Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #261  
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.
 
   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #262  
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. :D

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   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #263  
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 :LOL:

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   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #264  
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.

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   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #265  
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....
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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.
 
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   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #266  
orezok said:
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.
Click to expand...
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...
 
   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #267  
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?
 
   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #269  
Now we got Russian helicopters flying around out here along with the Russian drone. o_O

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   / Flightradar24 Interesting Finds #270  
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