The forum for all movements and news about Ramstein Air Base.
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Mode S / SBS and radio logs, airfield specific, are allowed, but always state your source, mode S / SBS or air traffic conversations. These logs can be placed in the "day topic" so a separate Mode S / SBS radio log is not necessary
Yesterday I saw one of the aircraft with 'double identity' on ADSB, C-17A 03-3119 / 03-3126 heading for Ramstein as RCH105. This morning it took of from Ramstein, heading further to South-East.
Hex code was given as AE119C, which on planspotters.net is shown as 03-3119, while for 03-3126 they show hex code AE1237
Has anybody confirmed the real identity of this one?
Thanks for the feedback, I also noted the 03-3119 / 03-3126 as RCH981 on 20.07. this year.
Interesting as the notes on planespotters indicate another I/D.
Subject to mk.1 eyeball confirmation, I would say that RCH105 was 03-3119 (Mississippi ANG) by the following reasoning regarding usage of hex AE119C.
This departed Eastbound from ETAR on 09 Nov 2018 just before 06.00UTC and last plotted on ADS-B over Uzbekistan at 12.04UTC.
On the same day at about 14.50UTC, JEDI61 departed McGuire AFB for a round-trip flight that went up to over Northern Maine and sunsequently returned at 19.12UTC. By virtue of the fact that "JEDI" is a 305AMW callsign, I would say that 03-3126 (305AMW) performed this flight.
Thanks Bob, I was hoping for some eyeball confirmation, always the best no matter how good the ADSB info mostly is.
So AE119C seems to be used by 03-3119 normally, and proven for the current RCH105 flight this week, and the planespooters listing seems correct.
So sightings like by fire 28 earlier this year for 03-3126 using AE119C (the RCH981 mission in July maybe!?) seem to be the reason why, based on this conflicting information, it shows both serials on ADSB the last months.
I was not so much into this part of our hobby before. Good and interesting information, but not always correct .... :-/
03-3126 uses AE119C permanently (incorrectly) - and has been for the last 4+ years. The last time FighterControl reported 03-3126's correct hex code AE1237 was March 2014!!
Similarly, hex AE1455 is used permanently by both 05-5141 (incorrectly) and 05-5151. The last time FighterControl reported 05-5141's correct hex code AE144B was April 2013!!
These two pairings are the best known of the dual usage hex codes. If one is lucky and has Planeplotter focussed on the transatlantic at the right time, the correct tail number will show up in the registration box as 33119A, 33126A, 55141A or 55151A on Inmarsat plots - which address the real aircraft identity rather than the hex code. I can sometimes catch them this way.
There are other dual usage pairings less well known like the three KC-135/C-12U pairings for AE04F5/AE04F6/AE04F7 being 58-0050/84-00166, 58-0069/84-00167 and 59-0501/84-00168 respectively. The 1st two of these pairings seem to have sorted themselves (very) recently by the C-12s taking up what is assumed to be their correct hex codes of AE116A and AE116B respectively. However, the old pairings were easy to sort out by their callsigns.
Thanks again for the very detailed info. I have noted a few of them so far, both double C-17s and 1 or 2 of the KC-123 / C-12 examples. The only one not only seen on ADSB but also up in the sky was AE119C, once in July and now in November.
