Posted on 11/18/2016 6:53:30 PM PST by Mariner
A routine training flight by the U.S. Navy’s E-6B Mercury “doomsday plane” captured the attention of sky-watchers this week in Colorado.
The four-engine command-and-control plane based on Boeing Co.’s 707 airliner on Wednesday took off from Travis Air Force Base in California and circled over Denver before continuing on to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
It was apparently the hour-long racetrack holding pattern that turned the heads.
“Did you see this today?” a newscaster at the KMGH, the local ABC affiliate, asked during a broadcast. “There was this plane just circling the metro, circling and circling, and many of you called us asking what was going on.”
The station initially reported the identity of the plane “a mystery” but provided an update the following day.
In a telephone interview with Military.com, Lt. Leslie Hubbell, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Forces in San Diego, said there was nothing unusual about the plane or the flight. The Federal Aviation Administration directed the Mercury to fly the pattern it did around Denver, she said, presumably because of air traffic.
(Excerpt) Read more at defensetech.org ...
But I'm wondering what the hell these guys are doing flying their classic 28deg orbit in the middle of the country.
They were doing urban training over my house in Phoenix yesterday evening. Two black helicopters flying back and forth in an ominous way.
Probably doing drills with NORAD and the silo’s
Perfect!!! What a movie!!
The media wants "mystery" and "controversy?" Ask about how many Muslim boys Obama has brought in and then f_cks in the White House. It isn't a joke.
The plane's callsign was IRON99, so she was one of yours.
Since we’re at Defcon 5, it’s probably an R&R run to keep the crew happy.
Long, long hours of endless flying over the ocean can wear on you when each flight is 12+ hours and you gotta be on your toes.
But going into orbit makes no sense. Not over land.
These aircraft have a very specific mission and it’s to relay Emergency Action Messages from National Command Authority to Strategic Forces at Sea.
Gaijan posted a cutout of the aircraft and it illustrates a “High Power Transmitter”. And yes, it’s very, very powerful...and in fact, has never been successfully jammed. Not even by us.
The highest concentration in the world of men who have been waterboarded are in these aircraft.
Period.
We here on FR had this all figured out the other day when it was first reported. Right down to the type of plane and the air bases involve.
You knew it was TACAMO?
You could see it was a 4 engine aircraft and it was said it flew off to Oklahoma. One of the Freepers suggested the E6B and after looking it up I agreed. Travis AFB and Tinker AFB fit the bill for the take off point and the landing point.
Never gets old
“based on Boeing Co.’s 707 airliner “
??????????
Shocking, isn’t it?
They were in a classic 2 minute hold, left turns, on an airway.
ATC instructs a pilot to “hold” at a certain point. Once that point is reached, pilot initiates a standard rate 180 degree turn to the left, then flies on a heading of 180 reverse from original course for two minutes, then another standard rate 180 degree turn to the left, back to the original course, two minutes on that course back to the hold point, then a repeat of the original 180 left, repeating the process until cleared out of the hold.
Look at the track. That’s exactly what he was doing. Very standard. Nothing exotic here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.