Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

[dmccarty]

I saw the stationary balloon again this week at Elizabeth City. It shows up as a copter.

Watching of the last month or so I have noticed certain things.

The military aircraft usually are up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. One might see a few copters on other days. Maybe C130s.

C17s are up frequently as are the tankers. I suspect I see some F35s from time to time but they don't show up directly. I just saw what I think are F35s, they are not identified other than saying they are military and then they disappear. I see some copters that are not identified but I suspect are USMC attack helicopters since usually they will be around a CH53 near one of the USMC bases.

USCG helicopters and C130s are often up and about just flying circles, and I assume, getting in air time and training. Saw two USCG C130's today and one or two helicopters.

Some C130s and C17s, we will be either dropping parachute units at Ft. Bragg or practicing drops. Sometimes you can see C130s and C17s that appear to be working with Apache copters circling over an area. C17s are based down in Charleston, SC and I have seen up to three take off at the same time and head in different directions. Almost like the scrambled off the airfield on purpose.

I see quite a few Apache helicopters in NC, SC and GA.

 

[dmccarty]

Glanced at the website this morning and saw a bunch of tankers up and about. The tankers with a Backy call sign almost always fly in pairs and close together. Usually much closer than what I captured. One of the C135s eventually flew near our house. I heard a jet, thought it did not sound like a passenger jet, check the website and saw it was one of the tankers in this screen shot but an hour or so later. I went outside to see if I could see the plane but it was cloudy. I sure could hear it though.

 

[orezok]

This balloon is still up there for 7+ hours. Further investigation shows that it is part of Project Loon which Google was testing high altitude balloons to provide internet. They abandoned the project in 2019, but looks like they may be restarting it.

Sounds Loony to me

 

[orezok]

The baloon is still flying this morning. Notice how the flight path is directed back and forth over a certain area. I wonder if the Chinese balloon episode revealed something to our military. Ballons are a very cheap reconnissance vehicle.

 

[dmccarty]

This morning, only saw the usual C130s and C17s thought I did see a CH53, I suspect another USMC copter, and an Osprey They usually have call signs that are CRSBO or some such. The interesting things was I saw a jet take off from Mrytle Beach, SC, which happens from time to time but this one headed out to sea which is unusual. It is a contract DC10 tanker. The US military has been contracting out tankers and adversary aircraft for a few years now. Anywho, the tanker and an unidentified small jet are flying race tracks. The DC10 is flying a race track pattern parallel to Narly61.

I saw some small unidentified plans pop up near Cherry Point, the USMC air station, that has Harriers and F35s. The Harriers will show up on ADS-B but I have never seen a F35 identified so I wonder if the small, unidentified jets are F35s.

The unidentified jets are never seen for long and quickly disappear. I wonder if the tanker and mystery small jet are working with F35s....

Also noticed a medical evacuation helicopter take off from Bald Head Island and go to the hospital. The island is no longer really an island since there is now a narrow beach to the mainland once the new channel to the Cape Fear River was closed years ago. In any case, the only real way to get to the island is by boat and ferry. If the weather is bad, the ferry can't run so the only way to evacuate a person is by helicopter. There is a copter pad by the emergency service building on the island. The weather is not bad right now so they must have had a pretty serious issue to use a copter to get someone to the hospital in Wilmington.

 

[dmccarty]

The baloon is still flying this morning. Notice how the flight path is directed back and forth over a certain area. I wonder if the Chinese balloon episode revealed something to our military. Ballons are a very cheap reconnissance vehicle.

The US being surprised by the Chinese balloon should not have been a surprise. One of the websites I read covered Chinese balloons years before the current incidents...

 

[BigBlue1]

Three Army Blackhawk helicopters flew past our property this afternoon. Only one showed up on Flightradar. Wonder if that was intentional or if all three should have been either visible or not visible?

 

[orezok]

Not sure what this one is. Russia?

 

[orezok]

Now we got Russian helicopters flying around out here along with the Russian drone.

 

[dmccarty]

Three Army Blackhawk helicopters flew past our property this afternoon. Only one showed up on Flightradar. Wonder if that was intentional or if all three should have been either visible or not visible?

I have seen military aircraft fly over the house in a group, and sometimes they don't show up on ADS-B Exchange - track aircraft live, or only one of the group does.

Often they do not show up at all on Live Flight Tracker - FlightAware.

 

[dmccarty]

Now we got Russian helicopters flying around out here along with the Russian drone.

....

Hmmmm. That is interesting.

I know the US has a bunch Russian aircraft that we have been flying for decades. Some of the history on how the aircraft was aquired is kinda interesting. I figured the Russian drone was someone's joke, but maybe it is something that came down in Ukraine and is now being tested.

 

[dmccarty]

Finally saw an F35 pop up on ADS-B today. It was only there for a short time and then disappeared. There are/were four Hunters in the screen shot along with the F35 and the DC10 tanker. After this screen shot, The tanker, F35, and most of the hunters disappeared but a couple of Kfirs showed up offshore.

 

[orezok]

Reaper training

 

[bcp]

Not FR24, but...

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.nz

Bruce

 

[ning]

Not FR24, but...

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.nz

Bruce

harrier and... SEPECAT Jaguar?

​

 

[dmccarty]

This past week I have seen quite a bit of flights around and over Fort Bragg. Looks like they are dong parachute drops on the landing zones on the west side of the base. Major state roads go through that part of the base and one can drive right next to the drop zones. I watched these two C17s and FOUR C130s flying around for an hour or so. The C17s and C130s flew a different route to the landing zone, but then lined up and few on in. This was at night.

The zig zags in the track is noise/inaccurate and I assume they dropped on the western most landing zone. The other thing that was interesting, was that once they got really close to to the LZ, the planes would turn off their transponder and go dark. The tanker aircraft disappear from time to time, and I assume they are doing that, as they start to refuel.

 

[ning]

What I want to know is,
what did the pilots of AFL1788 see?

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

View flight on Flightradar24

www.flightradar24.com

 

[dmccarty]

What I want to know is,
what did the pilots of AFL1788 see?

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

View flight on Flightradar24

www.flightradar24.com

My "assumption" is that they see what we see or something similar. Maybe a pilot will tell us for sure.

Vessels have a similar system called AIS which shows other vessels, speed, heading, size, destination, status, etc., IF the crew decides to fill in the data and turn on the system. Commercial vessels are required to have an AIS transmitter and receiver. Non commercial does not have this requirement. Some boats will carry the transmitter and receiver, others will just have the receiver so they can see other traffic, which is kinda silly since the bigger traffic is what can run you over if they don't see you....

AIS will tell one if there is a collision on a given course and speed and allows one to see other traffic which is really helpful. Radar will do the same so having both is very useful.

 

[dmccarty]

Saw this last week. Lots of tankers were up as was an E3 AWACS. I think there was P8 up and the contract fighters were offshore. The tankers, E3, and contract fighters implies there was some fighters up and about that were not showing up.

 

[ning]

My "assumption" is that they see what we see or something similar. Maybe a pilot will tell us for sure.

Vessels have a similar system called AIS which shows other vessels, speed, heading, size, destination, status, etc., IF the crew decides to fill in the data and turn on the system. Commercial vessels are required to have an AIS transmitter and receiver. Non commercial does not have this requirement. Some boats will carry the transmitter and receiver, others will just have the receiver so they can see other traffic, which is kinda silly since the bigger traffic is what can run you over if they don't see you....

AIS will tell one if there is a collision on a given course and speed and allows one to see other traffic which is really helpful. Radar will do the same so having both is very useful.

I refer to AFL1788 being not very far behind the airplane carrying Prigozhin that was likely shot down. They were on the same flight path, similar altitudes; AFL1788 wasn't that far behind the ill-fated flight, which at least on my browser at the link provided showed the playback of the last moments: