Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

[MossRoad]

I can see C130‘s, Fort Rucker helicopters and the like. I am in an A-10 Warthog training area. They don’t show up on any radar services I’ve looked at. An A-10 buzzed the house today at maybe 1,000 feet or less, no sign of it on Flightradar24 or FlightAware.

That's because those sites don't use radar, and even if they did, all they'd show is a blip with no way of identifying what the blip is.

Planes show up on those sites because they squawk a code that announces what they are and some other info. (in simple terms).

The A10s that you see aren't announcing themselves. They'd show up on a radar, but with no info as to what they are.

Make sense?

 

[MossRoad]

Many times on Notre Dame football weekends, they have military flyovers. F16s, F15s, A10s, all kinds of stuff. They never show up on any of those sites.

 

[JethroB]

That's because those sites don't use radar, and even if they did, all they'd show is a blip with no way of identifying what the blip is.

Planes show up on those sites because they squawk a code that announces what they are and some other info. (in simple terms).

The A10s that you see aren't announcing themselves. They'd show up on a radar, but with no info as to what they are.

Make sense?

Ya, I mis-used the term radar. It appears that military support aircraft sometimes show on these sites, but not ‘attack’ types. I do see some trainers such at T-38’s and Texans out of Pensacola. Lots of helicopters out of Ft Rucker near Dothan Ala.

 

[bcp]

This site has filters. You can select "military."

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live

ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live - aircraft flight history

globe.adsbexchange.com

Example screenshot over southern California, using "military" filter. I have seen some F- and B- types, but seldom.

 

[dmccarty]

Back in the 1980's there was an A-10 unit in Myrtle Beach, SC.

One day I was driving up the Florida Turnpike, which is a long, straight, BORING road, and at the time had a speed limit of 55 mph <sigh>, when ahead of me I saw four A-10s making strafing runs on a Cypress head, aka, a bunch of Cypress trees. Of Course, they were not really strafing but they would dive on the Cypress head, pull up, turn away to return to the stack of A-10's and make another run. Twas the one time I was glad the speed limit was 55 mph since it allowed me to watch the A-10s for awhile.

Best I could tell, the A-10s flew down from Myrtle Beach.

A few years prior, I was out on a sailboat in Biscayne Bay when we noticed some F-16s at a decent altitude heading in our direction. As we watched, they started to do bombing runs on us! They never got low, they stayed pretty high up compared to the A-10s, but it was obvious what they were doing. They would line up, then point their nose at us and started a dive, before pulling up and repeating. They were out of Homestead, AFB south of Miami.

 

[MossRoad]

When I was a kid in the 60s they had B58 Hustlers stationed at Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom) in Bunker Hill, IN. They also had an air refueling wing. On US 31, which was just a 2-lane back then, they had caution low flying airplane signs, as the end of the runway was very near the highway. Once, on our way to Cincinnati, we saw a yellow VW beetle that had been crushed by a plane sitting on the side of the road. Yikes!

The Hustlers were imposing looking planes sitting there in their quonset hangars.

Here's the story of one, the Cowtown Hustler that won the Bendix Trophy setting record from LA to NYC, then back to LA. I used to work with the navigator's son. The plane is at the museum in Dayton. Beautiful machine!

"Reportedly, the U.S. Air Force received more than 10,000 damage claims for windows that were broken by the sonic booms created by the two B-58 Hustlers as they flew across the country."

Cowtown Hustler | This Day in Aviation

 

[dmccarty]

When I was a kid in the 60s they had B58 Hustlers stationed at Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom) in Bunker Hill, IN.

I would have loved to have seen a B58, flying or not, since it is one of the coolest looking bombers ever flown.

We used to live near Barksdale AFB n LA that was, and still does, operate B52s. I could see planes landing from the front yard and the view was even better if I climbed the pine tree in the front yard.

A B52 flew over the house one day which was odd. I was in my room and heard a loud roar approaching and the house started to vibrate. I ran outside to see a B52 in a tight bank, at very low level, almost over the house. The wings seemed to be perpendicular to the ground but of course they could not be. I had never seen a B52 fly over us before and one never did again. I could never figure out why the plane flew over us because we were well away from the runway approach, and if they had to abort a landing, the would not have been over us, much less making that turn.

I always wondered if they flew over the neighborhood for a classmate of mine. His father was a pilot or copilot in a B52 which was shot down over North Vietnam, and I wondered if they flew over the neighborhood for the classmate. Only thing that made sense to me.

Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

Every time military jets come in to South Bend for a Notre Dame football game, they do a fly-by of the tower at high speed and then turn either north or south and do a go around before landing. Sometimes they go right over our house, it shakes all the windows, and the cats head for the basement. I love it!

 

[flyerdan]

Growing up in way north Idaho in the 60's, every so often on a quiet day we'd be jolted by a window rattling boom, run outside and see a silver glint or contrail moving about twice as fast as the airliners today. Probably from Minot or somewhere in MT headed for Fairchild.

 

[RobertN]

I would have loved to have seen a B58, flying or not, since it is one of the coolest looking bombers ever flown.

We used to live near Barksdale AFB n LA that was, and still does, operate B52s. I could see planes landing from the front yard and the view was even better if I climbed the pine tree in the front yard.

A B52 flew over the house one day which was odd. I was in my room and heard a loud roar approaching and the house started to vibrate. I ran outside to see a B52 in a tight bank, at very low level, almost over the house. The wings seemed to be perpendicular to the ground but of course they could not be. I had never seen a B52 fly over us before and one never did again. I could never figure out why the plane flew over us because we were well away from the runway approach, and if they had to abort a landing, the would not have been over us, much less making that turn.

I always wondered if they flew over the neighborhood for a classmate of mine. His father was a pilot or copilot in a B52 which was shot down over North Vietnam, and I wondered if they flew over the neighborhood for the classmate. Only thing that made sense to me.

Later,
Dan

Grew up near Mather AFB. It was a SAC B-52 base. Occasionally would see them doing MITO's. It was really impressive to see the succession of B-52's and KC135's taking off.