Article

2005-05-28 Down Under

Australian Plane Spotters On Terror Watch

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Spavirt Pheng6042 2005-05-28 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11133 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 The phrase"Get a life springs to mind".

Posted by raptor 2005-05-28 08:02|| 2005-05-28 08:02|| Front Page Top

#2 That must be as exciting as watching paint dry.

Posted by raptor 2005-05-28 08:02|| 2005-05-28 08:02|| Front Page Top

#3 Well, they never struck me as being any more obsessive than serious birders. We used to have them in for tours at Mather AFB; drive them around the base so they could record as many tail numbers as possible. They could actually be very, very effecient at observation and tracking of AC. I think the Austrialian police are being very creative and sensible.

Posted by Sgt. Mom">Sgt. Mom 2005-05-28 09:07|| www.sgtstryker.com]">[www.sgtstryker.com] 2005-05-28 09:07|| Front Page Top

#4 Agreed MOM, just like train watchers, plane watchers are dedicated,competitive,proficient and do it for free. Who cares if it's a bit eccentric.

Posted by Cremble Speretle6428 2005-05-28 12:08|| 2005-05-28 12:08|| Front Page Top

#5 They have a hobby which now comes in handy. They're like our border minutemen, except they use binoculars.

Gives them a feeling of pride, contribution, and if they actually discover something, legitimacy.

Posted by anonymous2u 2005-05-28 13:11|| 2005-05-28 13:11|| Front Page Top

#6 Course it's damn difficult to jump a jet plane if you need a quick lift to Valdosta.

Posted by Shipman 2005-05-28 16:33|| 2005-05-28 16:33|| Front Page Top

#7 Plane spotting as a hobby grows out of the Royal Observer Corps, a volunteer paramilitary organization that maintained visual observation posts all over the UK during World War 2. They were especially useful for tracking German aircraft that had sneaked in under the radar cover. Plane-spotting was a national obsession during the war, for obvious reasons.
The US set up a similar network, with rather less to do, and this persisted into the 1960s as the Civilian Observer Corps. It was, and still might be, a useful back-up to the Norad radar net.

There is no need, raptor, to denigrate someone else's choice of a leisure time activity. Any such activity you choose, bass fishing or competition lawnmowing for example, can be denigrated in exactly the same manner you have this one. It is a cheap shot, typical of those who, it would seem, have no other way to occupy their time.
I am a champion plane-spotter, one of the best in the world, (though not the most modest) and I also have a very full and rewarding life in many, many other respects. This skill can be very useful to private intelligence activities and ultimately, to government itself.

One of my pet peeves as an Army officer was the miserable state of aircraft identification training in the US forces, a shortcoming that has led to several real tragedies in recent years. The most notorious of these was the destruction of two Army Blackhawk helicopters by AF F-15s over northern Iraq in 1994. 26 US and UN personnel were killed. The engagement happened in clear weather and at easy visual identification range. The F-15 pilots mistook the Blackhawks for Mi-24 Hinds, apparently because of their external stores pylons (which resemble the Hind's). The pilots made a mistake that many 12 year olds would not have.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2005-05-28 18:01|| 2005-05-28 18:01|| Front Page Top

#8 A few years ago I spotted a Mil MI-8 flying over Lubbock. It was bright red, had Russian civil registration and was apparently on a sales tour. I didn't dare notify the media or send them a picture for fear of incitng the local conspira-loons to their usual displays of ignorance and folly.
In cooperation with a radio ham friend, I also scan FAA frequencies once in a while, though not often. This was how LGF managed to scoop the world when F-16s intercepted Air France Flight 68 over California on the last day of 2002.
My take on the famous black helicopters? They are regular Army machines wandering around in areas where they aren't usually seen. Dark green looks black to sleepy-eyed Art Bell fans.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2005-05-28 18:08|| 2005-05-28 18:08|| Front Page Top

#9 I wish everyone had some skill that's generally / mostly obsolete, just in case we ever need them back again. I do a little handweaving on a floor loom, but am learning card weaving (belts, decorative trim) and sprang (making nets) which require almost no equipment.

I certainly hope never to *have* to use these skills, because making cloth and belts/handles by hand is timeconsuming. But if I had to, I could make a net which could catch fish or carry a lot of goods, using plants in the woods.

FWIW ... ;-)

Posted by webweaver 2005-05-28 18:20|| 2005-05-28 18:20|| Front Page Top

#10 ..might be useful for carring plump field stones../soup.

Posted by Dear Leader 2005-05-28 18:32|| 2005-05-28 18:32|| Front Page Top

#11 Here are a few images you might like to add to your military collections...

helo 1
helo 2
helo 3

Quick! Identify the species, er, aircraft, lol!

Pretty cool paintjob, no? Wish I had better quality versions, heh.

Posted by .com 2005-05-28 18:39|| 2005-05-28 18:39|| Front Page Top

#12 MI-24A or B model AKA the Hind

Posted by badanov">badanov 2005-05-28 18:49|| http://www.rkka.org]">[http://www.rkka.org] 2005-05-28 18:49|| Front Page Top

#13 What the hell, it's Saturday. I have a bunch of mil images that you might find interesting, though off-topic. Ignore this post if you're a topic cop. Enjoy if you're not, lol! I hope some of these help fill out your collections.

I'll stick to aerial schtuff, today...
7.62_mini-gun_at_work
my heroine
Practice
AC-130 Spectre Patch
Home Defense
Super Stealth
Anti-Jihadi Rocket
B1 Barrier
B52 Loadout
Bored Blues
Bunker Buster
Desert Pit Stop
Diego Garcia (courtesy 3dc, IIRC)
Think Fast! (photoshopped, of course)
Same ejection, different scene
FA18 Sidewinder
Fast Delivery!
Felix 3
Flyby
Frogs Fly
Great Camo Job
Grim Reaper
Collision
Exit Stage Right!
Jet Skier Lol!
JetSki 2
Speaks for itself, lol!
Testing the shot
Military Cutbacks
Slim Redux
Hoax Seq 1 (Or so it was said here...)
Hoax Seq 2
MM Plan
Moon Gunner
Mopping Up
Navy Break
Next Day Air
Night Launch
Passing Gas
Nozzle
Come Out and Play
Pursuit
Runway Closed
Runway Traffic
Smart Inventory
Snake Bites
Sov Ejection
Aggie Game Missing Man Flyover
A6
Vandy Launch
VF31 Felix
VF101

These SR71 images are courtesy of 3dc...
3 SR-71s
Storage at Goodall 1
Storage at Goodall 2
Takeoff
In Flight

As are these of the XB-70 crash sequence... I seem to have misplaced #10, heh.
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
Image 6
Image 7
Image 8
Image 9
Image 11
Image 12

Posted by .com 2005-05-28 19:47|| 2005-05-28 19:47|| Front Page Top

#14 I did see a "black" helicopter when I lived in Miami. I lived on a fish farm and those pumps do chew up Kilowatts, and a big concrete block building. So one day working the pools, I was treated to a blackhawk flying zero altitude, painted flat black with guys in jumpsuits with cameras ready. Wave at the nice DEA or Customs Agents!

Posted by bruce 2005-05-28 19:49|| 2005-05-28 19:49|| Front Page Top

#15 cool Sr71 pics!

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-05-28 19:56|| 2005-05-28 19:56|| Front Page Top

#16 Heh, 3dc be da man, bro!

What I find most interesting about the SR-71 images are the Goodall Storage shots.

Just think, there's nothing that can touch an SR-71 at altitude and cruise speed. And it has optics to die for if you're into the intel thingy. Nobody else has anything that can compare. Nothing. Not even close. And we have a friggin' fleet of them. And it's OLD shit. 60s-70s technology, so most of ours are in mothballs, as the images show. What - we're flying 2 or 3 at the moment, and one of those is a NASA testbed? And then there's the "Well, if those are in mothballs and old, what did we replace them with?" game. Lol! Time for the "I see Black Helicopters everyday - and they're following me!" stuff, no? Paging Area 51...

Percolate all that for a few nanoseconds and the picture becomes quite clear regards military capabilities. Add it to the pile of other nobody even comes close stuff and the stories we read on the EU Rapid ~~Rape, Loot, and Pillage~~ Reaction Force, etc., sound kinda goofy. Toss in that they'll prolly hafta hitch a ride and it gets even goofier. It would be great, IMHO, if they'd get their act together and do it right. Of course, I'd suggest banning fucking Unions and killing off the socialist some BS programs so they can actually afford it, but then that's the real price they won't pay, isn't it? This RRF is just purdy window-dressing for the masses. Hell, LA SWAT is better equipped and trained, I'd wager.

I read the Tamil Tigers might have some light aircraft story. Written in breathless style with a Jaws soundtrack. Danger! Destabilization! War! A coupla tail-draggers and it's apeshit time. Ooookaaaaay. *snicker* Sheesh. Don't want them to have a couple of Piper Cubs? Well shit, roll out your MiG29's and cluster-fuck the things. Good fucking grief.

Sigh.

Anywho, 3dc takes the trouble to wade into the terribly-done, badly-organized, 47-fickin'-layers-too-deep websites and mines the gold, bubba. As I said, he be da man!

Posted by .com 2005-05-28 20:33|| 2005-05-28 20:33|| Front Page Top

#17 I wish everyone had some skill that's generally / mostly obsolete, just in case we ever need them back again.

Damn straight, I for one am tired of explaining the difference between an Atlantic and a run of the mill Pacific.

Especially the jet black Pacifics running cool at dawn.

Posted by Shipman 2005-05-28 21:05|| 2005-05-28 21:05|| Front Page Top

#18 I for one am tired of explaining the difference between an Atlantic and a run of the mill Pacific.

Aren't they the two oceans to the east and the west of the Americas? ;-p (Who says I have no useful survival skills!)

Posted by trailing wife 2005-05-28 21:36|| 2005-05-28 21:36|| Front Page Top

#19 Exactly so.

Posted by Shipman 2005-05-28 22:29|| 2005-05-28 22:29|| Front Page Top

#20 Thanks for the accolades but most of that wading was pre9-11. I used to have a home DSL based webserver with a sub-set (about 2GB) of military photos (good placement in Google too) but after 9-11 to many offshore hits came in (trying to grab the whole thing) and I just shut it down.

I gave some of my better sr-71 and X-plane photos to Gary Powers jr over at The Cold War Museum

Also, sent a copy of most everything to SPoD and traded a few with T.D. Barnes over at Area 51 Special Projects

A really good place to find basic photos is the UseNet group: "alt.binaries.pictures.military"

Post 9-11 the better stuff is on bit-torrent sites. Just google about looking for the right torrents... Music videos done by the troops/wives are nice along with AC-130 and drone stuff.

Posted by 3dc 2005-05-28 22:55|| 2005-05-28 22:55|| Front Page Top

23:48 3dc
23:25 .com
23:13 Omeper Slumble4385
23:04 Captain America
23:03 Frank G
23:02 Frank G
22:55 3dc
22:54 Frank G
22:50 Frank G
22:46 .com
22:42 Grins Sluper5274
22:42 Captain America
22:37 Zhang Fei
22:34 .com
22:32 Shipman
22:31 JosephMendiola
22:29 Shipman
22:27 Captain America
22:13 Shipman
22:02 xbalanke
21:55 mhw
21:39 JosephMendiola
21:36 trailing wife
21:30 john
Merry-Go-Blog