE 62 to Potomac to report a couple of approaches at Patuxent and then RTB to Andrews...139.7
1423: WILD flight back in range on interflight freq after going to the Duke MOA...139.15
1434: BRAVE 62 with Potomac TRACON at Nottingham...335.5
1435: BRAVE 62 to Andrews Tower for landing...4 miles to the southeast...349.0
1438: BRAVE 62 cleared to runway 1R...349.0
1439: WILD flight to V-1 SOF...give mission resutls...33 miles to the north...all 3 are Code 1...139.9...Push v-6 and go back to interflight freq 139.15
1440: BRAVE 62 reports gear down....349.0
1441: WILD flight with Potomac TRACON...269.0
1442: WILD 1 reports flight at 4,000 feet and has field in sight...269.0 (WILD 2 clears off interflight freq to fetch the ATIS report)
1444: WILD 2 comes back to interflight with the ATIS...active runway 1L/R...139.15 Push U-4
1444: WILD 1 to Andrews Tower to report in as a flight of three for runway 1R...349.0
1448: WILD 1 reports gear down, right base, full stop, 1 right...2 does the same...3 joins the parade...349.0

1451: And here comes Langley,....interflight active...315.85
1453: KEVLAR 41 (Langley) calling Giant Killer...238.1

And after break, phone work, email answering, and adding to my MilAir reference book that I'm in the process of building...

Final notes of the afternoon...at 1602 there is a RATS 11 (four F-22A) flight from Langley with Norfolk TRACON 370.925 heading out to W-386. They then check in with Giant Killer on 238.1 and say they'll be MARSA with a BUGSY flight (also F-22A) for the next 30 minutes flying over the entire W-386 area. RATS is a new F-22A Langley callsign (but previously used for F-15s) and I'm adding it as "first noted" to the callsign list as of today. RATS is working 233.525 for interflight.
AT 1614, BUGSY 21 flight of three F-22As with Norfolk TRACON climbing to FL 230, then switching to '7' where they contact GK on 238.1 to enter W-386 for the next 40 minutes MARSA with RATS.
1632: There is a BATON 24 [female] talking to Baton Ops on 395.1 asking about BATON 20 and affirming that 20 is now airborne. (EC-130J from the 193rd SOW, PA-ANG Harrisburg)
1643: BUGSY 21, two ship RTBing to Langley via HEELS at 14,000 feet...238.1/249.8 (they left 23 behind in W-386)
1645: RATS flight 5 minutes from RTB...flight leader says they'll split into two flights - RATS 11 (with 12) and 13 (with 14)...238.1/249.8
1648: RATS splits the four ship flight in half and reports RTB...238.1/249.8
1650: BUGSY 23 reports RTB through HEELS...238.1

 

[dparana]

Sorry I missed the WILD flight up in the DUKE, I've been in and out of the office all day. Those guys make for some pretty fun listening....

Dave

 

[Mateo]

Seen and heard this afternoon at Gravelly Point. The Andrews CP transmitter must have been moved, since I can hear the ground side like she's broadcasting from, oh, 9 miles away :> I heard ground-side CP comms last week too from Gravelly, so hopefully this is a permanent change. Significantly, I still do not/not hear the ground half of ADW Tower from the same location.

1644: -118.4- NAVY JR 093 (C-20 165093 seen) doing some pattern work at Andrews. To 119.3 for the downwind legs.
1645: -119.85- MARINE 476 arriving ADW.
1700: -124.7- PAT 28 was vectored all around northern Virginia before getting an ILS 32 into DAA.
1700: -378.1- came in halfway through a message, but he had a V-4 and an A-6 on board, was A-2, wants a crew bus for 2, and departed Raleigh at 2137z.
1703: -118.95- NAVY 7C 067 off DAA.
1703: -128.35- someone 292 wants the ILS 1L at ADW. Since it's coming from the south, I'm guessing it's a JOSA, and probably the one that was ex RDU. Whatever it was, I didn't hear it again, and didn't see anything, either.
1710: -378.1- DC 02 calling LIBERATOR his SOE shows off at 15 past, but the Command Post put off at 29 past. He wants to make sure he won't take a delay.
1720: -378.1- EVAC 58152 (C-130J 05-8152 Keesler seen) has no pax, no cargo, is A-1, and will be on the ground in 10 minutes. Parking will be 11 row. The ATC portion was on 128.35 and straight to tower on 118.4.

 

[dparana]

Good Evening Everyone,

Had a pretty interesting evening up in the DUKE MOA. Starting at about 1800 SCARY flight of two checks in with Cleveland Center on 353.85. They were using 143.60 TAC Freq. WILD flight checked in later, they were using 139.15 TAC Freq. SCARYs were first doing some 1 VS 1 engagements and when the WILD flight came in they used the DUKE Primary Freq of 301.60 for some 2 VS 2 engagements.

1841: SCARY flight departed at about 1841 and 16,000 feet back to Andrews. Handoffs were 353.85 to 338.30 (NY Center - Philipsburg) to 322.40 (NY Center - Big Flat).

1841-1854: WILD flight stayed in the DUKE doing some work with WILD 2 practicing intercepts on WILD 1 who was simulating a target of interest (TOI). At one point, DARKSTAR (WILD 1) requested WILD 2 to intercept the TOI and get a registration number. A bit later WILD 2 relayed the the TOI was 85476. I looked up a few variations of this and came up with 85-1476 belonging to the DC ANG.

1855: They exited the DUKE at 13,000 feet to RTB. They received the same handoffs as the SCARY flight (353.85, 338.30, 322.40). I was able to pick them up on their 139.15 TAC freq until they got just passed the Harrisburg VOR, which is pretty good form me.

Just passing along a little info on what the guys from down your way were doing up in my neck of the woods. It sure was hectic and I apologize if my notes aren't very good. My 7 month old is keeping me very busy, I try to take notes and the next thing I know she's half way across the room. Those DC ANG guys sure are fun to listen to...now if only the Willow Grove or Martin State guys would come up and do some laser targeting practice, that is extremely cool.

The WILD pair had a discussion around the Harrisburg area about two airfields in the area and which runway they'd have to use in case of emergency.

Yeah Tin, that was when they were beginning to fade from my location. Nice pick-up, thanks for following up on those flights.

Dave

 

[TinEar]

Just passing along a little info on what the guys from down your way were doing up in my neck of the woods.

Good report Dave. Let me pick up on those two flights when they left your area. The SCARY 1 flight, working interflight 143.6, was the first pair to come home. From your last reported freq they went to ZNY-Modena 335.6, to Potomac TRACON (BWI) 307.9, Potomac TRACON (Reagan) 269.5, 322.3 and 335.5 and then to Andrews Tower 349.0 for landing about 1910.
The WILD pair, working interflight 139.15, began at the same place - ZNY-Modena 335.6, to TRACON 307.9 in the Baltimore area, then to 269.0 in the Andrews area before over to 335.5 and finally 349.0 with tower for landing at 1926. The WILD pair had a discussion around the Harrisburg area about two airfields in the area and which runway they'd have to use in case of emergency. They also were a tad upset with the TRACON controller in the Andrews area that seemed to give them conflicting instructions.
Both flights were comprised of two F-16s from the DC-ANG at Andrews and both contacted WATERGATE on the SOF freq (V-1) 139.9 when around the Baltimore area with their mission reports and maintenance status.

I also heard a MAPLE 03 (F-16 VT-ANG) coming through our area on the ZNY/ZDC freqs flying to Langley and the new Detachment there. Last freq was 370.925 with Norfolk TRACON as he was descending for approach to the Langley runway at just about 1900.

At the same time, there was a flight of A-10s at the Warren Grove Range - probably from one of the New England bases (Barnes or Bradley). They used 138.825 for interflight and worked the range on 283.1.

From 1930-2000, a BARNEY flight of A-10s from the MA-ANG at Barnes were heard with ZNY-Kennedy 282.3 and ZNY-Dixie 307.8 before switching to the Warren Grove Range on 139.625 to lay out their missions and then to 283.1 for the actual range work once they arrived.

Other than the above flights, there were various transports moving around the area of Andrews, Dover and McGuire. One of them was a HAGAR 70 (C-5 Dover) that contacted McGuire Command Post on 319.4 to tell them he took off early from Dover, had a scheduled IP time with a McGuire tanker and wanted to know if the tanker could move up the IP time to accommodate HAGAR 70's early arrival.

Only had about an hour on the radios this evening for the first time today so that's the limit of my logging.

 

[jerseymilair]

TinEar,
Just happen to catch the BARNEY flight leaving the range 283.1 then on ZNY-Dixie 307.8. Said number 2 was 2 miles in trail. Also picked up HAGAR 70 on ZNY-Barnegat 132.15 requesting block 21-23 to meet up with OPEC flight. Mentioned AR-777 then caught him on 228.0 and 139.875.
Interesting catch was PAT 321 on 321.000. Haven't heard that frequency since 9/25/04. Comm's were 5x5. Has anyone in your area monitored that c/s. I have it listed as being used by C-12's and C-26's. The 321.0 frequency was very active here during the post 9/11 era.
Steve

 

[TinEar]

TinEar,
Just happen to catch the BARNEY flight leaving the range 283.1 then on ZNY-Dixie 307.8. Said number 2 was 2 miles in trail. Also picked up HAGAR 70 on ZNY-Barnegat 132.15 requesting block 21-23 to meet up with OPEC flight. Mentioned AR-777 then caught him on 228.0 and 139.875.
Interesting catch was PAT 321 on 321.000. Haven't heard that frequency since 9/25/04. Comm's were 5x5. Has anyone in your area monitored that c/s. I have it listed as being used by C-12's and C-26's. The 321.0 frequency was very active here during the post 9/11 era.
Steve

Good followup on the BARNEY and HAGAR 70 flights Steve. Thanks.
The PAT callsigns are assigned to U.S. Army [PAT=Priority Air Transport] flights. They use many aircraft types, including helicopters (with 2-digit suffixes) and are very common all over this general area. In fact, when I said above there were other aircraft moving around the three AF bases in the listening area, two of them were PAT 814 and PAT 723. The 321.0 freq, along with 311.0, are very common Command Post freqs at many, many bases around the country so it's hard to tell who he might have been calling.
Go to Google, type in...airnav 321.0...and then at the bottom of the first returned page, hit the link for "repeat the search with the omitted results included" and you'll get a long list of bases that use 321.0 as their command post freq.

 

[HM1529]

Cleveland Center

Sorry, I didn't go searching back through the thread....

I seem to remember, though, that there were some issues matching the various ZOB frequencies with Sector names.

I found a message thread at this link with a bunch of different maps in it. Map dates range from 2005 back to 2003, but there are a few that link the frequencies with the Sector names.

http://www.liveatc.net/forums/index.php/topic,1901.0.html

Perhaps some of this info could be used to get the RR.com ZOB page to match the format on the ZNY and ZDC pages? I guess some of those maps should also be put on the RR.com page, too.

353.85 (usually tagged here as ZOB Wayland for the RCAG point) would be ZOB Low Sector 73 - Bradford.

 

[TinEar]

Sorry, I didn't go searching back through the thread....

I seem to remember, though, that there were some issues matching the various ZOB frequencies with Sector names.

I found a message thread at this link with a bunch of different maps in it. Map dates ranges from 2005 back to 2003, but there are a few that link the frequencies with the Sector names.

http://www.liveatc.net/forums/index.php/topic,1901.0.html

Perhaps some of this info could be used to get the RR.com ZOB page to match the format on the ZNY and ZDC pages? I guess some of those maps should also be put on the RR.com page, too.

You just reminded me Ben that we never followed through with this the last time that link was mentioned. I used those maps at the time to fix the few ZOB freqs I have programmed when we discussed it here but never did the work necessary to get them to the database administrator. Many thanks for bringing it up again. There are apparently some new UHF freqs in ZOB that aren't on those lists but what's there is better than what we now have.
Paul, if you're reading, do you want to fix the database for ZOB based on that link? If you need a hand, let me know.
Based on info at the link, those maps were originally generated by Cleveland Center, probably in a Letter To Airman, May 15, 2005 although I can't find the original LTA anywhere on the net.

 

[HM1529]

You just reminded me Ben that we never followed through with this the last time that link was mentioned. I used those maps at the time to fix the few ZOB freqs I have programmed when we discussed it here but never did the work necessary to get them to the database administrator. Many thanks for bringing it up again.

The link I posted this time is actually different than the link I posted previously. The link I found tonight actually has maps with sector names and frequency assignments (although likely partly outdated) on the same graphic. That is what we were missing before. The other link I had previously posted only had maps showing the dividing lines for the sectors and areas, but they had no frequency data on them.

 

[HM1529]

Boston Center

Here is the most recent Letter to Airmen from Boston Center (ZBW), effective mid 2006:

http://web.nbaa.org/public/ops/airspace/ZBW_LTA0602.pdf

Just in case somebody wants it....