This year's trip to Tikaboo Peak the 7900ft mountain in Nevada from where one can see Groom Lake AFB in clarity - albeit at range 26nm - was most entertaining.
Initially we thought that we had stumbled across a 'families day' as there was constant action for 4 hours featuring a Su-27 and MiG-29.
Both Russians had a F-16 as a playmate and the MiG-29 was flying in formation with a Gulfstream II.
The Gulf II N105TB is part of the Airborne Seeker Test Bed (ASTB) program - 5TB being a stylised STB - and based at Bedford-Hanscom Field with DoD/MIT Lincoln Labs. Lincoln Labs allegedly have a hangar for this G2 at the northern end of Groom Lake; this seems to be likely as during April it seemed to spend the week at Groom while returning home to BED for weekends, holidays, birthdays etc.
N105TB spent much of April 2003 in Nevada it seems. On returning to/from BED at weekends it stops at SPI (Springfield, IL) much of the time although PUB (Pueblo, CO) has also been observed. Indeed, on its latest trip out West (on Mon 6-Oct) it stopped at both SPI and PUB.
Amusingly if one looks at the page
www.webcamlocator.com/info/springfield_il.htm
the banner ad says 'all you need is the dream...we'll take care of the rest...fly the legendary MIG29' which is a coincidence!
Westbound N105TB generally departs for LAS but never arrives. Rather than the Zeta Reticuliian crew engaging the cloaking device, this is more easily explained as it descends NE of Las Vegas, cancels its IFR flight plan in the area abeam Groom Lake North East of Las Vegas and heads off into the ranges E of Groom Lake.
Eastbound the origin is sometimes shown as DRA (Desert Rock) although occasionally 'TKM' which often comes up as unknown.
An old FAA manual shows the parent unit of this location to be Tonopah Base Ops. So although TKM could be used for Groom Lake the position shown on an Air Traffic Control display of the area is that of Tonopah Test Range (the label shows TKM not TNX which is the normal identifier for the TTR).
Other slightly 'dodgy' aircraft have also filed into/out of TKM (email me if interested).
Curiously sister ship N20NY a Falcon 20 also uses SPI on its travels to/from the west coast. There must be a reson for this but I can't fathom it!
Location @ 19-Jan-2004
N105TB is presumably at Groom Lake. It arrived on 12-Apr-04 routing BED-SPI-PUB-'LAS'. But it didn't land at Las Vegas.
N20NY returned to BED on 7-Nov-03.
MIT/Lincoln Labs operate N105TB as an Airborne Seeker Test Bed (ASTB). Their website refers to tests in Nevada and according to a post in the discussion forum on www.dreamlandresort.com Lincoln Labs have a hangar at Groom Lake for N105TB.
Interestingly, in mid-May it flew south to Eglin AFB (VPS) which has some similarities to Groom Lake. One is US-operated Russian aircraft (an An-32?) and the other is more fanciful in black triangles and the like. Gulf Breeze is nearby.
It returned to BED on Jun-26. German AF MiG-29s deployed from Europe to Eglin during this period before their sale to Poland. The MiG-29 connection again!
Photos of N105TB are hard to come by; in its previous guise of N200CC it appeared in World Air Power Journal a few years back
Initially we thought that we had stumbled across a 'families day' as there was constant action for 4 hours featuring a Su-27 and MiG-29.
Both Russians had a F-16 as a playmate and the MiG-29 was flying in formation with a Gulfstream II.
The Gulf II N105TB is part of the Airborne Seeker Test Bed (ASTB) program - 5TB being a stylised STB - and based at Bedford-Hanscom Field with DoD/MIT Lincoln Labs. Lincoln Labs allegedly have a hangar for this G2 at the northern end of Groom Lake; this seems to be likely as during April it seemed to spend the week at Groom while returning home to BED for weekends, holidays, birthdays etc.
N105TB spent much of April 2003 in Nevada it seems. On returning to/from BED at weekends it stops at SPI (Springfield, IL) much of the time although PUB (Pueblo, CO) has also been observed. Indeed, on its latest trip out West (on Mon 6-Oct) it stopped at both SPI and PUB.
Amusingly if one looks at the page
www.webcamlocator.com/info/springfield_il.htm
the banner ad says 'all you need is the dream...we'll take care of the rest...fly the legendary MIG29' which is a coincidence!
Westbound N105TB generally departs for LAS but never arrives. Rather than the Zeta Reticuliian crew engaging the cloaking device, this is more easily explained as it descends NE of Las Vegas, cancels its IFR flight plan in the area abeam Groom Lake North East of Las Vegas and heads off into the ranges E of Groom Lake.
Eastbound the origin is sometimes shown as DRA (Desert Rock) although occasionally 'TKM' which often comes up as unknown.
An old FAA manual shows the parent unit of this location to be Tonopah Base Ops. So although TKM could be used for Groom Lake the position shown on an Air Traffic Control display of the area is that of Tonopah Test Range (the label shows TKM not TNX which is the normal identifier for the TTR).
Other slightly 'dodgy' aircraft have also filed into/out of TKM (email me if interested).
Curiously sister ship N20NY a Falcon 20 also uses SPI on its travels to/from the west coast. There must be a reson for this but I can't fathom it!
Location @ 19-Jan-2004
N105TB is presumably at Groom Lake. It arrived on 12-Apr-04 routing BED-SPI-PUB-'LAS'. But it didn't land at Las Vegas.
N20NY returned to BED on 7-Nov-03.
MIT/Lincoln Labs operate N105TB as an Airborne Seeker Test Bed (ASTB). Their website refers to tests in Nevada and according to a post in the discussion forum on www.dreamlandresort.com Lincoln Labs have a hangar at Groom Lake for N105TB.
Interestingly, in mid-May it flew south to Eglin AFB (VPS) which has some similarities to Groom Lake. One is US-operated Russian aircraft (an An-32?) and the other is more fanciful in black triangles and the like. Gulf Breeze is nearby.
It returned to BED on Jun-26. German AF MiG-29s deployed from Europe to Eglin during this period before their sale to Poland. The MiG-29 connection again!
Photos of N105TB are hard to come by; in its previous guise of N200CC it appeared in World Air Power Journal a few years back
