Pictures requested by popular demand of planes in Groom and the NTS

reply to post by GroomLakePolishFAN


I've never been to Tikaboo before, but a couple weeks ago me and Zaphod were talking about planning a trip sometime this fall, and reached out to gariac and shadowhawk to see if they wanted to make a trip of it. So we will see what happens. If I get this new boom job, I don't think i'll be able to.

reply to post by boomer135


I understand. Thank you for reply.

When you was flown to Groom, did you know about specific of any aircraft which was based there? And if the aircraft which you think was seen by Swiss Mountain Bat(if we assume that he really saw something unusual) resident at Groom?

reply to post by GroomLakePolishFAN


Yeah I knew about a few aircraft that are based there, but I can't say what kind they are or anything like that. It's still classified.

Originally posted by boomer135
By popular demand, here's a small part of my personal collection of pictures of everything ranging from the F-22 to the gray F-117.....

Enjoy!

F-22 circa 2002ish. No stealth paint yet. Still just yellow primer.

Skunkworks F-117 grey. Civilian pilot

Edwards in the backround

F-22's from Edwards off the wing

more raptor pics

F-16 with "special" wing pod thing. I believe they said it had something to do with radar

B-2 refuelings

Wow. Those are wicked awesome pictures.

Forgive the sarcasm. To be forthright and clear-- I really fail to understand why people continue to choose to upload pictures to external sites, to be presented here. Especially pictures in the OP. These links will eventually go dead (sometimes years later, sometimes way, way sooner than that) and whatever you wanted to show us will no longer be there.

And in a thread like this, where the pictures are the big deal, that reduces your thread / post to pretty much worthless.


Just a few minutes ago I saw a guy try to make a point in a thread that had a lot of photo comparisons. So he made a comparison of two different photos, posted a link to an external site which just shows up in the thread as "link to external site." Awesome comparison. I didn't really want to see it bad enough to click. Apparently he didn't want us to see it bad enough to upload it to ATS instead. At least the OP here posted actual pictures.


Dead ones, now.


Why, for the love of god, can't people just upload to ATS?






/rant

reply to post by iwilliam


Because ATS limits the file size. I don't want to have to save it, and zoom in to be able to see something that I can't because the file is small.

reply to post by iwilliam


I moved the pics to this thread here: Pics because of the dead links. We started talking about something else on this thread, thats the only reason were still on it.

Photo's make a world of difference in most conversations though. If I tell you that I've flown in the box at dreamland you would probably think that I'm some wacko just running his mouth. But if I post pics of Area 51 from above and on final approach, well then whats your argument?

Once again, your photos are excellent. I wish to have collection like you.

Last question to you Bommer, I don't want to upset you Did at Groom in late 1990s or early 2000s were some aircraft which had enormous size, like B747 or An-225? It just a quick question yes or no.

reply to post by GroomLakePolishFAN


I never seen anything that big there. Although there have been heavy planes that flew into Groom to deliver aircraft from like Palmdale or somewhere.

Originally posted by GroomLakePolishFAN
Last question to you Bommer, I don't want to upset you

Did at Groom in late 1990s or early 2000s were some aircraft which had enormous size, like B747 or An-225? It just a quick question yes or no.

Oh we like the Russians, but I don't think enough to let them land a AN-225 there. I would venture a guess the base never saw anything bigger than a C-5.

Someone will probably prove me wrong, but I don't think the USAF has any cargo 747s. Lots of USAF freight goes on civilian 747s, mainly Atlas/Giant/Polar Air Cargo.

I caught a C-17 doing a quick turn at Desert Rock Airstrip.



I've never seen a cargo plane on the ground at Groom Lake. Note even a C-130. You do see them at the TTR. But there are historic photos of cargo planes at Groom Lake, so we know they do land there.

Nice pics gariac. From what distance this picture was taken? I also heard that only cargo aircraft which visited Groom were C-130 and C-5. C-130 is seeing by me almost every day, this one is based at EPKK(John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice).

- - -

Unknown Aircraft

Found on the net. I think photo shows aircraft seen by Andreas Von Retyi and was taken from Tikaboo in 1995. Some people talked that his sighting is a fail, but it's tangible evidence. It have better quality and is much closer than this included to his report on DLR site.

Originally posted by GroomLakePolishFAN
Nice pics gariac. From what distance this picture was taken? I also heard that only cargo aircraft which visited Groom were C-130 and C-5. C-130 is seeing by me almost every day, this one is based at EPKK(John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice).

- - -

Unknown Aircraft

Found on the net. I think photo shows aircraft seen by Andreas Von Retyi and was taken from Tikaboo in 1995. Some people talked that his sighting is a fail, but it's tangible evidence. It have better quality and is much closer than this included to his report on DLR site.

It is possible that white plane is a C-type passenger plane used by VIPs (SAM special air mission). But I don't recognize it. The front doesn't have that bent down look per the author's sighting report, so this could be a different plane. In fact the front looks like a C-20 (Gulfstream 3), but the tail is wrong.

I photographed the C-17 from the hills across from the KDRA. That plane couldn't have been on the ground more than 10 minutes. I saw it arrive from off-road a few miles back from the highway. I headed closer to the highway and was barely able to get out of the car and take the shot. In fact, that is the only photograph I have of the plane on the ground. You can see it is out of McChord.



In the other photo if you zoom in you can see white buses. Given the time on the ground and the buses, I am pretty sure the cargo was the two legged variety. It isn't all the unusual to transport people in a C-17, but you usually do it plus their cargo, not strictly passenger transport.

I was on Tikaboo and caught a Janet 737 on the radio requesting to do a touch and go at KDRA. No explanation was given. They just got permission from the DOE for one touch and go and that was that. It would have been a great shot.

Originally posted by gariac
In fact the front looks like a C-20 (Gulfstream 3), but the tail is wrong.

It's a C-21.

Originally posted by Zaphod58

Originally posted by gariac
In fact the front looks like a C-20 (Gulfstream 3), but the tail is wrong.

It's a C-21.

I had considered the C-21, but don't think it matches either. The tail is wrong. But it does have to be a plane that was flying in the mid-90s, which eliminates many of the current VIP aircraft. So it could be a C-20 or C-21 based on the date of the photograph, but I don't think it is either. The tail in the photograph is really slanted. The C-21 engines kind of dominate the wing, and I don't see that in the photograph. But we are dealing with a very blurry image.

Well we agree it is low wing.

It can also be some contractor aircraft, so the choices are not limited to USAF C-type planes.

reply to post by gariac


It's a crappy, blurry as hell picture. But I'll put money on it being a C-21 (or contractor Lear 35).

I think it's not a C-21 gauging by his body. At first I though that this is 737 Janet, but I ruled out this possiblity.

Gary, in which year you first visited Tikaboo?

reply to post by GroomLakePolishFAN


I think it's safe to say that the unknown airplane in Andreas von Retyi's photo is a modified BAC 1-11 avionics testbed owned by Northrop Grumman.

www.airliners.net...(Northrop-Grumman)/BAC-111-401AK-One-Eleven/1907745/&sid=4d0c4e45283de6acdc3a462a3a316053

www.airliners.net...(Northrop-Grumman)/BAC-111-401AK-One-Eleven/0122781/&sid=4d0c4e45283de6acdc3a462a3a316053

www.youtube.com...

virtualglobetrotting.com...

www.flickr.com...

Originally posted by boomer135
reply to post by GroomLakePolishFAN

 

I've never been to Tikaboo before, but a couple weeks ago me and Zaphod were talking about planning a trip sometime this fall, and reached out to gariac and shadowhawk to see if they wanted to make a trip of it. So we will see what happens. If I get this new boom job, I don't think i'll be able to.

I do hope you take a camera and a MASSIVE lens, and no pics of Zaph please, people will think the aliens have landed!!

reply to post by Kurokage


They couldn't get a pic of me anyway. I'd break the camera.

And I'm already planning on getting my camera soon, so I can get a nice lens for it. Then, even if we don't get to go, I can get some good shots of the ones going overhead, that I've never been able to get. Maybe even my mystery plane out west.

Boomer, question to you once again. Can you tell me number of classified aircraft which were tested at Groom in broad daylight in early 2000s?