Interesting....

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/27/2020 at 23:08 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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This Beechcraft MC-12S Huron is doing racetracks out in rural Texas tonight. I’ve driven through Lometa many, many times, and there is absolutely nothing out there but ranch land and mesquite trees . I guess that makes it good training ground. 

MC-12: USAF version modified for the Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) role; originally 8 King Air 350s and 29 King Air 350ERs and ending with 42 350ERs (including one combat loss). In service since June 2009 in Iraq and Afghanistan and globally for USSOCOM. All aircraft were transferred to USSOCOM, US Army, and other US government agencies by 2015. The Royal Canadian Air Force ordered 3 similar, if not, exact variants. (Wiki)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 08/27/2020 at 23:10

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It looks like that game we used to play and I obsessed with that one summer.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/27/2020 at 23:11

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This is a cool site. It allows you to filter and only show military/official flights, at least the ones that are announcing themselves.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7e20a

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 08/27/2020 at 23:22

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I wonder if what you observed was a training flight. Cool aeroplane though.

Spanfeller is a twat > ttyymmnn 08/27/2020 at 23:23

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I know it has no relation, but funnily enough, it seems like whenever Lopez Obrador moves, two army B737s follow him. So when the President visited Gomez Palacios  this week, three planes arrived to the airport; one commercial jet, and two military B737...

I must note that he’s famously rejected using the presidential jet, a B787, because it’s too luxurious and wasteful. Granted, I don’t know how much more wasteful it could be to use three aeroplanes rather than one.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 08/27/2020 at 23:29

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Probably so. It took off from Odessa, and is now heading towards Fort Hood. My old college roommate lives in VA near an airport where they do the conversions on these Hurons. He sees them regularly near Bridgewater, VA.

ttyymmnn > Spanfeller is a twat 08/27/2020 at 23:30

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Probably carrying his entourage, since you wouldn’t want the rabble flying on the presidential airplane. Have a backup also makes sure that the president can get away in case there’s a problem with his main aircraft. 

jminer > ttyymmnn 08/27/2020 at 23:36

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Sweet! I was going to ask about this. Recently I’ve kept encountering unusual planes or patterns around and wondered what tool you were using to spot this.

Like 3 nights ago while walking the dog something not too large but twin engined flew along low (couple thousand feet maybe) and slow with landing lights on. I’m 30 miles from the nearest airport so it made me very curious. 

ttyymmnn > jminer 08/27/2020 at 23:40

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I am an absolute newb at ADS-B tracking , and this is the first site I’ve found that will filter out military. Click the site, then click the U at the top. Click a plane to see the track and type. A list on the right shows everything that is in the frame. There are other sites our there that seem to do more, since I see posts from pro spotters who pick up all sorts of cool mil aviation. I just haven’t taken the time to learn about it.

Chariotoflove > Spanfeller is a twat 08/27/2020 at 23:44

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Sounds like a false economy as you describe it, unless he would have the escort even if he used the presidential plane.

jminer > ttyymmnn 08/27/2020 at 23:51

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I have been contemplating building a RTL-SDR rig to pick up ADS-B among other things, but that’s a project for another time.

This site is definitely going to suck up some time.  I think that I will keep it pinned in a little corner of my monitor.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 01:37

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I love that site. I usually go for the helicopters and see where they’re circling around, and try to avoid those areas if heading out; it’s usually traffic or some sort of police activity.

This is an interesting one I just spotted - a UK-based KC-135 doing low-level laps around Omaha. No idea why they’re doing it, or why there are so many other KC-135s out around OK and KS. I guess they all need to get their night training in somehow.

ttyymmnn > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 08/28/2020 at 08:57

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Yeah, lots of KC-135s last night, certainly training. Be sure to check out the site on the first of the month, or the first of the quarter. Everybody has a new deposit in the bank and gas up and go flying.