Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

orezok · Jul 18, 2023

Seven Embry-Riddle c172’s.

ning · Jul 18, 2023

dmccarty said:
There were two pairs of B767 which I think were KC676s flying in eastern NC. They flew down from the north east somewhere. Kinda odd to see what appears to be two airliners flying on top of each other. I had not seen this before, even one pair would have been unusual but to see two pairs was really interesting. The pairs were not flying anywhere

This was a pair of KC10A's back in May, similarly flying really close together. Extra noisy when they went overhead.

Going back into my replay (right over Reno NV at 2023-05-24 1650UTC if you care) it looks like they were flying within 50' altitude of each other, one in front of the other, occasionally FR shows them on top of each other, sometimes not.

dmccarty · Jul 19, 2023

ning said:
This was a pair of KC10A's back in May, similarly flying really close together. Extra noisy when they went overhead.

View attachment 811757
Going back into my replay (right over Reno NV at 2023-05-24 1650UTC if you care) it looks like they were flying within 50' altitude of each other, one in front of the other, occasionally FR shows them on top of each other, sometimes not.

Yeah, that is what I saw. The pairs where flying so close that the plane icons were right on each other sometimes or just very close which is why I noticed them. No separation at all.

I saw two C17's doing something similar the other night. They were doing tight turns over one spot for some reason and they were in a very tight formation.

Before we had a house on the property, I saw a C130 refueling two CH53s. That was a sight to see and hear. Never seen it again.

dmccarty · Jul 21, 2023

The other night I saw a C2 Greyhound which carries people and cargo to/from carriers. Never seen one of them before.

Last night I saw an Apache to our south and it appeared to be heading towards us. Sure enough it went a few hundred yards to the east of us. It was taking forever to get here and I wanted to go to bed, but I stayed up long enough to see if it would fly over.

Also saw two more 767 tankers. I only noticed them because on FlightAware they showed up as a four engine aircraft. They were out of Seymour Johnson AFB at Goldsboro, NC or at least they were doing circles around the base last night I saw them.

Quite a few Apaches and Blackhawks were flying around in NC and SC last night. Guess getting in their training before the weekend.

I also have seen a USCG C130 flying out of Elizabeth City, NC which is a big USCG base. They seem to just go out and fly race tracks.

dmccarty · Jul 22, 2023

Saw these two C17's flying circles in SC with call signs of Echo and Turtle.

orezok · Jul 24, 2023

Glider climbed from 4000’ to 13000’ and didn’t need no stinkin motor. At one point it was climbing at over 1300 feet per minute. Perfect thermal. I have a glider rating and it’s the most fun flying.

dmccarty · Jul 25, 2023

Another flight I have never seen before. Two F1 Dassault Mirages flown by Draken. Draken is a company that flies aggressor training aircraft. Kinston, where the Mirages took off, is close to Seymour Johnson AFB and which is just a short distance from Cherry Point Marines Air Station which is near Havelock. Draken has training contracts with the Marines and Air Force.

We have been along the coast, a bit farther south than this chart, and seen fighter aircraft "dog fighting" over the ocean. Pretty cool to see.

I wonder if the Mirages where training with USMC or USAF jets that did not show up on the website?

dmccarty · Jul 26, 2023

Today I noticed quite a few Draakan owned planes, Hunters, Mirages and a Skyhawk. There was another plane "hidden" by the Skyhawk. Three tankers were up and I as well as AWACs. First time seeing AWACs. C17 flying around, always seems to be at least one C17 up and about. There was a C130 but it flew off the view.

MAX-24-Dean · Jul 27, 2023

Columbia Gorge Wildland & Fire Information Page | Facebook

This is a page for local fire info only during the fire season. We can expand this into most surrounding counties and make this a great resource. Again this season is shaping up to be rough, if not...

www.facebook.com

This guy tracked the Helicopter and Tanker air support on a fire in Klickitat County.

MossRoad · Jul 27, 2023

Jackson Pollock?

dmccarty · Jul 27, 2023

AWACKs, tanker and Mirages up and about this afternoon. I would think there are USMC, USN, or USAF fighters our there but not showing up on the website.

dmccarty · Aug 1, 2023

Last week I saw this Osprey Down East. It was circling and you can the icon changed to show it was in helicopter mode. When flying faster the icon changes so that the props are different. Just east of Havelock is the USMC air station at Cherry Point and the USMC Camp Lejeune is near Jacksonville and just off the screen shot.

dmccarty · Aug 3, 2023

Here is an Osprey in flight mode.

What is interesting is that if you look really close, there appears to be another plane under the Osprey. I have noticed this a few times and I don't know if they are refueling or something else is happening. I saw the a C17 the other night that had a barely seen plane under it. That C17 and a C130 were repeatedly flying over a drop zone at Fort Bragg so I assume they were doing parachute drops. Not sure why another plane was hidden under the C17.

I also have seen couple of USAF tankers flying almost on top of each other. Looking at the flight data, they were flying very close and at the same speed. I saw a 135 tanker the other night, they are easy to pick out of the clutter of aircraft because of their four engines, and it flew off the coast being followed by a C17, which is easy to spot for the same reason. I am pretty sure the C17 was refueling or practicing, because of they were flying on top of each other and matching speed. However, eventually one plane disappeared off the website and then the other one disappeared as they got further offshore. Other planes were showing up so they turned off their tracking devices.

ning · Aug 3, 2023

dmccarty said:
Here is an Osprey in flight mode.

What is interesting is that if you look really close, there appears to be another plane under the Osprey. I have noticed this a few times and I don't know if they are refueling or something else is happening. I saw the a C17 the other night that had a barely seen plane under it. That C17 and a C130 were repeatedly flying over a drop zone at Fort Bragg so I assume they were doing parachute drops. Not sure why another plane was hidden under the C17.

I also have seen couple of USAF tankers flying almost on top of each other. Looking at the flight data, they were flying very close and at the same speed. I saw a 135 tanker the other night, they are easy to pick out of the clutter of aircraft because of their four engines, and it flew off the coast being followed by a C17, which is easy to spot for the same reason. I am pretty sure the C17 was refueling or practicing, because of they were flying on top of each other and matching speed. However, eventually one plane disappeared off the website and then the other one disappeared as they got further offshore. Other planes were showing up so they turned off their tracking devices.
View attachment 814191

I think because of the delay in sending/reporting position that the maps don't show you exactly where the plane is at the moment (obviously), but this delay isn't consistent so sometimes two planes flying a fixed distance apart at a fixed velocity will appear to get farther apart or closer together, but they're really not. When I've watched pairs of tankers I can see that their airspeed & altitude aren't changing, but the icons on the map are playing games with either other which would require significant speed changes.

Not sure if that explains hte Osprey + friend though.

dmccarty · Aug 4, 2023

ning said:
I think because of the delay in sending/reporting position that the maps don't show you exactly where the plane is at the moment (obviously), but this delay isn't consistent so sometimes two planes flying a fixed distance apart at a fixed velocity will appear to get farther apart or closer together, but they're really not. When I've watched pairs of tankers I can see that their airspeed & altitude aren't changing, but the icons on the map are playing games with either other which would require significant speed changes.

Not sure if that explains hte Osprey + friend though.

I don't think the plane "overlapping" issues I am seeing is from a sending delay. I have only seen it a few times and there were NO other aircraft around. I wonder if the planes are doing something that triggers a change in the icons? Either some flight characteristic or a change to the tracking hardware. I have seen many of the military aircraft just disappear. There they are and then there they aint'.

Last night I noticed what I call the zombie planes. There were 3-4 of them near Camp Lejeune and they had took off from Cherry Point. The tracking software has no information on these planes and I think they are F35s. I have seen Harriers from Cheery Point and the software shows them. These zombie planes have nothing. Last night they were flying with a CH53 copter over the camp and then they disappeared. I assumed they turned off the hardware but they could have landed on the camp which would fit their doctrine.

I have seen aircraft tracks zig zagging which they are obviously not doing and this has to be caused by the issues with the tracking system.

Can't be sure but I noticed a 747 land at Cherry Point this week and fly to Rota Spain. Kinda odd. Not sure where it flew after stopping in Rota. However, I read a day or so ago, that detachments from Camp Lejeune, which is close to Cherry Point, have been sent to the Persian Gulf where they will board commercial ships to prevent Iranian piracy. I wonder if the 747 was taking the Marines to Gulf....

MAX-24-Dean · Aug 4, 2023

Flight pattern was actually attributed to wind shear according to a Lufthansa spokesman..

Frustrated Lufthansa pilot flies plane in 15-mile long penis pattern after being diverted to different airport

A Lufthansa flight from Germany to Sicily was spotted on radar flying in a pattern that resembled male genitalia after the pilot was told to land at a different airport.

news.yahoo.com

dmccarty · Aug 7, 2023

Saw this a couple of weeks ago. It appears to be over the USCG base at Elizabeth City, NC. I assume it was a tethered, surveillance blimp that was up for a few hours and it did not move. Odd that the website showed it as a copter. It just sat there for a few hours. This is a lead in to something I saw over the weekend.

dmccarty · Aug 7, 2023

Here is the zeppelin I noticed this weekend. I think the Goodyear blimp was covering a golf game since the blimp was doing circles over a golf course.

dmccarty · Aug 8, 2023

Too funny. I just happened to glance at the ADS website, it is the middle of the week, so lots of military aircraft are up, but I saw this out west. In Western NC, that is... Blimp be going somewhere.

Slowly at 42 knots.