Sticky Thread for MilAir III

[Waltz41]

I heard (for several minutes) and then saw, in the distance thru the trees, a UH-1 that looked to be USMC gray. He was headed east toward Willow Grove a little before 5 PM this evening. I didn't have the scanner handy at the time, so I was not able to monitor any ATC contact with Willow Grove.

Closed to 6 PM, I caught Guard helo 90211 working Willow Grove Tower on 340.2. He switched over to GCA on 299.6 to do some approach work. Not sure where he went after that...he was getting lower in altitude while working GCA and I eventually lost him.

Not sure what he was or where he was from. Using Baugher and Scramble, I'm guessing maybe 90-00211, a CH-47D from the 5-159th AVN. Anybody know better?

The only helos I usually catch using UHF at Willow Grove are the USMC CH-53E's

Pretty sure it was an AH-64...I was driving last nite about that time on rt. 309 near montgomeryville mall and had a visual on on Apache, then a few miles down the road another. They were pretty low, I'd say about 2000 ft. I am sure they were two different helos, but as I came home near the base I saw one of them (I assume) heading north west from Willow Grove....looked like he was coming off a runway 15 PAR. And just a guess, but I'd say maybe from Ft. Indiantown GAP, PA since they do come in now and then to willow grove to do some work, along with their CH 47s and UH 60s.

 

[BM82557]

C-5 IFE, RTB to Martinsburg

Been listening to DECOY 99 Heavy, Martinsburg ground, Martinsburg tower & PIKESIDE (167th AW WV-ANG OPS) since 1300 local concerning an IFE with 99 having #2 shutdown due to no oil presssure. Don't know where he was enroute to but he came in from the west, landing ok about 1318 on runway 26. Runway currently shut down due to men and equipment - 121.8/124.3/297.0

 

[BM82557]

Hagerstown/Thurmont notam this weekend

From October 17, 2008 at 1920 UTC (October 17, 2008 at 1520 EDT)
To October 19, 2008 at 1700 UTC (October 19, 2008 at 1300 EDT)

 

[BM82557]

Activity 10/15/2008

1523 local -- BRUTUS ALPHA & BRUTUS BRAVO on GK OPS freq 389.1
1526 - one of the E-3's with "working with you guys on 296.9" (an Langley A2A freq)

 

[CitationJet]

Re: GUARD 90211

Hi guys,

AH-64A 89-0211.

Best regards,

Tony

Pretty sure it was an AH-64...I was driving last nite about that time on rt. 309 near montgomeryville mall and had a visual on on Apache, then a few miles down the road another. They were pretty low, I'd say about 2000 ft. I am sure they were two different helos, but as I came home near the base I saw one of them (I assume) heading north west from Willow Grove....looked like he was coming off a runway 15 PAR. And just a guess, but I'd say maybe from Ft. Indiantown GAP, PA since they do come in now and then to willow grove to do some work, along with their CH 47s and UH 60s.

 

[CitationJet]

10.15.2008 pm

Some action this afternoon:

1843Z 335.500 PT APP - BULLY 1/2 - @ 3000' inbound for the initial rwy 1R QSY Andrews AFB TWR 349.000 and joined by GUNNY 1, all of them being squeezed in front of a C-12 by ATC, big complaints and 1L requested to get them all in.
1845Z 284.700 ZDC-Montebello - WILDCAT 41 (F/A-18C VFA-131) - QSY ZDC-Casanova 282.200 flight of two @ FL200 cleared to 15000' QSY ZDC-Linden 322.550 and descending further to 13000' then 10000'.

1900Z 317.700 ZDC-Valley - WILDCAT 31 (F/A-18C VFA-131) - flight of two req. dir NTU.
1905Z 256.800 ZDC-Cape Charles - KERN(sp?) 86 - 11400'-15000'.
1909Z 290.425 ZDC-Franklin - WILDCAT 31 (F/A-18C VFA-131) - 17000'-11000'.
1918Z 319.400 McGuire AFB CP - REACH 568 - clg here no joy x 2.
1920Z 395.100 BATON Ops - BATON 61 (EC-130J 193rd SOS PA ANG) - arr. msg.

 

[coronet]

Harriers returning to CONUS

Good evening everyone,

Tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday ten VMA-311 AV-8B Harriers are returning to CONUS from Lajes as
MAZDA 11-15 and MAZDA 21-25 with tankers BLUE 61/62 & BLUE 71/72. Their ETA for DOVEY is 1415z.

These are their TAC frequencies that were confirmed at Yuma a few years ago, maybe they are still in use:

TAC-1 293.100
TAC-2 352.300
TAC-3 322.150
TAC-4 320.575

Happy listening !!!


René.

 

[trainman111]

I found the rest of my notes from this past Sunday, so here's the rest of everything that I heard/saw.

1223: ROMAN 03 (flt. of 1 F/A-18) request clearance to ????. Clearance granted by ATC. <254.4>
1225: AMBUSH 11 (flt. of 2 F/A-18's) request clearance to KNQX (NAS Key West) <254.4>
1225: ATC clears AMBUSH 11 to KNQX. Turn right heading 050, climb and maintain 4,000, excpect FL280 10 mins. after departure. <254.4>
1225: AMBUSH 21 (flt. of 3 F/A-18's) requests clearance to KNQX. Received same instructions as AMBUSH 11. <254.4>
1235: ROMAN 03 request taxi to Rwy 5R. <336.4>
1240: ROMAN 03 rquest takeoff Rwy. 5R. Cleared for takeoff. <360.2>
1242: ROMAN 03 contact Oceana Departure on 266.8. <360.2>
1245: AMBUSH 11 request taxi to Rwy. 5R. <336.4>
1247: AMBUSH 11 request permission to takeoff Rwy 5R. Cleared to takeoff. <360.2>
1249: AMBUSH 21 request permission to takeoff Rwy 5R. Cleared to takeoff. <360.2>
1251: AMBUSH 11 & 21 contact Washington Center. <360.2>
1257: AMBUSH 23 (flt. of 3 F/A-18's request clearance to KNQX. Received same instructions as AMBUSH 11 & 21. <254.4>
1303: AMBUSH 23 request taxi to Rwy. 5R. <336.4>
1305: AMBUSH 23 request permission to takeoff Rwy. 5R. Cleared to takeoff. <360.2>
1309: AMBUSH 23 contact Oceana Departure on either 266.8 or 124.725. <360.2>
1410: NAVY JT 531 with Oceana Ops. Advises dropping off 1 pax, will pick up pax, no fuel required. Ops requests head count. <284.9>
1421: NAVY JT 531 with Oceana Approach. Wants the straight in for Rwy. 5R. Cleared for the straight in Rwy 5R <323.05>
1423: NAVY JT 531 descend and maintain 5,000. <323.05>
1424: NAVY JT 531 contact Oceana Tower on 360.2. <323.05>
1424: NAVY JT 531 with tower on the right downwind for Rwy 5R. <360.2>
1424: NAVY JT 531 cleared to land Rwy 5R. <360.2>

After visiting Oceana on both weekdays and weekends, as expected, traffic is much slower on the weekends. Things proved to be quite busy on Friday with flights in and out all day, while Saturday and Sunday were much slower. Sunday however, was slightly busier than Saturday.

 

[JohnFB]

Good evening everyone,

Tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday ten VMA-311 AV-8B Harriers are returning to CONUS from Lajes as
MAZDA 11-15 and MAZDA 21-25 with tankers BLUE 61/62 & BLUE 71/72. Their ETA for DOVEY is 1415z.

I *possibly* heard them around 1423Z

Unknown [sounded like a tanker] wkg Unknown on 138.875 - You can get Boston on 133.450 or 269.300 [Nantucket sector] ..... be safe have a good flight ttyl

Unknown [possibly a tanker] wkg Boston on 269.300 - MARSA [terminated]

 

[JohnFB]

Gold 11 &amp; Trend 61

Thursday

1434Z - 1445Z

GOLD 11 wkg TREND 61 x6 on 343.100 Coronet K1

Apparently headed to Lajes .... GOLD 11 had been holding over Lebanon, NH for some time and talking to Pack Cntrl on 321.000 - concerned about TRENDs leaving on time and WX enroute.

Sounded like F-16s.

 

[CitationJet]

10.17.2006 am

Nothing much from yesterday, but will get to those logs and whatever day is missing from this week, I think 10.14 and 10.15 am, but had confirmation of a freq this morning that I had previously thought was spurious on the BCD396T: 265.600 confirmed as the Davison AAF GCA UHF side. I had them working MUSSEL 03 yesterday afternoon on the freq, and I've heard them there previously, but this will confirm it is in use 100%.

Also noticed flights that should be operating into Davison were headed to Andrews, so here are the current NOTAMs regarding that:

Data Current as of: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:24:00 GMT
KDAA DAVISON AAF

M0183/08 - HOT SPOTS 1, 2, 3 PARKING AREA CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION, MEN
AND EQUIPMENT. 17 OCT 2200Z - 03 NOV 0001Z, 08 OCT 16:43 2008 UNTIL 03 NOV 00:01
2008. CREATED: 08 OCT 16:46 2008

M0182/08 - PARALLEL/ALPHA TAXIWAY CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION,MEN AND
EQUIPMENT
ON TAXIWAY. 17 OCT 2200Z - 3 NOV 0001Z, 08 OCT 16:39 2008 UNTIL 03 NOV 00:01
2008. CREATED: 08 OCT 16:43 2008

M0181/08 - RUNWAY 32/14 CLOSED TO FIX WING ACFT DUE TO CONSTRUCTION. 17 OCT 2200Z - 03 NOV
0001Z, 08 OCT 16:33 2008 UNTIL 03 NOV 23:59 2008. CREATED: 08 OCT 16:38 2008

M0173/08 - DAVISON ARMY AIRFIELD(ATC) ATIS AVAILABLE ON VHF128.175 AND UHF
230.00. 25 SEP 18:30 2008 UNTIL 31 DEC 23:59 2008. CREATED: 25 SEP 18:23 2008

Now on to the logs:

10.17.2008 am

1034Z 119.850 PT APP - NAVY 700 - inbound for Andrews rwy 1L.
1054Z 118.950 PT DEP - PAT 259 - off IAD 2000'-5000' req. vis. app. to rwy 1L @ Andrews QSY Andrews AFB TWR 118.400 for landing.

1106Z 119.850 PT APP - PAT 1202 (C-12T OSACOM VA RFC Davison AAF) - @ 8000' dir OJAAY req. ILS app. to rwy. 1R @ Andrews.
1110Z 118.850 Davison AAF GCA - sends another controller to 265.600 for rx check. New freq.
1110Z 118.950 PT DEP - ARMY 01052 (UC-35C 00-1052 PATD Andrews) - off Andrews cleared to 11000'.
1116Z 126.300 Davison AAF TWR - FREEDOM 08 (UH-72A 07-2008) - 10 nms. S inbound for landing heliport 32.

 

[BM82557]

Activity 10/17/2008

0900 local -- JAGUAR (Located at Boiling if I remember correctly) with "JAGUAR to center on 125.45" but actually on 132.275, maybe rebroadcast?

 

[BM82557]

Guard Dog CAP 10/17/2008

Heard faint chatter on Langley A2A freq of 360.150 from 1446 local until 1453

1453 local -- HARASS 21 checking in with Potomac tracon at FL 210 - 350.25
1456 - HARASS 21 checking in with HUNTRESS, HUNTRESS back with maintain atc clearance - 260.9
1500 - HARASS 21 to HUNTRESS inquiring about the status of TANKER 01, HUNTRESS reports they have radar contact with 01 - 260.9
1506 - HUNTRESS with TANKER 01 passing code 3's of HARASS 21/22, AR to be at FL 240 - 260.9
1507 - HUNTRESS passes TANKER 01's mode 3 to HARASS 21 - 260.9

Not GUARD DOG but interesting --
*********************************************************
1509 - LOCKHEED/MARTIN flight service calling NAVY HN430 in the blind reporting they have an VFR flightplan and are ovedue in Easton, contact flight service if they hear this transmission - 243.0
*********************************************************

1522 - TANKER 01 reporting constant squlech present on 135.525 (not heard by me) requesting switch to uhf, comes up on 350.25
1538 - HUNTRESS to HARASS 21 reporting HUNTRESS sees 200' separation of HARASS 21 and 22, HARASS 21 @ 21500, HARASS 22 @ 21300, 21 says "that's about enough" - 260.9
1805 - TANKER 01 asking for tail number, reply given was FF 81-000041 which is incorrect, actually is 81-0041 - 260.9
1857 - TANKER 01 reporting 20 minutes out from home station, 25000 lbs of fuel onboard, alpha 1, offloaded 56500 lbs to 2 F-15's - 311.0
1914 - HUNTRESS reporting that TANKER 02 has just entered GUARD DOG to HARASS - 260.9
1915 - HUNTRESS to TANKER 02 with "you have HARASS 21 & 22, HARASS 23 & 24 are 2 mikes out - 260.9
1923 - HARASS 23 cleared to contact by TANKER 02, 24 cleared to left wing - 260.9
1924 - 23 gives tail number as FF 82-0019 - 260.9
1926 - 24 gives tail number as FF 84-0024 - 260.9

 

[CitationJet]

Re: Guard Dog CAP 10.17.2008

Hi guys,

Had HARASS 21/22 up with ZDC-Calvert beginning at 1834Z. At 1842Z 22 request dir Patuxent and 21 came on and requested join up due 22's rx problems.

Other than that I missed a call on 319.400 with ????? 15 @ 1838Z, someone with a couple of xmsns on ADW USN PTD 362.900, ???? 72 on 383.300 @ 1848Z, and someone reporting inbound Andrews @ 1849Z on 378.100.

I'm going to try and revise my rotation for use with the BCD396T over the weekend and see if cutting down the number of freqs even further will produce better results. Missing all these xmsns is just ridiculous, and I've upgraded to v3!

Tony

1453 local -- HARASS 21 checking in with Potomac tracon at FL 210 - 350.25
1456 - HARASS 21 checking in with HUNTRESS, HUNTRESS back with maintain atc clearance - 260.9
1500 - HARASS 21 to HUNTRESS inquiring about the status of TANKER 01, HUNTRESS reports they have radar contact with 01 - 260.9
1506 - HUNTRESS with TANKER 01 passing code 3's of HARASS 21/22, AR to be at FL 240 - 260.9
1507 - HUNTRESS passes TANKER 01's mode 3 to HARASS 21 - 260.9

 

[BM82557]

Hi guys,

Had HARASS 21/22 up with ZDC-Calvert beginning at 1834Z. At 1842Z 22 request dir Patuxent and 21 came on and requested join up due 22's rx problems.

Other than that I missed a call on 319.400 with ????? 15 @ 1838Z, someone with a couple of xmsns on ADW USN PTD 362.900, ???? 72 on 383.300 @ 1848Z, and someone reporting inbound Andrews @ 1849Z on 378.100.

I'm going to try and revise my rotation for use with the BCD396T over the weekend and see if cutting down the number of freqs even further will produce better results. Missing all these xmsns is just ridiculous, and I've upgraded to v3!

Tony

I have most freqs that are not related to GUARD DOG in a separate group under my milair system so I can lock them out easliy when GUARD DOG is active. Otherwise I would have a bunch of stuff for McGuire & Dover, Bollen Range, Pax and GK offshore activity in the mix. I give GUARD DOG freqs emphasis when they are active because, since my location is 30 miles from the Thurmont bullseye, I can hear HUNTRESS loud & clear on 260.9 while others further away may not be able to. On the flip side I give less emphasis to McGuire, Dover, Bollen Range, Pax & the GK offshore areas when GUARD DOG is active as others are better positioned to copy them.

Brian

 

[Mark]

1530 ROMAN 51 flight 227.125 at 10k going down to 5k push 327.100
heard there going down to 1k feet.

Mark

 

[DPD1]

I'm going to try and revise my rotation for use with the BCD396T over the weekend and see if cutting down the number of freqs even further will produce better results. Missing all these xmsns is just ridiculous, and I've upgraded to v3!

A long time ago I whittled everything down to one bank, which is just the core ATC and a few base freqs. I put everything else into banks according to what service it is... Navy tacs, AF tacs and so-on. It works out pretty good because there isn't so much stuff running that all you get is bits and pieces, but once you hear something initially, you can just turn on another bank to hear them more.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Makers of the "MilTenna" Monitoring Antenna

 

[BMT]

I use about the same set-up as Dave, it has work great on my 996.

BMT

 

[CitationJet]

Re: BCD396/996 rotation setup

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies on this. I also have basically the same setup, but I now have narrowed it down to 250 freqs in three Groups...) I have auxiliary Groups set up for Guard Dog, CP/Ops freqs, PT TRACON, ZDC UHF, ZDC VHF, Pax/BayWatch/GK, AR freqs, etc. as well, so I follow the same SOP as you guys do. However, I have a hard time figuring out which of the 250 core freqs I now consider essential to send packing and get the 396 perfoming like it should.

Thanks,

Tony

I use about the same set-up as Dave, it has work great on my 996.

BMT

 

[DPD1]

Mark,

Nice pics.. Definitely USMC birds. Look very similar to pics I've seen of the AH-1W and UH-1Y upgrade versions being worked on and tested at Pax River.

The easiest way to tell the W & N and Z & Y apart, is two blades or four blades. Both have the four blade rotor system on the new ones. You would be able to use the nacelles on the cobra to tell the difference, but most of the W models have been retrofitted with the larger exhaust nacelles with the lower IR signature. You can see them on the one in the shot. They just started getting the very first Y and Z models to the training units out here in the west and one recent REIN group was training with a few of the Y ships.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist