[NELSON111]

It was probably the CAP aircraft being refueled. I know it is not normal for aircraft to refuel low and over metro areas...but since Sep 11th...it has happened.

I am in the Air Force (5 years to retirement!) and witnessed the very thing that Psalm37 witnessed over Houston on my way into work at Ellington Field. I thought the very same thing at first..."who are they intercepting?". They were flying west and low (about 5000') and banking towards to south. Of course...I have a source of info that Psalm37 doesn't...my office is right outside the Wing CO's office. So...they first thing I did was ask him and he told me it was CAP being refueled.

BTW...the guys flying CAP now over NYC and sometimes DC are from Houston...the same unit that escorted Bush back from FL on Sept 11th.

[psalm37]

Excellent! Thanks for the knowledge. I'd much rather observe readiness for action than action itself.

[HoustonKevin]

I live but a few miles from Ellington Field in Seabrook.

I love seeing those babies.

They buzz my house, hauling ass, a couple of times a day.

I can see a fully loaded arsenal and I feel much, much safer.

Good Job Men! ...and Thanks.

[longshadow]

It was probably the CAP aircraft being refueled. I know it is not normal for aircraft to refuel low and over metro areas...but since Sep 11th...it has happened.

Interesting.... thanx for the "inside" scoop.

[kickme]

Did you fly the 111?

[Aggie Mama]

I didn't know that Ellington was so active. I remember going there when I was a kid. I just think of it as the place where the space shuttle would come into every once in a while.

[angkor]

the guys flying CAP now over NYC and sometimes DC

I'm inside the Beltway - Northern VA - and the CAP activity has been interesting to say the least.

Up until December the coverage over DC was intense, I'd say anywhere from 6 to 10 jets being simultaneously visible at night. More recently it seems to have been reduced.

Also, the helicopter traffic between DC and Quantico varies according to (I suppose) the current threat level. For a good while it was almost nonstop, all day long. Then a lull, then it picked up again before Christmas, and now back to fairly low levels (as it had been prior to 9/11).