WWW866 flight from the TTR to Groom Lake

WWW866 on Flightaware

Moving the Janets between the Tonopah Test Range and Groom Lake isn't totally unheard of. Usually the flight takes place in the center of the range and there is little tracking other than near the TTR. This flight was over the range, but on the west side. Note in the flight route they mentioned RANGE2. That could indicate the the part of the flight over the west side of the range.

You will note the plane heads south, then pulls a U-turn. This is a bit strange since they flew out of their way to get to Groom Lake. The final altitude is appropriate for a trip to the base.

reply to post by gariac


Not sure what you're getting at! Don't the planes normally approach Groom Lake from the south?

Kukri
reply to post by gariac

 

Not sure what you're getting at! Don't the planes normally approach Groom Lake from the south?

All the aircraft really have to do is get on the east side of the Papoose range. basically this point:
37° 7'9.75"N 115°43'18.77"W
(Don't consider the point to be very accurate. I just hit a spot in the general area.)

So they went a bit out of their way. I wouldn't make to much of it. Perhaps a range was active, so they had to avoid a certain area.

Now obviously if you are coming from KLAS, you are approaching from the south. But this plane came from the north.

This is a recent track they forgot to censor:
Janet from KLAS

Interesting! Surprised they used a "commercial" aircraft for what I assume was a ferry run. Another thing that surprised me was the sheer size of the range. I knew it was big but I believe the flight was 500+ miles from TTR to Groom. WOW!

edit: 502km planned 462km actual still a huge tract of land.

Kukri
Interesting! Surprised they used a "commercial" aircraft for what I assume was a ferry run. Another thing that surprised me was the sheer size of the range. I knew it was big but I believe the flight was 500+ miles from TTR to Groom. WOW!

edit: 502km planned 462km actual still a huge tract of land.

edit on 11/23/2013 by Kukri because: (no reason given)

I only see the distance is sm, presumably statute miles. It reads Planned: 312 sm Flown: 230 sm. So that would be more like 370KM.

Most of the base to base flights are on the Beechcraft. Since there are no controllers that live on base, they fly in the Beechcraft uncontrolled. That would be the first and last flight of the day. In the case of N27RA, they were flying contractors. I don't know why they fly 737s between bases.

You certainly seem to have your finger on the pulse of "51". Thanks for the informative threads.

P.S. I'm in Canada and have my defaults in metric so maybe that's why the f/p's were in Km for me.

Kukri
You certainly seem to have your finger on the pulse of "51". Thanks for the informative threads.

P.S. I'm in Canada and have my defaults in metric so maybe that's why the f/p's were in Km for me.

I understand the data being in km, but it is odd that one of the conversions was wrong.

You can spend hours circumnavigating the NTTR. It is bigger than a lot of US states.

The Janet route might have been weather related now that I think about it. The area has had low clouds for a few days. Images from the Tikaboo spy cam look like fog and ice.

reply to post by gariac


Where can I view the images from the Tikaboo spy cam?

Sammamishman
reply to post by gariac

 

Where can I view the images from the Tikaboo spy cam?

Tikaboo weather

This link gets you to the station. The page has a link to get the latest photo. At the moment the dome is frosted over.

As a side note, there has been much speculation if any of the remote cameras around the range that are solar powered have heaters inside to prevent the camera icing up. It is presumed the wired cameras do have heaters, but not the solar cell powered cameras.

reply to post by gariac


Yah, it looks cold up there with snow all around. The camera defrosted, presumably due to the sun being on it most of the day. I'm assuming the number on the bottom right is the temp in C.?

reply to post by Sammamishman


Well there is a C next to the temperature. ;-)

It appears the wind speed and direction hardware froze, or the winds were zero for hours today.

You can see that the conditions on the peak are less than hospitable. There are the occasional winter climbers, but I don't think they camp out there at night. I've yet to see any of the winter Tikaboo climbers bring suitable photographic gear. Tikaboo is an order of magnitude more difficult with a heavy pack.

The video is already on an ATS thread:
Tikaboo in the winter

reply to post by gariac


My interpretation for this would be that "special guests" we're being taken for viewing and there might have been too many to fit the beechcraft. The beechcraft is usually for the higher ups and most important people that need to be transported. Admirals / Generals / CIA / Scientists etc.

STANDARD
reply to post by gariac

 

My interpretation for this would be that "special guests" we're being taken for viewing and there might have been too many to fit the beechcraft. The beechcraft is usually for the higher ups and most important people that need to be transported. Admirals / Generals / CIA / Scientists etc.

edit on 27-11-2013 by STANDARD because: (no reason given)

Yes the Beechcraft have two types of guests. The tower personnel and VIPs. Palmdale flights are often for VIPs. Come to think of it, if that MIT plane is at the TTR, then that might explain the large number of people to move.

I noticed a solicitation from Nellis for some 100LL Avgas. I thought it odd. I assume Nellis fronts a lot of Groom purchases.
Nellis solicitation

I was thinking maybe for the UAVs, but Predators and Reapers are also turbo props. Maybe every base keeps a little avgas around for the occasional piston engine aircraft.

gariac

STANDARD
reply to post by gariac

 

My interpretation for this would be that "special guests" we're being taken for viewing and there might have been too many to fit the beechcraft. The beechcraft is usually for the higher ups and most important people that need to be transported. Admirals / Generals / CIA / Scientists etc.

edit on 27-11-2013 by STANDARD because: (no reason given)

Yes the Beechcraft have two types of guests. The tower personnel and VIPs. Palmdale flights are often for VIPs. Come to think of it, if that MIT plane is at the TTR, then that might explain the large number of people to move.

I noticed a solicitation from Nellis for some 100LL Avgas. I thought it odd. I assume Nellis fronts a lot of Groom purchases.
Nellis solicitation

I was thinking maybe for the UAVs, but Predators and Reapers are also turbo props. Maybe every base keeps a little avgas around for the occasional piston engine aircraft.

I was told a funny story about a "bunny ranch" gasoline purchase while VIP's were in town. Needless to say, the bill made for an interesting conversation when it came time to pay.