1408: AXEMAN flight of two MD-ANG A-10s from Warfield ANGB on interflight...142.3
1409: AXEMAN reports to Raven Ops they were airborne at 08...Ops acknowledges...347.2
1413: Refueling activity...288.0
1414: NJ-ANG F-16s on interflight...138.425
1421: MAI TAI 61 (F-22A Langley) with ZDC-Cape Charles ...256.8
1424: MAI TAI 61 requests handoff to Giant Killer...256.8
1424: MAI TAI 61 to Giant Killer on 238.1, no comms so switches to 249.8...his flight is working Event 2204 and he'll be MARSA with NACHO and RANCH flights.
Haven't heard the F-22As in a long time.
1426: MAI TAI 61, flight of two, says he's working in W-386D and is changing to 36...249.8
1426: Very weakly heard NACHO 41 (I think) reporting to Giant Killer...249.8
If RANCH shows up and is determined to be F-22A, it will be a new addition to the Raptor callsign list.
1430: RAVEN flight of MD-ANG A-10s report airborne at 28 to Raven Ops...347.2
1433: Very weaky heard someone say on 337.225 (GK freq) to switch to 288.0 (refueling freq) and then heard them even more weakly on that freq. Perhaps someone in a different area can pull out some callsigns. Thought I heard a BICEP (NJ-ANG) on 288.0 but not sure at all of that.
1437: NACHO 51 to Giant Killer to check in the area...238.1
1437: Confirm BICEP working the refueling freq...288.0
1438: Giant Killer's tactical freq active with F-22A activity...292.3
1440: BICEP 1 completes his AR per the U/I tanker...288.0
1440: BATON 74 with Baton Ops...395.1
1440: AERO 22 (NJ-ANG F-16) also with the tanker on...288.0
So...we've probably got BICEP 11 and AERO 21 flights active out in W-107 working GK's tactical freq 337.225 and with the U/I tanker on 288.0. On the scanners I can just barely tell there's activity on 288.0. With the R8500 I can hear them when they talk but the freq is very noisy with static interference of some type. One of the flights is working interflight 138.425 but no callsigns heard there yet.
1445: HIRE 70 (C-17A 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord AFB WA) calling McGuire Command Post...x2, no joy...319.4 (Tail #99-0061)
1449: Giant Killer's tactical freq active with F-22A activity...391.2
1451: MAI TAI 1 RTBing to Langley....249.8 (didn't state he had a problem as a reason for breaking from the flight to RTB)
1454: HIRE 70 to McGuire CP to report about 20 minutes out, arriving 15 after the hour, requests 95,000 pounds of fuel, has 78 pax to offload and 3 baggage pallets...needs servicing due to losing engine oil...319.4
1455: MAI TAI to ZDC-Cape Charles at FL 200...256.8
1456: BICEP to HUNTRESS...wants to know if there are any ?marshalls? on board...337.225
1457: RAVEN to Raven Ops to relay from AXEMAN that they are not going to "The Grove" today due to weather...143.8
1457: MAI TAI cleared down to 16000 feet...256.8
1458: NACHO 51 (F-22A) calling Giant Killer...no joy x3...238.1
1459: NACHO 51 to Giant Killer...says no contact on 238.1 but they are leaving W-386D at this time to RTB to Langley...233.7
1459: MAI TAI 61 tells ZDC they're in a 2 mile non-standard formation...256.8
Earlier, when I weakly thought I heard NACHO 41, that might have been RANCH 41 which would fit for the three flight mission...MAI TAI 61, NACHO 51 and RANCH 41. I would suspect RANCH would be another F-22A since he was flying with two F-22A flights. Adding it tentatively to the F-22A list.
1502: BICEP asking HUNTRESS about what type cargo aircraft they're looking for and does it have an Air Marshall on board...337.225 (I'm only hearing occasional transmissions on this freq - I guess when they turn just right or get up enough altitude.)
1504: NACHO 51 to ZDC-Cape Charles checking in at FL 200...256.8
1505: MAI TAI 61 flight with Norfolk TRACON...370.925
1507: BICEP to HUNTRESS to say target was intercepted..."TOI splash"...mentions calling the FAA...337.225
1508: Both BICEP and AERO flights report "teminate" mission...337.225
1511: Sounds like BICEP/AERO are beginning a new target acquisition...337.225 (Wish I could hear more of this mission. Sounds interesting and a bit different. Training to shoot down an airliner is one thing but imagine what a pilot would go through in a real scenario having to do that. They'd follow orders...BUT...
1515: AXEMAN still working interflight 142.3...making up missions as they go...probably out over the Bay...never did hear the RAVEN flight on an interflight freq even right after takeoff. I suspect they were on a low band FM freq but haven't caught one of those by this unit in a long time. I wonder if they've changed their FM freqs?
1516: The BICEP/AERO flights have faded from listening range.
1522: Oops...still there...AERO 21 with HUNTRESS giving a BRAA to the TOI...122/66/22000/southeast...337.225
BRAA=Bearing, Range, Altitude, Aspect (direction of flight)
Time for me to fade away too. 'Till later...
Interesting story on military.com about a synthetic fuel test in a B-52. I think the author made a mistake though in the story when he says the new fuel costs $20 a barrel. Did he mean $20 a gallon? What do you think?
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,125857,00.html?ESRC=airforce-a.nl