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The Private Jet Trackers

by | Aug 21, 2024 | Electronic Identity, Online Logging, Spotting, Visible Markings

Tracking the Aircraft not the Person.

I’m pretty sure that most of us would feel uncomfortable if we were tracked, it is something that few of us think about – but potentially everytime we pay for something, drive past an ANPR camera or walk through pretty much any town center we are tracked. Online we are tracked, what sites we visit, where we were when we accessed the site, what time it was and we all agree to having tracking cookies and terms and conditions that mean that the data can be shared or sold. Sometimes by companies owned by the very people who are shouting loudly that they shouldn’t be tracked when flying in their private aircraft.

Many of the wealthy that have supported hiding the identity of their private aircraft are the same people who need the general public to follow them, which seems to be a bit ironic really. They have cited various concerns (mainly security) to sway the argument in their favour and they have effectively achieved their goal in the United States at least.

People like Jack Sweeny who seemed to have a fascination with people like Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg along with others and the Fleet of Government Jets used to ferry people like the President, Vice President and Secretary of State around contributed to the pressure for individual anonymity in no small measure. And the publicity that they garnered may well have been an infulencing factor in the decision making process, which is a bit of a pain for plane spotters.

In general, unless you see a person boarding a plane – there is actually no way of telling unless a characteristic like the aircraft call sign changes. Many people know that when the President is aboard any United States Air Force flight, the callsign used by that aircraft is “Air Force One” and Air Force Two” for the VP but you wouldn’t know otherwise.

Elon Musk has a personal fleet of five jets, again you are not certain he’s actually on any of them unless you saw him board. And to be honest who is going to stand at some perimeter fence for that, probably not most plane spotters. Most of us just want to say that one is new or it is old, I can never recall in conversation any of my spotting friends and aquaintances saying that they went to see an aeroplane because someone was on it unless it was family leaving or arriving.

 

Support this site.

It does take some time and effort to create these downloads, also there are a number of costs associated with running the site. So if you can consider supporting this site with a donation it would be helpful, if you find the site useful then why not treat me to a doughnut – or even a doughnut and a coffee if you’re feeling really flush.

But regardless of whether you donate or not, I hope that the contents of the files are of some use, also bear in mind that the files are as dated in the bar graph on the down load page – I will try and produce a new data set every month or more frequently if time allows.

Please note these files are provided for personal use, if you want to use them for any other purpose or if you want to make them available through your own site – get in touch first.

 

 

Tracking Hidden Aircraft

by | Aug 20, 2024 | Database, Electronic Identity, Spotting, Visible Markings

Tracking Hidden Aircraft

Over the past few years, most plane spotters have used Flight Radar or ADSB to identify aircraft. Some use tools like “Have I Seen It” that show only aircraft or scrapes that you haven’t seen. But with some of the worlds entitled wealth and the Military “opting out”, these tools are likely to become less useful in the future.

With the advent of the LADD, PIA and now the removal of visible markings from all Air Mobility Command aircraft, the plane spotting world is becoming a less friendly space for spotters to be in. The FAA’s LADD and PIA programs are annoying, but don’t defeat the Mk1 eyeball, however there is the possibility for the AMC change to cause spotters a real problem as there is no certainty that the ADS-C information can be confirmed.

Here is a typical example of how the PIA programme obfuscates an aircraft identity and with it the owner, the picture above shows an aircraft track from ASDB over the United States. You will notice that there is no registration displayed, just a call sign, a Hex code and a DB flag of PIA.

So lets look at some stuff about the data displayed, firstly the aircraft icon which indicates a single engine propeller driven aircraft. Not unusual at all, however when you look at the altitude and speed things don’t seem to add up – it is flying at 45,000ft at over 400kts. Although it could be a single engine prop driven aircraft, there are very few that would be capable of being in that envelope.

What else can we discern from the data, well the Hex code A4E954 is the next clue. This code equates to N4132C, a check of my database shows this to have been a Stinson 108 now de-registered – these do not fly at 45,000ft or at 400kts. There is no entry in the active file for that registration, but a check on the reserved registration file shows that the registration is reserved by the SBS Program Office – there are more more than 50,000 rgistrations with that reservation.

The only way of positively identifying this aircraft, would have been to be at the departure or the arival airport – or be in contact with spotters at each end.

 

Support this site.

It does take some time and effort to create these downloads, also there are a number of costs associated with running the site. So if you can consider supporting this site with a donation it would be helpful, if you find the site useful then why not treat me to a doughnut – or even a doughnut and a coffee if you’re feeling really flush.

But regardless of whether you donate or not, I hope that the contents of the files are of some use, also bear in mind that the files are as dated in the bar graph on the down load page – I will try and produce a new data set every month or more frequently if time allows.

Please note these files are provided for personal use, if you want to use them for any other purpose or if you want to make them available through your own site – get in touch first.

 

 

Visible Serials – the Future

by | Aug 16, 2024 | Aviation News, Electronic Identity, Online Logging, Spotting, Spotting News, Visible Markings

Aicraft Serial Numbers – the future.

We all know about the serial number or registration on aircraft, it’s generally the primary reference point for all plane spotters. There are exceptions to this where the manufacturers serial number is the primary reference point, but in the main it’s the tail number or serial number. This is particularly true of military aircraft, but it’s probably the first thing we look for when we see any aircraft.

The Air Mobility Command component of the USAF has already announced it’s intention to remove all visible identification marks from it’s fleet of aircraft, there have been a number of sightings of aircraft with no visible identification markings – other than those required by international law. It is impossible to ascertain which partcular aircraft you are seeing, although in general there will be a known aircraft associated with the Hex code that the aircraft is likely broadcasting – the USAF have been increasing their use of tactical Hex codes of late.

The USN have used these codes for some time – they are easy to sort out as the aircraft still carry a serial number, this will not be the case with the Air Mobility Command aircraft. 

Removing Serials

by | Aug 13, 2024 | Application, Aviation News, Electronic Identity, Online Logging, Spotting, Spotting News, Visible Markings

Moving forward.

As I’ve already posted there are a number of aircraft types in scope to have the visible serial numbers removed, at the moment anything in the Air Mobility Command inventory is a candidate. Obviously there is the potential for other commands to follow suit, removing all identifiable markings is not the problem it would have been fifty or sixty years ago.

The United States Air Force approved the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) on all aircraft in 2010, this is a technology that allows for the tracking of any data parameter of an asset. The asset could be a spare part, a vehicle or an aircraft, the tags are small and are inexpensive. A fully active RFID tag suitable for use on an aircraft costs $20 and is effective at ranges of more than 200 meters, so to pinpoint any aircraft or vehicles on an airbase is not that expensive. Passive RFID tags are extremely cheap at around $0.20 each, everybody has seen them – most supermarkets use them in some form. In fact once the infrastructure is installed on the ground, it is probably cheaper to install a few of the active tags than it is to paint the serial number on the aircraft.

The United States Air Force already has the Real Time Location System (RLTS), when combined these systems allow for the accurate recording of positional data for any asset that has a tag – using UHF RFID will also allow satelite tracking of aircraft. There are a number of bases already equiped with the ground tracking technology, many of the aircraft are already equiped with the technology.

So having done some research into this I would say that in the medium term, it is likely that other commands will certainly follow Air Mobility Command in removing the identifying marks from air assets as they are no longer needed. There are no significant technical challenged to be overcome, there are infrastructure challenges – but as they have already deployed the required infrastructure at Hill AFB, Tinker AFB and AMARC at Davis Monthan and these are the ones that I’ve found.

I would venture the opinion that it is only a matter of time before the whole United States Air Force aircraft inventory will not carry any visible serial number information, there is simply no need – a sad day for the plane spotters indeed.

AMC Removing Markings

by | Aug 12, 2024 | Airport History, Aviation News, Database, Online Logging, Spotting, Spotting News

Serial Removal

Whats the problem with a visible serial number or registration, there are none if you are a plane spotter – actually they are quite covenient. But from an operational security perspective, they allow a specific asset to be identified. So Air Mobility Command has decided to remove the visible serial number, along with the data block normally carried on the port side of the aircraft – which also gave the aircraft serial.

AMC Announces

Air Mobility Command has directed its refueling and cargo planes to obscure the majority of identifying information painted on the aircraft, citing national security concerns — an unusual move that is alarming to government watchdogs. (Published by Military,com 01/03/2023)

In truth, the visible serial number on any United States Air Force aircraft is probably under threat – not just the Air Mobility Command sircraft. As technology has made the requirement for a displayed serial number redundant. The USAF approved the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) back in 2009, so the visible serial number has probably been on the way out since then – although it seems that the decision for AMC was early 2023.

From a support perspective, the tech’s that have to do work on a specific aircraft – just need a simple RFID reader to confirm that it is the correct aircraft. The technology is well proven, think about tapping your bank card to pay at a checkout.

What does it mean for a spotter?

As spotters, we all like to know that what we see is what we think it is. This change means that you have to place trust in the technology, even the Mk 1 eyeball is of no use whatsoever in the case of an aircraft with no markings to identify it. At the moment I’ve managed to identify (possibly) four aircraft reported as having the serials removed, but that could be just three as two of them are reported as KC-135’s – there’s also a C-32 and a C-130 that I’m aware of.

So when it comes to exact ID of the aircraft, it’s down to what you can get from FR24 or ADSB Global – how much you want to trust that is down to you. In the main it is probably pretty accurate, but it is possible to transmit any code or none.

I’m currently trying to put together a composite list of units and aircraft, I will post these (currently speculative) lists when I get a chance.

 

Support this site.

It does take some time and effort to create these downloads, also there are a number of costs associated with running the site. So if you can consider supporting this site with a donation it would be helpful, if you find the site useful then why not treat me to a doughnut – or even a doughnut and a coffee if you’re feeling really flush.

But regardless of whether you donate or not, I hope that the contents of the files are of some use, also bear in mind that the files are as dated in the bar graph on the down load page – I will try and produce a new data set every month or more frequently if time allows.

Please note these files are provided for personal use, if you want to use them for any other purpose or if you want to make them available through your own site – get in touch first.