Not monitoring full time yet today but wanted to post this one only because I've never heard it before...
1139: ALOUETTE 98 (CF-18, CanForce 2nd Wing, CFB Borden) with ZDC-Cape Charles VA on «257.7» requesting direct Cherry Point.
1241: JOSA 082 reports takeoff time from Andrews as 1731Z «378.1»
1250: VENUS 44 reports takeoff time from Andrews as 1245L «378.1»
1305: TROOPER 1 with Martin State «121.3» and Phillips AAF «126.15» as he flies to an accident scene in Havre de Grace. (I mention these TROOPER helos on this thread only because many have told me they didn't know they check in with military controllers on the way to medevac calls. It's common, at least for TROOPER 1 out of Martin State answering calls in Harford County and to the northeast and TROOPER 2 out of Andrews.)
1320: FOXTROT 3 (Baltimore City Police helo) with Martin State on «121.3»
1322: TROOPER 1 again with Phillips «126.15» and Martin State «121.3» transitioning across the area taking a patient to Johns Hopkins from the accident. (Anyway, now you get the idea so I don't need to post these helo trips in the future.)
1327: VENUS 22 reports takeoff from Andrews at 25 after the hour. «378.1»
1333: U/I C-5 arriving in 20 minutes, A-1 to Dover «349.4»
1334: NIGHTHAWK 6 (CH-53, HMX-1, MCAF Quantico VA - one of the Presidential helicopter fleet) reporting over Kent Island, 10 miles south of the Bay Bridge to Andrews Approach on «119.3»
1337: Fighters, a pair of them, on tac «142.3» Not sure if these are A-10s from Martin State since I didn't hear any activity on the Martin tower/ground or Raven Ops freqs. Of course, they might be returning from out of area.
1344: The fighters mention being over Vienna. «142.3» One then says "295"...not sure if he meant air speed or the B-W Parkway.
1344: SAM 050 to SAM Command on «378.1» reports he was airborne at (13)42.
1347: Also have a pair of fighters chatting on «141.875» which is a VA-ANG tac freq. Sounds more like an overflight.
1352: TROOPER 1 tells Martin State Tower he's going to Joppatown, east of the airfield, for a police search. «121.3»
1352: Fighters on «142.3» still chatting about nothing. This seems to be an overflight of our area rather than MD-ANG A-10s. They are pointing out things on the ground as they overfly them. They just mentioned a bridge and something in the water they're trying to identify. One says it might just be a big rock. Interesting, huh?
1405: Freq «142.3» still active. This is a long time being heard if it's really an overflight unless they are extremely high - but they wouldn't be seeing rocks in the water if they were that high.
1408: Freq «141.875» also still active...mentioning air traffic in their vicinity...they are much louder now...still sounds like "just flying" rather than a tac mission. (That was the last transmission heard from them - at least for the next 32 minutes until 1440.)
1414: The «142.3» fighters are using their scopes to try to figure out how many cars are on a ferry below them. One of them can't see any cars but does see one truck on board. The other sees a car approaching the ferry.
1421: PAT 57 reports 15 minutes out from Dover with a Code dropoff to Dover Command Post on «349.4»
1424: The «142.3» pair still chatting but getting very, very weak and unreadable.
1428: Oh well...the «142.3» back to loud and clear as they talk about a hotel on the water where one of them stayed at one time. They mention that place was considered for slots at one time. Since slots were only going to racetracks in Maryland, I don't know where they might be.
1430: Well I'll be!....the «142.3» pair are indeed A-10s from the MD-ANG Martin State. They just reported in on Raven Ops freq «347.2» that they're 10 minutes out and both Code 1. Guess they were just getting in flying time to stay qualified. I'm curious though why I heard nothing on Martin State tower/ground or Raven Ops freqs when they took off.
1435: VENUS 31 arriving Andrews at 2000Z and are A-2 for a stairs door. «378.1»
1435: The «142.3» pair thought they might be having radio problems but one of them says it was just his button 4 that wasn't programmed. That must have been a Potomac TRACON freq at BWI which I don't monitor. (Note on that later.)
1441: A-10s report gear down to Martin Tower on «297.2»
1442: Have a PAT 1332 "Calling any TROOPER on 242.4" a couple of times on National Guard Common freq «242.4» I've never heard a PAT aircraft with a four-digit suffix before, let alone hearing one on a freq like this. And why would he call TROOPERs on this freq unless he doesn't mean the TROOPER we know as State Police helos?
1450: Heard Andrews Tower on «118.4» mentioning a Colombian Air Force aircraft but didn't hear the aircraft itself. It may be on the ground which is why I can't hear it.
1459: JOSA 258 reports takeoff time as 1957Z on «378.1»
1500-30: Both VENUS 22 and VENUS 44 are doing pattern work around and around Andrews using both Approach on «119.3» and Tower «118.4»
(Switched to Anne Arundel Police TRS system for a triple shooting in Northern District and won't get much more MilAir until later.)
Discussion: Several people have asked me why I monitor the UHF Potomac TRACON freqs serving Reagan National and Dulles airports and not those at BWI. There are three primary reasons.
First, military aircraft usually use UHF rather than VHF for this function and I only want to hear the military traffic. Although some military aircraft do use VHF, if I monitored those freqs I'd hear all the civilian and commercial traffic too which I don't want to do.
Second, the ground controllers for TRACON simulcast on both the VHF and UHF freqs - as they do on the ARTCC freqs. I can't hear the ground stations from Dulles and Reagan National which is fine so by monitoring their UHF only, I only hear the airborne military traffic and not the replies by ground stations to everyone in their area.
Third, because I'm fairly close to BWI (within a few miles), I hear everything from BWI ground stations on all their frequencies. So, if I monitored their UHF freqs, I'd not only hear the military aircraft talking, I'd also hear the ground stations replying to them and to all the other traffic that is on VHF. Remember, the ground is simulcasting on both VHF and UHF. Since BWI's Potomac TRACON freqs are almost constantly busy, the scanner would never move off their freqs or would be stuck on them for long periods of time. It's the same reason I don't monitor Washington Center's Swann sector on 360.7 which broadcasts from BWI. On that UHF freq I'd also hear the ground station replying to all the commercial traffic that is using VHF.
All of this explanation just refers to my MilAir monitoring. For other listening, like on my webcast scanner which includes a BWI bank along with police/fire frequencies, I monitor everything I can hear from the airport.
