Flightradar24 Interesting Finds

[MossRoad]

Ah, I see by google that he's still alive and still designing aircraft. He's done the aerodynamic design of over 50 aircraft, two of which are in the National Air & Space Museum. To say he's a smart guy would be an understatement. He was a jolly fellow, nice as can be. Super interesting. One of those people that you could just sit and listen to lecture for hours and hours.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's his biography. You might find it interesting.

About John Roncz: | Biography, Facts, Information, Career, Wiki, Life

John Roncz:

peoplepill.com

 

[kenmbz]

Another TRS-80 success story. Interesting read.

 

[cqaigy2]

Been a few of these flying over.

 

[MossRoad]

Just cruising around at a hundred miles an hour less than 400' off the ground.

 

[kenmbz]

We had a bunch of military jets buzz our house Sunday on way to Philly for the playoff.
None showed up on flightradar.

 

[Hay Dude]

I wonder if the Chinese Hypersonic missle got picked up on flight radar?

And what does “Squawk” mean (other than my mother in law when she talks)?

 

[ljjhouser]

"Squawk" means the set the aircraft transponder to a certain code that shows on the controller screen. Examples, 1200 for VFR operating aircraft Visual Flight Rules), 7500 for operation under unlawful interference - such as high jacking, or any code for tracking issued by the Air Route Control Center controller for IFR separation.

Such as one of these codes to relay information to the controler by the pilot, or the controler instructs the pilot to "Suawk" XXXX for flight tracking and separation.
Hope this helps, just a short description.

 

[cqaigy2]

Just cruising around at a hundred miles an hour less than 400' off the ground.

I think they got up to almost 400' when they went over I-5 , they seemed much closer when they flew over the ridge where we live.

 

[MossRoad]

The History of SQUAWK​

You might think that the term SQUAWK comes from the sounds that birds use to communicate. And, in reality, the term referring to communication from something flying through the sky does originate from a bird. But the history of the term SQUAWK is a bit more complex.

SQUAWKing was a term that was made up during World War II, when "Identification Friend or Foe" (IFF) systems were set up on airplanes so that it was possible to determine whether an aircraft was an ally or an enemy, and avoid any friendly fire. To let air traffic control know that a plane was "friendly," a two-way communication system was set up using a transponder. Air traffic control would put out a request for an aircraft to identify itself. If the aircraft identified itself with a code, then they established themselves as friendly. The IFF system was codenamed "Parrot" during the war, and it took on the term "SQUAWK" to determine the actual process of communicating.

Today, SQUAWKing doesn't just refer to instances in which air traffic control directly contacts an aircraft. Instead, SQUAWKing refers to a specific transponder code that aircraft can use to identify themselves or send a specific message to air traffic control. SQUAWK codes are four digits and they are used to easily identify a specific aircraft when detected on a radar, or to determine what an aircraft needs in the case of an emergency or situation in which a flight plan needs to be changed.

 

[MossRoad]

I think they got up to almost 400' when they went over I-5 , they seemed much closer when they flew over the ridge where we live.

We get that a lot, living near the airport.

What we also get about 6 times a year is a military fly over for Notre Dame football games. It's pretty fun. They usually come in the day before the game, buzz the campus a few times to practice their run, then buzz the airport at high speed low flight, make a huge sweeping turn, come back around, then land. On game day, they take off about an hour before the game, then head south of town and fly around until their person at the stadium tells them to come in. They have to adjust their speeds up and down to try and time it perfectly with the conclusion of the National Anthem. They're usually within seconds. Pretty good.

Then they come back, buzz the airport again and land, then go see the game. They almost always stay overnight, so Sunday they take off, buzz the airport yet again, and leave.

Depending on the winds, they either fly right over our house low and loud, or they turn the other way and their engines are facing our house, so loud again.

Anyhow, it shakes the house, the cats run for the basement, and I run outside and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Sometimes I'll head over to the airport and watch them as well. It's a local pastime.

And no, they never show up on the flight radar. You can hear them talking to air traffic control on the scanner, though.

 

[cqaigy2]

We get that a lot, living near the airport.

What we also get about 6 times a year is a military fly over for Notre Dame football games. It's pretty fun. They usually come in the day before the game, buzz the campus a few times to practice their run, then buzz the airport at high speed low flight, make a huge sweeping turn, come back around, then land. On game day, they take off about an hour before the game, then head south of town and fly around until their person at the stadium tells them to come in. They have to adjust their speeds up and down to try and time it perfectly with the conclusion of the National Anthem. They're usually within seconds. Pretty good.

Then they come back, buzz the airport again and land, then go see the game. They almost always stay overnight, so Sunday they take off, buzz the airport yet again, and leave.

Depending on the winds, they either fly right over our house low and loud, or they turn the other way and their engines are facing our house, so loud again.

Anyhow, it shakes the house, the cats run for the basement, and I run outside and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Sometimes I'll head over to the airport and watch them as well. It's a local pastime.

And no, they never show up on the flight radar. You can hear them talking to air traffic control on the scanner, though.

I'd probably run outside to see that too.

I think i mentioned, one of my co-workers came home one evening and their covered patio was blown up. Neighbor said one of the military jets doing an airshow at the airport had buzzed out to the prairie and turned the jet straight up, right over his house. I thought it was pretty funny, co-worker, not so much. Pieces of fiberglass all over the yard.

 

[MossRoad]

YIKES!

 

[MossRoad]

I had a Cessna 150 or 152 come low over my yard one day. He had to pull up to miss the trees. I gave the guy in the right seat the finger. He gave it back. I reported that one to the local FAA office.

When I worked at the airport, several times I'd fuel up a plane, and note that I put more fuel in it than its total capacity!

Hey! Don't fly over my house!

 

[BigBlue1]

Been a few of these flying over.


View attachment 781607

I'm glad you caught that and posted. Some time back I posted about seeing several Blackhawks visible in my state one evening and everyone told me "no, you're wrong, you'll never see them on Flightradar".

 

[JethroB]

I mentioned once that A-10’s from Moody AFB train overhead here often. Sometimes they go over low & slow such that I can make out the pilots head. I wasn’t sure how low until I was playing with my new drone recently. Oh my! They are at best 200 up. I have yet to see them on FlightAware.
Example:

 

[JethroB]

I'm glad you caught that and posted. Some time back I posted about seeing several Blackhawks visible in my state one evening and everyone told me "no, you're wrong, you'll never see them on Flightradar".

Look at Flightradar over southeastern Alabama. Lots of army helicopters show up around Ft Rucker.

I found this tip helpful:

Best is to use ADS-B exchange first and filter on DB flag: Military. Than you'll see all military planes which are broadcasting ADS-B. If you see something interesting you can than search for it in F24. By using filtering on aircraft type or callsigns you will miss a lot. Some interesting callsigns: RRR, LAGR, QID, REDEYE8 (pops up during air-to-air refuelling), STGR, BAF, UAV, RFR

 

[MossRoad]

I'm glad you caught that and posted. Some time back I posted about seeing several Blackhawks visible in my state one evening and everyone told me "no, you're wrong, you'll never see them on Flightradar".

I think it depends on what they're doing and who's flying it. Sometimes I see KC-135 tankers on there, and sometimes I see them overhead and they don't show up.

 

[MossRoad]

I mentioned once that A-10’s from Moody AFB train overhead here often. Sometimes they go over low & slow such that I can make out the pilots head. I wasn’t sure how low until I was playing with my new drone recently. Oh my! They are at best 200 up. I have yet to see them on FlightAware.
Example:
View attachment 781644

Next time you see one, stick your arms out and waggle your wings. If they see you and aren't focused on some other task, they might waggle back at you.

We used to get a kick out of doing that to small aircraft when we were kids.

 

[RobertN]

I think it depends on what they're doing and who's flying it. Sometimes I see KC-135 tankers on there, and sometimes I see them overhead and they don't show up.

I see them with "funny" names; tankers, C17, C5's. Orca#, Heavy# and similar (# for number).

Right now there's fighter trainers in the area; ONYX11, ROPER11, Roper12, Roper13 all flying out of Beale AFB. Roper11 is buzzing SMF right now.

I see a lot of those flights, with Beale, Fallon and Travis active. See a number of flights, live overhead or on flight radar coming out of Fallon and going in to old Mather AFB; it still sees some military use.

Being in the Sacramento area, used to see even more flights when Mather and McClellan AFB were active. Used to see an occasional MITO scramble out of the from SAC base at Mather. Seeing Nuke armed B52's scramble along with Tankers was a real sight to see!