Re: Help with research?


Message posted by gary on February 15, 2002 at 20:00:57 PST:

There is live fire bombing at Red Flag, but I don't know about missiles. That is generally done with a target, tow plane, and plenty of wire over at China Lake. However, Joerg has a photo of a tow target on this website, so they might shoot missiles at the weapons school. [The planes you see flying around Rachel in the daytime are generally from the weapons school.]

You should really head out to see the Capstone event in April to get an idea about live fire.

Regarding Red Flag, there was a US News and World Report video shot year ago on Red Flag. You can get it on the Blue Angels DVD with John Travolta doing the naration. [There are a few Blue Angels DVDs, which is why I mention Travolta so you get the right one.] The film is old, but the idea is still the same.

IMBD info on the DVD here:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0229980
The bonus "Ace Factor" shows Red Flag and the live fire at Tyndall.

The planes are tracked very carefully during Red Flag, and there is a war room of sorts where the action can be reviewed. If a plane launched an errant missile, the contractor doing the tracking would have to be involved in the cover-up. You can poke around the Nellis website and find the bid requests for these contracts, which would give you an idea about the behind the scenes events. There are quite a few civilians working Red Flag, so a cover-up would be tricky. [Not impossible since many of these contractors are probably staffed with ex-military types who could be persuaded to do a cover-up for the good of the country.]

There is a "library" in Las Vegas where Red Flag records are kept. I suspect this is done off base due to the foreign nationals who attend the event. [I think I've found the building, but haven't figured out which office is used. Hint: the building directory doesn't say "watch Red Flag here".]

Note that the TTR does missile testing, so that may be a better fit for the project. Red Flag received lots of scrutiny, but the TTR operates out of the public eye (though it's not a secret).

Back to Red Flag, I have some recordings of air traffic which may be useful. I would need a FTP address to transfer them.


In Reply to: Help with research? posted by Taylor Elmore on February 15, 2002 at 19:29:23 PST:

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