Sticky Thread for MilAir

[TinEar]

We've got some fighters working in the GIANT KILLER area (VA Capes) on 373.1. The callsign is either CADE (A-10s Willow Grove) or CAVE (F-15s Langley). The activity sounds like more of an F-15 mission than an A-10 mission so I'm going with CAVE.

Earlier had the A-10s from Martin State up at the Kiowa range (237.2)

 

[Mark]

Just heard NIGHTHAWK flt of 2 chatting with Martin State Tower 121.300
about eventual new replacement choppers to be built in conjunction with Brits,Martin Marietta etc.

NIGHTHAWK CH-53E HMX-1, MCAF Quantico, VA (CH-53D)-PRESIDENTIAL DET.

 

[ka3jjz]

This may be related to TinEar's log; I had some chitchat on 283.75 which I have as a Huntress freq evidently talking with Cave 22 about staffing additional missions....this was around 4 this afternoon 73s Mike

 

[TinEar]

11:30 Flight of A-10s from Martin State are at the Kiowa range. They are using callsign COLT and talking with the command post at Kiowa (BALKY).

11:33 Just finishing their runs at Kiowa and heading home.

 

[md_p97]

Al,

I have been hearing comms on 237.2000, but I can not make out any call signs....is this one and the same with what you have been listening too?

Paul

 

[TinEar]

Yes, that's the one. They are now talking with Raven Ops on 347.2...10 minutes from home. COLT 1 is code 2 and COLT 2 is code 3 - they have problems.

 

[md_p97]

Now I am getting comms on 291.6250.....they are coming in very loud...overloading the external speaker....once again, can't make out call signs.

Paul

 

[TinEar]

Agree that a good speaker is necessary to pick some of these military callsigns out of the hash. BALKY is difficult to understand if the freq is noisy. I just switched my MilAir radio to my good speaker and it makes a world of difference. Take a look at www.soundssweet.com for one of the absolutely best speakers I've ever heard. I've got two of them now and they sure are sweet.

[Edit] Starting about 13:20 there has been another flight of Martin State's A-10s (AXEMAN 1 & 2) working at Kiowa (237.2).

And another A-10 just took off from Martin State at 13:43. He's using the call RAVEN 1 while with Raven Ops. No operational call heard yet.

Yet another AXEMAN flight took off at 13:52. And Raven Ops is talking (347.2) with a COLT on the ground at Martin State wanting to know if he's happy with the radio situation. (Have no idea what the situation is she's talking about.)

14:08 COLT, now airborne, reports to Raven Ops on 347.2: "COLT off as scheduled. Call you when we get there." (Imagine that flight will show up on 237.2 at Kiowa also.)
And yet another reports he's "off (the ground) at (1410."
14:34 The A-10s are doing their operational chatting on 142.30 and someone just came up on Kiowa 237.2 but not sure if it's the Martin State bunch or someone else - no callsigns heard yet. (Later: Yes, it's them.)

15:00 F-16 flight from the DC-ANG working on 139.90 but are very weak. No idea where they are. Part of a conversation was, "The new freq is 282.1," but I have no idea who they were referring to. I programmed it anyway to see what I hear - nothing so far.
15:12 they are also on 127.275.

Also, 15:00 on 385.90 (CRAB Ops-Martin State) an aircraft reporting he's a C-130 says he's due in in 15 minutes. Don't believe this is a CRAB aircraft. He says he's coming to pick up a package but has no idea what the package is or who it's from.

15:15 1st Helo Squadron at Andrews (Mussel Ops on 292.20) is active with arrivals. 15:22 MUSSEL helo reports he's over Greenbelt.

15:30 AXEMAN flight coming home...working with Martin State tower on 297.2 and with Raven Ops on 347.2 announcing both aircraft are Code 1...one gear down, preparing for full stop at 15:33....15:33:33 touchdown for one of them while the other is just reporting gear down..then "on the deck" at 15:35.

15:39 another A-10 flight is coming home. They are using the squadron callsign (Raven 1 & 2) on Martin State Tower freq 297.2. Raven Ops on 347.2 refers to them as "Wardogs" which I've heard her use before and then switches to calling them Raven. It seems "Wardog" is just her pet name for them. Anyway, they are on the ground at 15:44.

Strange that I can hear all the ground controllers very well for both Martin State and the military controllers there except for the 297.2 tower freq. I'm deaf to him.

One last note: Raven Ops is talking to one of the A-10s on the ground about a problem with the UHF antenna. She repeats the info that the lower antenna is good and the upper antenna is bad. I'll have to learn more about this subject to know what she's talking about or maybe someone can fill me in. I take it she's talking about physical location of antennas, not freq range when she says lower and upper.

And that should be the end of the MilAir log for today. Yard work is calling.

 

[doctordave]

Just thought I'd mention that I heard a CG aircraft talking to CG Atlantic City yesterday morning on 345.00. First comms I have yet to hear on this new freq. It's one of 4 UHF Mil-Air freqs (assigned 1/05) listed as common for CG nationwide.

 

[doctordave]

Just thought I'd mention that I heard a CG aircraft talking to CG Atlantic City yesterday morning on 345.00. First comms I have yet to hear on this new freq. It's one of 4 UHF Mil-Air freqs (assigned 1/05) listed as common for CG nationwide.

The four freqs are on the RR homepage.....they are 345.00, 237.9, 326.15, 379.05.

 

[TinEar]

Wow...you heard them twice Dave.

Actually, thanks for those freqs. I didn't have them.

 

[doctordave]

Ah...the old, famous double-posting. Unsure what sort of CG aircraft I was listening to yesterday....I think he was calling himself CG "Aircraft 121" or something to that effect. Must have been at good altitude, as he was close to AC and yet was booming loud on my radio here....and it was at a time when I was otherwise only getting local signals.

I have never heard any Sector Balt chatter on these freqs....even when a CG helo was in the area for training a few months back.

 

[TinEar]

Two spots of activity this morning...one is the Kiowa range (237.2) where fighters are doing ground attack routines and the other is in the GIANT KILLER area of the Virginia Capes (312.30) with fighters doing air intercept training.

 

[Dank]

Two spots of activity this morning...one is the Kiowa range (237.2) where fighters are doing ground attack routines and the other is in the GIANT KILLER area of the Virginia Capes (312.30) with fighters doing air intercept training.

Al,
What type of antenna are you using? I have a discone still in the box since my scanner is a handheld-but I will make time to install it if it will greatly improve my reception.
Dan

 

[TinEar]

I'm using a Diamond Discone Dan. On the normal police/fire freqs, it really didn't extend my range very much but greatly improved signal quality/strength within that range. For MilAir, I definitely see an extension of the range I can hear.

By the way, on the 312.30 freq I mentioned above, the fighters are working with DARKSTAR, an E3 Sentry aircraft from the 552d Air Control Wing out of Tinker AFB, OK. The fighters are using callsign BANGER (F-16s from the 119th Fighter Squadron of the NJ-ANG stationed in Atlantic City.)

Also have fighters chatting on 138.30. The last time I heard that freq it was used by the PITTMAN aircraft doing the Combat Air Patrol over D.C.
[Edit] The 138.30 is being used by the BANGER fighters from NJ.

13:16 Another flight of fighters is approaching Kiowa..said they are 10 minutes away...no callsign heard yet. (237.2)

13:43 Raven 1 off the ground from Martin State. Raven Ops (347.2) talking to an aircraft on the ground says there is bad weather between here and the range - bad enough to not be able to fly under or over it - necessary to fly around it. She then instructs the pilot that he can wait on the ground until his range time if he wishes.

14:30 F-16 flight from the 121st FS at Andrews up on 139.90. And I believe the same aircraft are the ones on 312.30 with GIANT KILLER.

Nope..it's not them. Callsign MAI TAI is on 312.30. They are F-15s from the 199th Fighter Squadron from the ANG in Hawaii. They deploy regularly to Langley AFB. Another set of fighters is in the area telling MAI TAI that they'll stay above 32,000 and MAI TAI can have below that. I think the second flight is another group of BANGER aircraft from NJ.

Other freqs active: 249.80 (Also GIANT KILLER) and aircraft MASH which is a KC-135 from Grissom AFB, IN and 141.875 usually associated with F-16s of the VA-ANG.

14:56 MAI TAI 11 calling GIANT KILLER ON 238.10.

15:02 Freq 289.30 active which is the VA-ANG Command Post freq at Richmond, home of the VA-ANG.
So is 321.70 (Boeing Test Freq) with an aircraft saying he's encountering storms so is returning to Wilmington.

Not sure if we'll get much more MilAir today...some good storms are brewing in Baltimore and Montgomery Counties and starting to build elsewhere.

Or so I thought. Now there is a flight of MILLER aircraft (F-15s from Langley) going into the GIANT KILLER area (on 249.80). Say they'll be there for an hour. And with that I'll end today's log.

 

[TinEar]

13:52 AXEMAN flight off the deck at Martin State (347.2)
And another A-10 off the ground at 14:02.
And a COLT flight off at 14:07
Earlier, around 11:00 a flight of COLT A-10s was just returning after a visit to the Kiowa range.
These A-10s at Martin State must be behind in their training - or just won the lottery of training funds. They seem to be up every day, all day lately.

Also had the PA-ANG fighters from Harrisburg working Kiowa on 237.2 during the past hour.

AXEMAN and COLT flights both at Kiowa. Talking among each other to divvy up the territory for their training flights.

14:25 McGuire Command Post 134.10 active with EVERGREEN aircraft going to Dover.

354.80 BayWatch freq has been busy on and off all day with aircraft entering and departing the Patuxent River area.

15:40 The COLTS just landed and now AXEMAN 1 & 2 are in the pattern for landing at Martin State. Working tower 297.20.

 

[TinEar]

NJ-ANG working the Combat Air Patrol over DC. Working with HUNTRESS on 260.9 and on their own tactical freq of 138.425. Callsign COSMIC - flight of 2 aircraft.

About a half hour ago, an AXEMAN A-10 flight (2 aircraft) from Martin State was just returning home - both Code 1. On 347.2 with Raven Ops.

Various aircraft working with BayWatch (Pax River) on 354.80.

Note on the COSMIC aircraft: When on their squadron freqs, they are COSMIC 1 & 2. When they were working with HUNTRESS, they were COSMIC 41 & 42.

 

[md_p97]

Hi Al,

I may be late to the game today....but hearing Wizard working the block now (1:20pm) with Harass and Huntress on 260.9000am. I will try and search out their air to air freq between pilots.

Also, finally broke down and decided to get a pro 2067. Hoping it will solve my issue of being locked into the fm modulation of the 136-165 mhz range....this may solve my problem with MCFD overloading my 2052.

I pick the 2067 up tomorrow.

 

[TinEar]

Just got back and the first transmission I heard was between Wizard and HUNTRESS. I'm also hearing activity on 143.15 which is usually the DC-ANG F-16s - but others have used it. Haven't caught a callsign yet on the 143.15 freq.

[Edit] The master callsign list we all seem to use has two instances of a WIZZARD. Two things wrong with that - one it's misspelled and two, neither of those instances seems to fit this WIZARD.

And the 143.15 is an ANGRY flight which makes them DC-ANG. They are just going home at 13:57.
Now they've switched to 127.275 and both are Code 1 for landing.

Paul, hope you enjoy that 2067 and that it gets you away from those overloaded audio situations.

 

[Dank]

Mil Air for NC?

Al, A little out of the area for this thread, but do the files you posted to CHM for ARC contain mil air freqs for NC? I also posted a request on the NC board for a list.
Thanks.