Las Vegas Trip

a reply to: gariac

Zaph and gariac, which you would suggest going to see? Tonopah or Area 51? Which would have better plane sightings?

a reply to: TStoops88

You'd probably have better luck at TTR, but you probably want to get there early in the morning. You'll see a bunch of Janet flights in and out. We saw something on the ramp last summer, but couldn't tell what it was very well.

originally posted by: gariac
a reply to: TStoops88

Consider viewing the TTR. The drive to Brainwash is about as long as the drive to Tikaboo, but it is not nearly as rugged. The distance from Brainwash to the base is about 14 miles, which makes for easier observation. Bull the activity takes place during the week. And Tonopah is even colder than Tikaboo.

I was just using google maps and it says it is a little over 2 hours to Rachel from Vegas and a little over 4 hours to TTR. Is google completely wrong about the time it takes to drive to TTR?

a reply to: TStoops88

Thats about right... its a lllooooonnnnngggg drive around the ranges

over the week we were there... between tonopah, rachel, death valley and some mining towns in the south we racked up around 2,000 miles lol. Thank got rentals don't have limited millage anymore

a reply to: gariac

we did get a lot of belly shots but OOOOHHHHH that rumbling of the ground when they go right over your head is amazing.

originally posted by: nepatitan
a reply to: gariac

we did get a lot of belly shots but OOOOHHHHH that rumbling of the ground when they go right over your head is amazing.

Well I didn't say it wasn't hella fun! And if you want to see all the stuff attached to the plane, the junkyard is the place to be. I don't think they are allowed to go out "hot" in that direction. So the bombs should be inert (blue or have a blue band). You can check your photos to verify this. You can also see the ACMI pod (renamed to NACTS). The F-35 and F-22 supposedly have the pods built in.

originally posted by: TStoops88

originally posted by: gariac
a reply to: TStoops88

Consider viewing the TTR. The drive to Brainwash is about as long as the drive to Tikaboo, but it is not nearly as rugged. The distance from Brainwash to the base is about 14 miles, which makes for easier observation. Bull the activity takes place during the week. And Tonopah is even colder than Tikaboo.

I was just using google maps and it says it is a little over 2 hours to Rachel from Vegas and a little over 4 hours to TTR. Is google completely wrong about the time it takes to drive to TTR?

That timing is about right. Vegas to Rachel might be a little faster, but not much. Getting to the TTR takes forever, and you need about an hour to do the off road part. I'm thinking maybe four hours just to do Vegas to Tonopah. The TTR is maybe 30 minutes more if you just go to Mt. Diablo. Much longer if you go to Brainwash.

Mt. Diablo is a very small hill very close to the "man camp". You are right by the guard shack. I have no idea if that deters them from doing test flights. You can drive to the top of the hill and really be a target, or you can park by the hill and hike it. It barely qualifies as a hike.

Vegas to Tonopah goes through Indian Springs, Beatty and Goldfield. These are 25mph towns that exist on speeding ticket revenue. The same goes for Tonopah.

There are stretches of these roads where you really want to drive them in the daytime, or you have to drive about 45mph at night. This is due to cattle on the roads. The whole ET Highway is open range. Generally you need to watch for cattle starting where the ET Highway meets Groom Lake Road. Much of highway 6 is open range. I don't recall highway 95 having any open range signs. The NHP does speed enforcement along 95. To some degree, the NHL and Lincoln County sheriff do speed enforce along 93. Rarely is there speed enforcement along the ET highway or route 6. Not that I'm encouraging speeding, but rather don't be surprised if some car is doing a hundred. These are two lane roads, so when you pass, you need to assume the on-comming traffic is driving like they stole it. You may notice 95 goes from a 4 lane road to a two lane road once you are north of the NTS. It is four lanes for the safety of the NTS workers. One reason for the Janets to exist is the safety of the base workers. Besides saving time by flying, it would be a bad idea to do the drive from Vegas to Groom Lake on a daily basis.

Not to belabor the point, but it should snow in Tonopah on 3/30. Supposedly when the area where the TTR exists today was an Army base, they called Tonopah "frozen balls."

The other thing that first time visitors don't expect is how dark it is around the range at night. If there is no moon, expect to be tripping over stuff at night if you don't have a flashlight. On the other hand, you can see the milky way.

The forecast also calls for high winds. What isn't nailed down becomes a projectile. You will see tumbleweed blow across the road just like in the old western movies.

a reply to: gariac

Do you happen to know when the best time of day would be to visit Creech and Nellis?

a reply to: TStoops88

Weekend it's kind of hit or miss if they're flying at most bases.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Okay just thought I'd ask because our local air guard mostly flies during the week and I wasn't sure if it's the same for Air Force bases.

What time of day do you see most of the flights at Creech or Nellis though?

a reply to: TStoops88

There are normally some in the morning then some early afternoon if they're flying. They could last anywhere from an hour or just under to a couple of hours.

Not sure about Creech but I'd assume the same.

originally posted by: TStoops88
a reply to: gariac

Do you happen to know when the best time of day would be to visit Creech and Nellis?

They don't start too early, unlike the Janets. When I'm around the range, they don't arrive until after 10 AM. I would 9:30AM is when they leave Nellis.

Creech is a different story. For one thing, I've never been there early because you can't get there from here. There are no hotels near Creech. Even if you stay on Mt. Charleston, it is a long drive to the base since the hotel on Charleston is way up the mountain.

I'm not so sure you will be all that excited to see a drone take off. Plus the view is not as good as what you can see of Nellis. I did hang out near the prison on the way to Cold Creek and watched the drones fly back and forth in the valleys around Creech. If you want close up drone viewing, you are better off hanging out in the Mojave.
Predator shots near Creech
Predator shots in the Mojave desert

BTW, Tikaboo is now snow covered.
Tikacam

a reply to: gariac

Yeah drones aren't too exciting but I was just hoping to possibly see an RQ-170

originally posted by: TStoops88
a reply to: gariac

Yeah drones aren't too exciting but I was just hoping to possibly see an RQ-170

There is a video of a RQ-170 on youtube shot from the prison area as far as I can tell. You do realize all this stuff is like fishing. You might have to wait hours or do several visits to see something like a RQ-170.

I've posted two sessions of F-117 post retirement flight, but I haven't posted anything from the trips when nothing cool was spotted.

My recollection is the RQ-170 uses the callsign Sentinel. Any fence watching session needs to be accompanied with a scanner. If you are near the base, make that a scanner with earphones/buds attached.

General Atomics uses a frequency not coordinated for Nevada when at Creech. (We don't need no stinkin' badges.)

www.inplanesight.org...

This site is down at the moment, but the frequency list has the General Atomics frequency.

a reply to: gariac

Oh yeah I know it's a shot in the dark but maybe I'll get lucky

originally posted by: TStoops88
a reply to: gariac

Oh yeah I know it's a shot in the dark but maybe I'll get lucky

Actually I was thinking of the RQ-170. That is the Sentinel.

a reply to: gariac

It used the call sign 'Beast' during Neptune spear.

originally posted by: TStoops88
a reply to: gariac

Do you happen to know when the best time of day would be to visit Creech and Nellis?

Usually a waste of time hanging around the fence at Nellis AFB on a weekend.

I have seen a drone(s) flying almost every time I have visited Creech. Not sure if they fly a lot, or I am just lucky. Maybe gariac already mentioned it, but they get pissy at Creech if you park on the base side of the highway. You can park on the other side all day, and they can't do bugger all.

www.topsecretbases.com...

originally posted by: gariac
a reply to: TStoops88

And Tonopah is even colder than Tikaboo.

I was on the range a few years ago with NPR in April and it was snowing. I loaned him my jacket since he was totally unprepared for how cold it gets in Central Nevada. (The audio never aired.) That trip, they did GPS jamming so I was guiding from memory. My point is you need to assume a GPS won't work, though that is rare.

Mid-May last year I was in Tonopah for a night, camped for the night between trips for TTR viewing.
It snowed.