Additional Groom scanner audio and MAFEX phtos

Here is the scanner audio. It was cold, so the "package" had to be warmed up before landing. They should get heated seats.

N40R is from Dynamic Aviation, a spooky civilian outfit.

Groom scanner audio


MAFEX is a bit OT, but the photos are from the Nellis range:
MAFEX

MAFEX is an exercise for cargo aircraft. This was my first time watching it and now I know a bit about how it's staged. First of all, don't believe the NOTAM for the starting time. That is true for the aircraft leaving Nellis, but many of the participants leave from their own base., so it is best to be on the range the DAY of the notam, not just the scheduled time. I noticed a truck with water barrels in it leave the range around noon, so they must have been doing drops in the AM.

reply to post by gariac


Que? Sorry, but what is the background to the audio?

Is it traffic in and out of Groom Lake?

You can hear rambo25 setting up to take off on 14. That is clearly from Groom Lake.

N40R appears to have been over the Nellis Range, but contacted Bird Dog, which is control for the NTS. It sounds to me that it exited the range over Mercury, that is it did not use the Groom departure.

Nasa926 was over the range, but exited via Dreamland, which is the same frequency as Bird Dog. It is not clear to me the difference between them.

Vampire was playing over China Lake. You can hear R2508 mentioned.

Sunshine 1 was entering the Nellis range. Raptor was playing east of the range over the Elgin MOA.

WB-57 in Afghanistan

This is an interesting thread regarding a NASA WB-57 spotted in Afghanistan. [Same type of plane flying over the range in the scanner audio.] It links up to some USGS report that used the data from the flight.

I'm sure all the plane was seeking was minerals (cough cough). OK, maybe it mapped a cave or two.