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John_EightThirtyTwo t1_iwszm8r wrote

It showed up on https://globe.adsbexchange.com/ . It didn't have its registration number and said it was military. I looked because I heard it here (Logan Square). It was at something like 2000 feet. (I forget the exact number) It had come down the Schuylkill, gone though Center City, and basically headed straight down Broad Street.

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4cereal t1_iwt1oas wrote

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Juicy_Cheeseberders t1_iwt4hrm wrote

It was a EA-18G Growler (electronic warfare version of the F-18

Callsign "IRONCLAW 1".

IRONCLAW 2 landed earlier at Baltimore's BWI

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golfpro2116 t1_iwt4pw3 wrote

How do you know?

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Juicy_Cheeseberders t1_iwt6eh8 wrote

In town to perform a flyover at the Villanova game on Saturday

https://twitter.com/NovaFootball/status/1593074917121347586

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K3R3G3 t1_iwti19x wrote

Any idea how that works? How the college gets them to do it? Do they have to pay or do various events put in a request for a flyover? I know private colleges make assloads of money, but are they spending it to get fighter jets to fly over sports games?

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Juicy_Cheeseberders t1_iwtltx5 wrote

You have to make a request to the Navy, AirForce, Army etc.

It's a public outreach thing that helps with recruiting. The flying also counts toward pilot training hours, as I understand.

You can read more here: https://outreach.navy.mil/Aviation/

..as well as the official request form:

http://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/forms/dd/dd2535.pdf

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K3R3G3 t1_iwttfn5 wrote

Ahh, the recruiting bit makes sense. I figured there had to be some benefit. I've known for while that they're not just moving planes and making a trip there for that. They make it part of the training and schedule things so it's a swing-by in the process of something necessary, like getting the craft where it needs to be. It's not cheap to fly them. Thanks - I'll check out the links.

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IRPhysicist t1_iwt2qol wrote

What was it? A tanker?

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[deleted] t1_iwt8row wrote

[deleted]

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baldude69 t1_iwtiat2 wrote

Usually not at 2000 AGL, though. I’ve seen KC10s fly over Philly frequently, but they’re usually triple that altitude or more. I always assumed they were flying out of McGuire or Dover, but judging that I usually see them running East/West I assumed McGuire since that flight path makes more sense. The never show up on FlightTracker but show up on abs exchange. It’s an unusual flight pattern for one of these, but could be it had to make a landing at PHL since people reported it going south down Broad.

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Thorinprod t1_iwtij8i wrote

We're usually around 3,000. This particular guy was an F/A-18, heard him on the radio

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baldude69 t1_iwtip1i wrote

Interesting wonder what the deal was. Running south down Broad almost sets him up for approach at PHL

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Thorinprod t1_iwtj05a wrote

He landed at PHL, I heard him on ATC as we were coming in. It's weird that he went to Philly, he either broke and had to emergency down, or the Navy is up to their tricks

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baldude69 t1_iwtjjvb wrote

Yep that’s a really unusual visitor for Philly, we hardly see any military jets. No indication from ATC chatter why he was landing?

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Thorinprod t1_iwtjwnm wrote

I was spacing out looking at stars and stuff, I didn't hear anything weird. It could be the Navy showing off the jet to politicians or people in the area, I don't know. Sometimes we just land places for fun

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EDIT: Another comment found out. It was an EA-18 in town to do a flyover for the Villanova game.

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bukkakedebeppo t1_iwutu53 wrote

Well, damn. That was the loudest plane I've ever heard. It must have been flying as slow as it could, too.

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Thorinprod t1_iwuuj5b wrote

F/A-18s are no where near the loudest jets out there, F-16s are louder, and a B-1 has 4 F-16 engines on it

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bukkakedebeppo t1_iwuy8yq wrote

And a Falcon Heavy is probably louder than all of those, but I've never had one pass over me at 2000 feet, either. When a B-1 buzzes my roof, I'll amend my comment.

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Thorinprod t1_iwuz6zd wrote

Fighters passing by is the sound of merica protecting you, it never gets old

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zoicyte t1_iwu6nqh wrote

You hear/see them down at ACY all the time tho.

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baldude69 t1_iwuiovm wrote

Oh yea bigtime. Them and A-10s all day. One of my favorite parts of sitting on the AC beaches

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zoicyte t1_iwuivk0 wrote

Seeing a fighter take off as you pass the airport on the expressway is always a treat. Those fuckers are loud as hell.

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ReginaldStarfire t1_ix5icqy wrote

My dad loved seeing C-130s flying over the beach. He always said that if he had served in the military he would have wanted to fly Hercs.

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