Sticky Thread for MilAir II

[TinEar]

1836 EST- CADDO 91 cleared to land Rwy 34 at RIC. <257.800>

Can any one confirm this callsign? It's the first time I've heard it. It was pronounced as (KAY-TOE). This is the only callsign I could find that was remotely close except for KATO which I've got listed as T-34's from NAS Kingsville in Texas. Thanks for any confirmations.

Nick

No reason it couldn't be KATO Nick. They prounounce it the way you explained. The 91 suffix indicates he's flying cross country so it might just be them. T-45 for the type - I know the 34 was a typo.

Ref your message below: I've never heard the CADDO callsign Nick but I would imagine it's pronounced the way you'd pronounce the nickname for Cadillac...CADDIE - or a golf CADDY - but with the 'OH" ending.

As for the friendly fire video...I saw that last night. A very unfortunate incident, indeed.

What bothers me most is not so much the incident as the stupid comments people make about the video or other military footage online on various sites (i.e. Youtube, Myspace, and related sites). While I may not always support every engagement our military is told to conduct, I do respect and understand the need to keep a military force at the ready.

That's why I wouldn't watch it on one of the "kiddie" channels. I always get angry when I read some of the stupid comments. I used military.com figuring it would be there and it was. Most of the comments on the discussion board following it were from guys that have "been there" and understand it a bit better. I've been reading some of the stories and comments in the British press and they're not so understanding of the rationale used to clear the two ID-ANG pilots.

I've been hoping to pickup an aircraft that I don't know much about. Don't know type or location or where it's going, just that it is involved with the comms I've been hearing on 267.35 FM. It has something to do with SATCOM and HAM. The last I heard he was at 1848 saying he was flying the east leg and heading home. The callsign used is "MONKEY-1" and he talks to "INDIAN HOLE".

Nice recording Travis. It's a telemetry flight at a test range somewhere but I guess could be about anywhere in the world since it's being relayed through a satellite channel. Were you using a normal omni-directional antenna?

 

[trainman111]

Yes, I had it as T-45 at first then I changed it to T-34. Not sure why??? lol. Thanks for the confirmation Alan. Do you know how the CADDO callsign is pronounced?

 

[CitationJet]

02.09.2007 (CONT'D)

2120Z 141.550 SAM CP Andrews - ARMY 01053 (UC-35C 00-1053) - ETA ADW 1640-45L w/DV drop off req. parking.
2123Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - NAVY JR 652 (C-20G VR-48 NAF Washington) - deps ADW to 9000'.
2124Z 126.300 Davison AAF TWR - PAT 2402 (C-12T Davison shuttle) - GPS rwy 32 app.
2124Z 119.850 Potomac APP - REACH 8405 - 10000-8000' req 1R app at ADW.
2127Z 118.400 Andrews AFB TWR - PAT 677 - lands rwy 1L.
2131Z 118.400 Andrews AFB TWR - REACH 8405 - 4 nm. final L base rwy 1R.
2135Z 349.400 Dover AFB CP - REACH 215? - arr. message w/tail # that faded. Did anyone get this one?
2136Z 118.400 Andrews AFB TWR - ARMY 01053 (UC-35C 00-1053) - 3 nms. outside KIRBE for rwy 1L.
2138Z 119.850 Potomac APP - REACH 4138 (C-17A 04-4138 729th AS AFRC) - 10000' for 8000' req. rwy 1R @ ADW.

2218Z 119.850 Potomac APP - PAT 162 - down to 4000' dir DAVEY for Davison AAF.
2257Z 378.100 SAM CP Andrews - REACH 275 - arr. msg ETA 35 mins., DVs on board, we'll drop them off then head to McGuire.

2304Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - NAVY 375 (C-37B 166375 VR-1) - deps ADW to 17000' QSY 123.825. NAVY LT 624 also up here @ 2308Z.
2314Z 119.850 Potomac APP - REACH 275 - X ELDEE @ 8000' on the app to rwy 1R @ ADW.
2323Z 119.850 Potomac APP - PAT 2404 (C-12T Davison shuttle) - @ 8000' descending QSY KDAA TWR 126.300 and lands rwy 32.
2345Z 118.950 Potomac DEP - EVAC 2109 (C-17A 02-1109 62nd AW) - deps ADW QSY 121.050.

 

[TinEar]

Here's a link for a recording (5MB 22min) of the early morning Falcon Virgo exercises. It covers from 0008 to 0425 hours.

The first fighters had the callsign DIAL. I've never heard them before. Where are they from?
BRAVEs started at 0348 hours.

This second part runs from 0434 to 0524 hours. I was surprised that exercises were still happening when I woke up. That's why I stopped and restarted recording. [650kb 5min]

Targets "being engaged by the ground units". :lol: I don't think they're talking about laser warnings either.

Travis, I finally got to listen to that first recording above. Wow! I'm envious of the copy you have on HUNTRESS from your location. You hear him the way I hear the ground stations at BWI. Beautiful stuff.

Anyway, after listening to the whole thing, I'm now undecided on whether the VT-ANG was using STYLE or DIAL. Each time HUNTRESS said it, it sounded like DIAL but I wondered if that was a function of the VOX type recording cutting out the 'S.'. The flight leader made it sound like STYLE but the number 2 sounded like DIAL. That's two out of three for DIAL. I'm going to have to hear them on another flight to really make up my mind. When they changed to V-20 on the recording, I take it you didn't have the 138.0 freq setup to record so we don't have that one where they normally speak a little slower than during an intercept. The last time they flew, it sounded very much like STYLE on 138.0. Maybe next time I'll finally make up my mind. I can certainly see why you'd copy it as DIAL though.

The last intercept by BLACKJACK 1 was kind of of interesting when he had two TOIs flying a one-mile-trail. The front aircraft was the Civil Air Patrol Cessna 172 but I never heard an ID on the second TOI. HUNTRESS told BLACKJACK that second one was too fast for him to be able to intercept it, however, it would be taken care of by ground assets. You know what that meant! There was that point where he also told BLACKJACK 1 to "bugout" and then to stay right where he was in an anchor position because he was "in the avenue of fire" - meaning ground fire for that second TOI.

Then, the third intercept on your recording had the BRAVE 61 and 62 Andrews F-16s but they were doing intercepts of each other - not the Cessna. Interestingly, HUNTRESS was not heard on that last intercept - indicating his transmitting antenna must have switched to a different location.

A couple of times during the recording, there was also the FAIRFAX 1 helo heard. I take it that was from a different frequency although he did mention the flight of BLACKJACK 1 and asked about his location. All in all, a very interesting recording. Many thanks for putting it up.

Edit: Listened to the second recording but that's just BRAVE 61 and 62 again with no HUNTRESS on the recording.

Alan

 

[ka3jjz]

I've been hoping to pickup an aircraft that I don't know much about. Don't know type or location or where it's going, just that it is involved with the comms I've been hearing on 267.35 FM. It has something to do with SATCOM and HAM. The last I heard he was at 1848 saying he was flying the east leg and heading home. The callsign used is "MONKEY-1" and he talks to "INDIAN HOLE".

Audio clip link

The mystery might be at least solvable with a little legwork. Larry Van Horn has been listing common users of the UHF mil band in his MT Milcom blog for the last several weeks. Right now he's up to the 290 mhz range, so you'd have to step backwards a bit to get back to 267.35. If the blog has a listing of a specific satellite, a couple of questions on the SATCOM mailing lists might bring the answer. I *think* you could even use some of the public websites we have in the wiki to plot when the satellite is next visible in our area. If you continue to hear FM broadcasts like the one above using those timeframes, you've got a good chance that you've solved your mystery. I agree with Tin that it might well be an aircraft relaying via a satellite - the question is, which one?

73s and good hunting..Mike

 

[TinEar]

The mystery might be at least solvable with a little legwork. Larry Van Horn has been listing common users of the UHF mil band in his MT Milcom blog for the last several weeks. Right now he's up to the 290 mhz range, so you'd have to step backwards a bit to get back to 267.35. If the blog has a listing of a specific satellite, a couple of questions on the SATCOM mailing lists might bring the answer. I *think* you could even use some of the public websites we have in the wiki to plot when the satellite is next visible in our area. If you continue to hear FM broadcasts like the one above using those timeframes, you've got a good chance that you've solved your mystery. I agree with Tin that it might well be an aircraft relaying via a satellite - the question is, which one?

73s and good hunting..Mike

Mike, I've been saving the freqs from Larry's MT blog postings. There is no listing for 267.35.

 

[Gemini]

I've been hoping to pickup an aircraft that I don't know much about. Don't know type or location or where it's going, just that it is involved with the comms I've been hearing on 267.35 FM. It has something to do with SATCOM and HAM. The last I heard he was at 1848 saying he was flying the east leg and heading home. The callsign used is "MONKEY-1" and he talks to "INDIAN HOLE".

Audio clip link

Can't offer much info on MONKEY-1 one but I tend to associate INDIAN HOLE with ARMY Research LAB at Blossom Point. I am working from memory here, and have no documentation to back this up or even logs. But I used to hear, almost daily, an aircraft at about the same time coming south. This was 2-3 years ago. When he would get south of ADW he would start calling "INDIAN HOLE". I am absolutely sure of the INDIAN HOLE part. The freqs used elude me. I never could fiure out what the INDIAN HOLE was myself. As soon as contact was made they said they were going go secure and indeed they did so trying to figure this out was useless. I posted this info to Scan-DC. Another poster, I'll leave names out of this as his email was private. I will call him "DOC". Mike, you should pick up on that. But DOC advised INDIAN HOLE was C/S used by ARMY Research LAB Blossom Point which if memory serves is in Charles county. Hope this helps and good luck.

Also. For what it is worth. I am pretty sure the freq I heard the aircraft calling INDIAN HOLE on was a VHF freq.

That's a VERY good possibility. Did you log any flights into PAX around 1900 today?

I recorded "EVERYTHING on EVERY PAX freq today and am currently reviewing audio for other reasons. I will keep an ear out for MONKEY 1

 

[freqhopping]

The exercise catch was sort of luck for me. I didn't know it was supposed to happen. I just happened to leave my scanner on overnight on my milair bank rather than Loudoun Co. I cranked up the volume so I would hear any weak signal. Well, HUNTRESS booming through woke me up quick. No doubt he's TXing from IAD. I hear regular IAD tower comms like that or better. 10 miles or so away and I can actually see the new control tower.

I do have 138.0 programmed, but I turned that bank off because it contains so many freqs. I left on my CAP, ADW/local approach and Helo banks. Fairfax-1 was on 120.75.

And about 267.35, if you haven't seen it already, I have a thread going in the VA section with another recording. I don't think 267.35 is SATCOM, just whatever they're doing has to do with SATCOM. I can hear this with any of my stock duckies and even better with my homemade one in the attic. Give the other recording a listen too.


And in other military related comms tonight, on the JNCR system the Pentagon FPS dispatch is not encrypted but the units are. I've never heard dispatch in the clear, just an occasional unit. I think the young-sounding girl doing dispatcher earlier might have messed with something. :lol:

Can't offer much info on MONKEY-1 one but I tend to associate INDIAN HOLE with ARMY Research LAB at Blossom Point

That's a VERY good possibility. Did you log any flights into PAX around 1900 today?

 

[TinEar]

And about 267.35, if you haven't seen it already, I have a thread going in the VA section with another recording. I don't think 267.35 is SATCOM, just whatever they're doing has to do with SATCOM. I can hear this with any of my stock duckies and even better with my homemade one in the attic. Give the other recording a listen too.

I listened to your other recording over on the VA forum Travis but don't get anything that helps me identify who MONKEY 1 might be. All I really got on that one was that they're trying to get their Kenwood TM-455A transceiver to work on 435.1. This is the radio...

 

[Mateo]

Tony already posted most of what I heard this afternoon at Gravelly Point 1645-1810. Here are additions and fill-ins:

Heard the ground side of ADW CP talking to EVAC 21099 at 1702 and again at 1749; the second time mentioning something about fuel. I waited and waited for this to depart, but if it didn't go out until 1845L, then I'm glad I missed it by a full half-hour.

1714: -119.85- CODY 01 (KC-135 seen) arrived from the west, and vectored around for an ILS to the 1s.
1800: -118.95- NAVY LT 624 departs ADW. As the callsign indicates, this was indeed a P-3.
1812: -124.55- REACH 285 heavy (seen) departs ADW and goes direct PALEO.
1822: -119.95- As REACH 275 is vectoring to ADW, Approach gives a traffic point-out for a DC-10.

There were also a bunch coming in and out of DAA, with the PAR out of service there. Traffic point-outs were issued for a King Air and a T-6.

 

[Mark]

Yes, I had it as T-45 at first then I changed it to T-34. Not sure why??? lol. Thanks for the confirmation Alan. Do you know how the CADDO callsign is pronounced?

TRAINMAN the CADDO callsign is pronounced as it is spelled like a Cadillac.
Rare around here but used by several units as local mission callsigns.

CADDO B52 LA ACC 2 BW BARKSDALE AFB LA
CADDO C17 AETC 97 AMW ALTUS AFB OK
CADDO C17 AMC 62 AW MCCHORD AFB WA
CADDO KC135 AMC 350 ARS/22 ARW MCCONNELL AFB KS

KATO is probably what you heard...

KATO HC130 AFSOC 9 SOS/16 SOW HURLBURT FIELD FL
KATO T-45 NAS KINGSVILLE TX

Seeing it was UHF coming in I would say the T-45 is most likely..

Mark
Maryland

 

[Mark]

Earlier tonite had BEELINER 11 arrive McGuire to drop off 91 pax.
I thought that was a C-5 Westover or Travis squadron callsign but can't find in my list.

Anyone have BEELINER callsign?

Mark

 

[TinEar]

Earlier tonite had BEELINER 11 arrive McGuire to drop off 91 pax.
I thought that was a C-5 Westover or Travis squadron callsign but can't find in my list.

Anyone have BEELINER callsign?

Mark

Travis AFB CA C-17. First C-17 to arrive at Travis was BEELINER 05 according to a post I found on one of the military forums. Adding it to my callsign list.

This was the post I found discussing C-17 to Travis, dated 9 August 2006:
We got our first jet from the factory today. Tail #66154 callsign Beeliner 05 landed A-2 for a light bulb and turned double digit on the hours 11 total. I had to take a look at a set of clean forms. ( never saw that in the C-5 world) was also cool to see the new Travis tail stripe with a california bear on it, and get a break from scheduling.

Found a picture of that first C-17 to Travis...it even gives us the unit - the 60th AMW/349th AMW...This one is named "The Spirit of Solano" and in addition to this picture, here's a link to another of it in all its beautiful glory:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1074217/L/

 

[BMT]

Re: 267.35

NSA Indian Head - Indian Head, MD

Indian Head Golf Course - 9 Hole Facility

This might explain the "INDIAN HEAD" C/S.(WAG)

BMT

 

[Mark]

Travis AFB CA C-17. First C-17 to arrive at Travis was BEELINER 05 according to a post I found on one of the military forums. Adding it to my callsign list.

This was the post I found discussing C-17 to Travis, dated 9 August 2006:
We got our first jet from the factory today. Tail #66154 callsign Beeliner 05 landed A-2 for a light bulb and turned double digit on the hours 11 total. I had to take a look at a set of clean forms. ( never saw that in the C-5 world) was also cool to see the new Travis tail stripe with a california bear on it, and get a break from scheduling.

Thanks Tin,
Travis C-17's busy already. Paint barely dry on some of them and they have been thru here and all over Europe etc.

Mark

 

[bigred10]

0920-0930 266.8 HUSTLER 407 USMC CH-53E doing 2 PARs at KNXX and then headed off to the south

1000 119.6 Navy BD-349 C-130 inbound to KNXX with landing gear problem (I assume they have declared an emergency). going to do a low approach on runway 15 to see if left landing gear down and locked. 6 pax onboard and also reported amount of fuel
1002 140.1 KNXX crash crew scrambling
1006 119.6 good news, tower reports gear appears to be down and locked. BD-349 circling to land runway 33
1008 BD-349 on the ground without incident

1012 312.3 looks like activity in GiantKiller; weak comms heard on 138.425 so probably NJANG F-16s (confirmed, just heard BANGER callsign)
1019 138.675 more interflight from the F-16's, too much static to pick anything out

1022 119.6 JT-049 VR-52 C-9B off the ground from KNXX for some tower pattern work
1026 340.2 HUSTLER 407 back and cleared to land on taxiway echo

 

[CitationJet]

Re: NAVY LT 624

Hi Mateo,

My log listing NAVY JT 624 should have been LT 624.

Thanks!

Tony

Tony already posted most of what I heard this afternoon at Gravelly Point 1645-1810. Here are additions and fill-ins:
1800: -118.95- NAVY LT 624 departs ADW. As the callsign indicates, this was indeed a P-3.
.

 

[CitationJet]

BLACKJACK 1 on 120.100

Have BLACKJACK 1 up with IAD TWR E 120.100 entering the Class B going Route 10 to the Chantilly area @ 2034Z.

 

[TinEar]

Thanks Tin,
Travis C-17's busy already. Paint barely dry on some of them and they have been thru here and all over Europe etc.

Mark

Right. That first C-17 into Travis came in one day and the next morning it left for Ramstein with its first load. They didn't waste any time putting them to work. Somewhere I read that Travis was getting 13 of the C-17s.

Trivia: Does everyone know there is a maintenance status of A-4? I've never heard it and don't know if anyone else has ever heard it either - and hope we never do. It means there is biological or chemical contamination of the plane. We all hear the A-1 (no problems) and A-2 (minor writeups that aren't serious enough to prevent a mission but need to be fixed) and sometimes even A-3 (problem serious enough that it must be fixed before the plane can fly again.) The "Codes" used by fighter aircraft rather than "Alpha" status used by transports/tankers correspond to those same definitions.

 

[bigred10]

Busy afternoon around Willow Grove, but not much scanner time since I was out running errands.
PAANG A-10's, Navy C-130's and Marine CH-53's were active

Although early in the 1600 hour as I was returning from Home Depot, a T-45 Goshawk flew right over the house. I manged to listen for a few minutes while he did several touch-and-go's. Callsign was BOBCAT-24 (using UHF frequencies) and from what I can find online I assume the T-45 is from VT-7 Meridian NAS.