Tikaboo Tales

Aha - here's a job that I might like! from FBOdaily jobs at Eglin --------- COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF OCTOBER 30, 2001 PSA #2967 SOLICITATIONS UPGRADE AND MAINTENANCE OF THE AIRBORNE ELECTRO-OPTICAL/INFRARED/LASER (AEIL) II SYSTEMS Notice Date October 26, 2001 Description The Air Armament Center, 46th Test Wing, is seeking capable and qualified sources to provide Upgrade and Maintenance of the Airborne Electro-Optical/Infrared/Laser (AEIL) II Systems for the Seekers and Sensors Branch (46 TW/TSWI) and Flight Test Division (46 TW/TSI) at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The AEIL II systems are four state-of-the-art airborne platforms that support a variety of multi-spectral instruments; Common Signature Measurement Pod (CSMP) (BASES II), Supersonic Airborne Tri-gimbaled Infrared System (SATIRS), Airborne Seeker Evaluation and Test System (ASETS), and Supersonic Telemetric Airborne Radiometer (STAR) Pod. These systems are used to provide truth and signature

This year's excursion to Tikaboo Peak may not have included the same level of activity over Groom Lake as last year but was memorable in that it was the first (and perhaps last) time that I was able to log a serial using the naked eye from Tikaboo. Most of the time one is fiddling with high-powered telescopes, cameras and the like carried up the 7900ft mountain and seeing aircraft at all due to the 26 miles distance from the base is all one expects. Below is HH-60G 91-26352 snooping around us during a security patrol; nice to meet you guys! Next time perhaps you could pick us up and take us for a ramp tour....or at least offer us a ride back to the 'parking lot' at the base of the mountain. If you have any photos of me waving I'd be most interested! To be honest I was a little surprised to be standing on top of a mountain in one of the remotest parts of the world being looked at very closely by the security people from the base. It didn't seem like

Here's N105TB landing at Point Mugu on 16-Apr-04 May01^33.avi

Reference to N105TB's synthetic aperture radar is made here Scalable C and VHDL image processors for SAR image processor - user guide The F-15's pod is here. Perhaps I should send these companies a copy of the photos as theirs aren't great! North Star Systems Southern Research MONSSTR from Calculex useful for seeing who else flies the pod e.g. DERA is a customer. MONSSTR presentation Pender Technology - see ADAPT Pender Technology

Before going flying N105TB and the F-15D were on the Hawkeye Country ramp at Pt Mugu; this image taken from a track on the western (Oxnard) side of the base Here's the NP-3 'Bloodhound 341' landing May01^09.avi Point Mugu really is a nice place for a picnic; shelter from the sun and an array of missiles to entertain you if there's not much going on. As an indication of what we saw flying on 16-Apr-2004: (rough n ready until I check serials, types, callsigns) in addition to the Gator party Numerous California ANG C-130Es (and several others parked close to the Pacific Coast Hwy) 57-0497 DC-130A flew morning and afternoon 164485 and 164487 E-2 together N26974 and N784C SW-4 of Berry Aviation (to San Nic, China Lake etc) 150521/341 NP-3 flew morning and afternoon N707AR N707 'Omega Tanker' landed and parked at the terminal 161322/7X C-12 /NK-316 C-2A Password 36 diverted in with HF aerial problems /254 F-14 pl

May 04, 2004

Can't remember if I put this up before but here's what N105TB was up to in 2002/3 according to the Director of Lincoln Labs in his report to MiT http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres03/05.00.html Airborne Seeker Test Bed The capabilities of modern air defense missile systems have been severely challenged by the advent of low-flying vehicles and modern electronic countermeasures. The Airborne Seeker Test Bed (ASTB) is an instrumentation platform developed by Lincoln Laboratory to investigate these challenges and to identify appropriate seeker architectures and signal processing algorithms. The ASTB, which operates in a Gulfstream II aircraft, provides high fidelity RF and IR reference instrumentation sensors. These sensors are used in parallel with special-purpose wing-pod payloads carrying seekers or sensors being tested. In 2003, ASTB activities include four test campaigns, sensor development, and infrastructure upgrades.

April 28, 2004

Here's some of 'Bloodhound 122' that appeared to be part of the Gator party

April 28, 2004

More..... I'm not a pod expert but some googling and hints from friends has turned up the pod that the F-15 is carrying. It appears to be a SATIRS pod.

April 27, 2004

Here's some holiday photos and sounds from California Here's N105TB and 84-0045 at the holding point shortly after the QF-4 departed This is Gator 4 depating on the mission gator4_dep.wav On the first approach the F-15 did a go-around, presumably to give us a second oppotunity at getting some good shots! Here's Gator 4 the F-15D talking to Mugu Tower gator4_arr.wav And this is N105TB returning from the mission Here's Gator 3 aka N105TB talking to Mugu Approach and Tower gator3_arr.wav

April 25, 2004

Thanks Ed....here's an interesting picture

April 24, 2004

An aerial shot of Pt Mugu

April 15, 2004

Here's something from http://www.mrcday.com/prodFSS.htm which says it's an ASTB radome

April 13, 2004

I haven't looked at Point Mugu in much detail before but it seems to be the only place - apart from home base BED - that all three big MIT aircraft have visited in recent past. Thanks to Chris for pointing out 'MTH' as the code for MIT as used for the B707 N404PA and the DA10 (really DA20) N20NY....see below which has been edited to remove EGJ F27s, heavy civil airliners and BYA.

April 13, 2004

Some stuff on Point Mugu http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/point-mugu.htm As a national leader for over 35 years, the Radar Reflectivity Laboratory at Point Mugu remains in the forefront of radar cross-section (RCS) measurements and radar signature control technology. The facility provides monostatic and bistatic radar signature characterization and diagnostics of test objects. The application of wide-band RCS data to Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging of complex objects was pioneered at the laboratory in the 1970s, and is used to conduct signature diagnostics for a variety of applications. The two large anechoic chambers are equipped with compact-range collimating reflectors which provide far-field measurement conditions. The Bistatic Anechoic Chamber is the only facility of its kind in the world to provide full 180-degree horizontal and 90-degree vertical bistatic RCS measurements. All chambers can accommodate a wide variety of test items inclu

April 08, 2004

Here's N105TB in the Las vegas area having turned north towards Groom Lake And here having departed Pt Mugu - the aircraft is in the top left over Simi Valley - via PMD to DRA.

April 08, 2004

N105TB back from Pt Mugu to Groom Lake for the Easter weekend! ------------------ Aircraft ID N105TB Aircraft Type GRUMMAN G-1159 Owner/Operator AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND ESC/DIKL 5 EGLIN ST BLDG 1624 BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS Serial Number 31 Year Manufactured 1968 Certificate Issued 05/10/1993 Airport most visited: Further details are restricted Flight Plan Received 2004-04-08 00:16:06 from Los Angeles Departure NTD POINT MUGU NAS (NAVAL BASES VENTURA CNTY), POINT MUGU CA Destination DRA DESERT ROCK, MERCURY NV Status Landed Planned Alt 17000 Feet Planned Speed 400 kts. Planned Dep 2004-04-08 01:00 Actual Dep 2004-04-08 01:13 Planned Arrival 2004-04-08 02:10 Estimated Arrival 2004-04-08 02:23 Actual Arrival 2004-04-08 01:57 Latest Speed 398 kts. Latest Altitude 15000 Feet Distance to Dest. Last Update 2004-04-08 01:58 Route NTD..PMD..DAG..LAS..DRA/0110

April 04, 2004

Reference N105TB's trip to PMD on 26-Mar, the LAX Passur site shows our old friend ZXQ1418 aka N105TB going well West of Palmdale and showing it's change of destination to NTD, which is Point Mugu. N105TB_26Mar04_PMD3.bmp

April 03, 2004

Yes it was N27RA. n27ra_crash_report.doc

April 02, 2004

Let's assume that it was N27RA that crashed. No sign of it since the day of the incident although it hasn't shown up in the accident databases yet. Meanwhile N105TB appears to be at Pt Mugu again. Although the last flight plan was filed to PMD it appears to have stopped tracking over Camarillo, CA which is around 9 miles from Pt Mugu as the crow - or G2 - flies. Thus its altitude of 2700ft 9nm out would appear to be good. Unless Camarillo happens to be at 2700 elevation which I'll check in a sec. Apologies to Gary for my part in a wild goose chase to try and find it at PMD! N105TB_26Mar04_TXNPMD.doc

March 26, 2004

Oops - it wasn't N20RA that crashed then.......it's still filing plans Aircraft ID N20RA Aircraft Type BEECH 1900 Owner/Operator DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE PO BOX 1504 LAYTON UTAH Serial Number UB-42 Year Manufactured 1985 Certificate Issued 07/28/1988 Airport most visited: LAS MC CARRAN INTL, NV See a list of all based aircraft at LAS Flight Plan Received 2004-03-26 20:40:08 from Los Angeles Departure PMD PALMDALE PRODN FLT/TEST INSTLN AF PLANT 42, PALMDALE CA Destination LAS MC CARRAN INTL, LAS VEGAS NV Status Planned Planned Alt 19000 Feet Planned Speed 260 kts. Planned Dep 2004-03-27 00:30 Actual Dep Planned Arrival 2004-03-27 01:20 Route PMD..DAG.CRESO3.LAS/0050 Previous Flights OXR - LAS 2004-03-15 21:26 PMD - OXR 2004-03-15 18:36 PMD - NSI 2004-03-12 20:46 NSI - LAS 2004-03-12 22:30 OXR - EDW 2004-03-11 15:07

March 26, 2004

Hmmm - N105TB filed a plan to Pt Mugu then it was cancelled and this appeared instead! Aircraft ID N105TB Aircraft Type GRUMMAN G-1159 Owner/Operator AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND ESC/DIKL 5 EGLIN ST BLDG 1624 BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS Serial Number 31 Year Manufactured 1968 Certificate Issued 05/10/1993 Flight Plan Received 2004-03-26 21:36:32 from Los Angeles Departure TNX TONOPAH TEST RANGE, TONOPAH NV Destination PMD PALMDALE PRODN FLT/TEST INSTLN AF PLANT 42, PALMDALE CA Status Landed Planned Alt 16000 Feet Planned Speed 400 kts. Planned Dep 2004-03-26 21:45 Actual Dep 2004-03-26 21:48 Planned Arrival 2004-03-26 22:55 Estimated Arrival Actual Arrival 2004-03-26 22:32 Latest Speed 61 kts. Latest Altitude 2700 Feet Distance to Dest. Last Update 2004-03-26 22:34 Route TNX..BTY060030..MCY..CLARR.V394.DAG..PMD/0110

Accident Description Status: Preliminary [legenda] Date: 16 MAR 2004 Time: ca 05:00 Type: Beechcraft C-12J Operator: United States Air Force - USAF Registration: ? Msn / C/n: Year built: Crew: 1 fatalities / 1 on board Passengers: 4 fatalities / 4 on board Total: 5 fatalities / 5 on board Airplane damage: Written off Location: 125mls NW of Las Vegas, NV (USA) Phase: Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Tonopah-Test Range Airport, NV (XSD) Remarks: The Air Force Materiel Command Beech 1900 crashed while on a routine support mission from a remote classified airstrip on the Nellis range to the Tonopah Test Range.

Previous Arrivals/Departures Flight# Type Dep Time Arr Time Date N20RA B190 PMD 18:21 OXR 18:36 03-15-2004 N20RA B190 OXR 20:17 LAS 21:26 03-15-2004 BLOCKED G TNX 21:25 NTD 22:10 03-15-2004 N178B I TUL 21:40 RVS 04:11 03-20-2004 N661BA BE20 PMD 01:28 OXR 01:44 03-20-2004 N661BA BE20 OXR 02:00 LAS 03:06 03-20-2004 N661BA BE20 TNX 19:27 NSI 20:50 03-22-2004 N661BA BE20 OXR 21:15 LAS 21:44 03-22-2004 N178B W RVS 23:08 RVS 03:49 03-24-2004 N662BA BE20 PMD 01:03 LAS 01:47 03-24-2004 N661BA BE20 PMD 01:21 LAS 02:05 03-25-2004 N178B GLF3 RVS 14:14 SDL 16:34 03-25-2004 BLOCKED G NTD 18:12 DRA 18:57 03-25-2004

Here's the next update - N105TB apparently 'landed' at DRA while at 15000ft!! N105TB_25Mar04_5.doc

Having reached DRA N105TB takes a right turn; this is the last plot before it changes to Military radar. N105TB_25Mar-04_4.doc

N105TB-Mar25_3.doc

N27RA not heard of since 5-Mar-04 Aircraft ID N27RA Aircraft Type BEECH 1900C Owner/Operator DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE PO BOX 1504 LAYTON UTAH Serial Number UB-37 Year Manufactured 1985 Certificate Issued 07/28/1988 Airport most visited: LAS MC CARRAN INTL, NV See a list of all based aircraft at LAS Flight Plan Received 2004-03-05 17:11:56 from Los Angeles Departure NSI SAN NICOLAS ISLAND NOLF, SAN NICOLAS ISLAND CA Destination LAS MC CARRAN INTL, LAS VEGAS NV Status Landed Planned Alt 19000 Feet Planned Speed 260 kts. Planned Dep 2004-03-05 19:00 Actual Dep 2004-03-05 20:29 Planned Arrival 2004-03-05 20:30 Estimated Arrival 2004-03-05 21:59 Actual Arrival 2004-03-05 21:43 Latest Speed 159 kts. Latest Altitude 10000 Feet Distance to Dest. Last Update 2004-03-05 21:41 Route NSI..VTU.V299.FIM.V386.PMD..DAG.CRESO3.LAS/0130 Previous Flights PMD - NSI 2004-03-05 18:42 NSI - LAS 2004-03-01 21:12 TKM

Meanwhile N105TB has vinished its vacation by the sea at Point Mugu and is on its way home to Groom Lake N105TB_25Mar-04_2.ppt

Actually neither of the BE1900s has been reported since the date of the crash. Will put the history of N27RA on here in a sec

Here is the history for N20RA_15Mar04.doc This was the last filed flight plan on the day before the crash (Monday). It shows it went from Oxnard to (by the track shown here) Groom Lake as it stopped tracking in the usual area NE of Indian Springs where it changes SSR code and changes freq to Military radar.

March 19, 2004

Hi Paul & all, a little more detail has appeared on the wires over the past few hours, courtesy of AP: Five people died Tuesday morning when an Air Force plane crashed in the Nevada desert about 125 miles northwest of Nellis Air Force Base, military officials said. The Beechcraft KA 1900 went down about 5 a.m. in an unpopulated area of the Nevada Test and Training Range, killing four contractors and the Air Force civilian pilot, Staff Sgt. Shane Sharp said. The Air Force did not release their identities. There were no survivors. Sharp said the plane was on a routine mission, ferrying the four contractors to the Tonopah Test Range. The cause of the crash is unknown and remains under investigation. Best regards Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News On Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004, at 14:30 Europe/London, Paul Geary wrote: > The excellent Dreamlandresort site are reporting that a Beechcraft > KA1900 en route to Tonapah Test range crashed on the Nellis Ranges

March 15, 2004

N105TB 15_Mar_2004.doc

March 15, 2004

Hurrah! N105TB is flying again. It's been at Groom Lake so long that I thought they may have pranged it! And it's not going to Bedford for a change; perhaps this movement explains some of the recent IVJ Learjet movements from NZJ (or was it Pt Mugu)....anyhow Aircraft ID N105TB Aircraft Type GRUMMAN G-1159 Owner/Operator AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND ESC/DIKL 5 EGLIN ST BLDG 1624 BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS Serial Number 31 Year Manufactured 1968 Certificate Issued 05/10/1993 Flight Plan Received 2004-03-15 18:16:43 from Los Angeles Departure TNX TONOPAH TEST RANGE, TONOPAH NV Destination NTD POINT MUGU NAS (NAVAL BASES VENTURA CNTY), POINT MUGU CA Status Planned Planned Alt 16000 Feet Planned Speed 400 kts. Planned Dep 2004-03-15 20:00 Actual Dep Planned Arrival 2004-03-15 21:00 Route TNX..BTY..FLM..NTD/0100

The website for Lincoln Labs also says this A major part of our Surface Surveillance Program involves using advanced signal processing and adaptive-array techniques for locating communications emitters in high-interference environments. We’re also investigating how advanced processing techniques can maintain surveillance radar performance in hostile electronic environments. A second major emphasis is on Tactical Air Defense which includes a broad range of activities in the detection, location, identification, and engagement of air vehicles. We combine the modeling results of phenomenological investigations and testing insights from air vehicle measurements into system performance predictions. Our suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation sensors includes two business-sized jet aircraft with instrumented radar and infrared sensors and electronic countermeasure systems.

The Lincoln Labs report for 2001-2002 is finally on the web at Annual Report 2002 from MIT included in here is this Airborne Seeker Test Bed The Airborne Seeker Test Bed, in a Gulfstream II aircraft, has participated this year in two major test campaigns and infrastructure upgrades. One of the test campaigns was conducted in Nevada to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic countermeasures against a modern surface-to-air missile system and to measure bistatic radar cross sections. The second test utilized the seeker test bed's IR focal-plane arrays and IR seekers to test flare countermeasures.

MIT's exemption from FAA regs for their fleet

Document FAA-2001-8870-5 Docket Information Category Petitions Docket Status Pending Subcat. General Operating and Flight Rules Old Docket Num. Docket Subject Petition for Exemption Docket Title Exemption/Rulemaking - Masschusetts Institute of Technology Data Entry Date 02/05/2001 RIN # Action Office AFS Action Sought Docket Parties Stat. Deadline Comment Close Last Update 03/13/2002 Close Date Statutory Citation Submissions 7 Statutory Judicial Requirement CFR Citation Docket Attributes ALJ Hearing Archived Docket Abstract Document Information Document Type Petition(s) Data Entry Date 05/15/2003 Document Title MIT/Lincoln Laboratory - Exemption/Rulemaking Next Due Date Document Date 05/15/2003 Filing Date 05/15/2003 Answer Date Reply Date Next Due Item Federal Reg. Citation F. R. Pub. Date Submitter MIT/Lincoln Laboratory John G. Benkert 5C-212 244 Wood Street Lexingto

and the last leg to Groom for N105TB Aircraft ID N105TB Aircraft Type GRUMMAN G-1159 Owner/Operator AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND ESC/DIKL 5 EGLIN ST BLDG 1624 BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS Serial Number 31 Year Manufactured 1968 Certificate Issued 05/10/1993 Flight Plan Received 2004-01-30 21:35:15 from Denver Departure PUB PUEBLO MEMORIAL, PUEBLO CO Destination DRA DESERT ROCK, MERCURY NV Status Planned Planned Alt 31000 Feet Planned Speed 430 kts. Planned Dep 2004-01-30 22:00 Actual Dep Planned Arrival 2004-01-30 23:30 Route PUB..DVC.J146.LAS..DRA/0130

Here's todays arrivals and departures at 'TNX' . UTC time: 20:31 on Fri, 30th Jan(Note: ALL Times are UTC/GMT) Planned Arrivals Flight# Type Dep ETD Arr ETA Alt Speed Time to ETA WWW276 B73Q LAS 21:15 TNX 21:50 260 0420 01:22 WWW265 B73Q LAS 22:00 TNX 22:35 260 0420 02:07 WWW254 B73Q LAS 22:45 TNX 23:10 140 0420 02:42 WWW235 B73Q LAS 23:30 TNX 00:05 260 0420 03:37 WWW243 B73Q LAS 23:40 TNX 00:05 140 0420 03:37 WWW202 B73Q LAS 23:45 TNX 00:10 140 0420 03:42 WWW221 B73Q LAS 01:00 TNX 01:35 260 0420 05:07 WWW210 B73Q LAS 02:45 TNX 03:10 140 0420 06:42 Planned Departures Flight# Type Dep ETD Arr ETA Alt Speed Time to ETD WWW288 B73Q TNX 21:00 LAS 21:24 150 0420 00:32 WWW278 B73Q TNX 22:00 LAS 22:24 150 0420 01:32 WWW234 B73Q TNX 22:30 LAS 23:06 250 0420 02:02 WWW276 B73Q TNX 22:40 LAS 23:16 250 0420 02:12 WWW291 B73Q TNX 23:00 LAS 23:24 150 0420 02:32 WWW265 B73Q TNX 00:00 LAS 00:

And a typical flight plan including FIDOE Details for Flight : WWW254 Flight Number WWW254 Owner / Operator U S E A G E - B L O C K E D Aircraft Type B73Q Manufacturer / Model Serial Number Model Year / Cert Date Flight Plan Received 01-30-2004 11:56 Status FLIGHT PLAN Departure LAS MC CARRAN INTL, NV Planned Alt 140 Planned Speed 0420 Planned Dep 01-30-2004 22:45 Actual Dep Arrival TNX TONOPAH TEST RANGE, NV Last Visited 01-29-2004 23:02 Planned Arrival 01-30-2004 23:10 Estimated Arrival Actual Arrival Last Position Speed Altitude Last Update Route LAS..FIDOE..LAS294052..BTY060030..TNX/0025 Last 5 flights for this aircraft: (Click here for full history) Departure Time Arrival Time TNX 01-30-2004 00:15 LAS 01-30-2004 00:32 LAS 01-29-2004 22:50 TNX 01-29-2004 23:02 TNX 01-28-2004 00:54 LAS 01-28-2004 01:13 LAS 0

It seems to be still aiming west for Groom although I didn't get a departure message this time; however i've found it [ian@otterbourne.com logged in] Details for Flight : BLOCKED Flight Number BLOCKED Owner / Operator Aircraft Type GLF2 Manufacturer / Model Serial Number Model Year / Cert Date Flight Plan Received 01-30-2004 16:00 Status IN FLIGHT Departure GRB AUSTIN STRAUBEL INTERNATIONAL, WI Planned Alt 310 Planned Speed 0430 Planned Dep 01-30-2004 20:00 Actual Dep 01-30-2004 19:25 Arrival PUB PUEBLO MEMORIAL, CO Last Visited Planned Arrival 01-30-2004 22:45 Estimated Arrival 01-30-2004 22:10 Actual Arrival Last Position 4258N 09305W Speed 417 Altitude 310 Last Update 01-30-2004 20:00 Route GRB..FOD..LNK..GLD..PUB/0245

curious...it's now going to Green Bay ------------- Aircraft ID N105TB Aircraft Type GRUMMAN G-1159 Owner/Operator AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND ESC/DIKL 5 EGLIN ST BLDG 1624 BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS Serial Number 31 Year Manufactured 1968 Certificate Issued 05/10/1993 Flight Plan Received 2004-01-30 15:51:38 from Boston Departure BED LAURENCE G HANSCOM FLD, BEDFORD MA Destination GRB AUSTIN STRAUBEL INTERNATIONAL, GREEN BAY WI Status Planned Planned Alt 31000 Feet Planned Speed 430 kts. Planned Dep 2004-01-30 16:30 Actual Dep Planned Arrival 2004-01-30 19:30 Route BED..MHT..SYR..YWT..GRB/0300