>Yes, the Korean President is in town, too, and flew HL7465 as KE101 to ADW<
Thanks. I saw in todays paper that he was in NYC today down at Wall Street. Do VIP/Heads Of State flights land at Andrews instead of Reagan or Dulles?
>Yes, the Korean President is in town, too, and flew HL7465 as KE101 to ADW<
Thanks. I saw in todays paper that he was in NYC today down at Wall Street. Do VIP/Heads Of State flights land at Andrews instead of Reagan or Dulles?
Pope Benedict's "Shepherd One" aircraft is a B772, named "Sestriere", reg. EI-DBL. Alitalia also used to fly a B747 also named "Sestriere" but that aircraft as well as all other B747's in the Alitalia fleet have been retired.
since most of the pope's travel on this trip is going to be relatively short-range who is responsible for that? we know that HMX-1 is going to move him about when he's in washington and nyc, but who does he travel on between those two points? will he be taking the alitalia 777 from ADW to JFK as well? do we know who he's riding home on?
it is mathematically impossible for either hummingbirds, or helicopters to fly. fortunately, neither are aware of this.
http://www.uspapalvisit.org/itinerary_en.htm
The link has a pretty detailed itinerary but it mentions that he's leaving on Shepherd 1 at JFK on Sunday and he's arriving at JFK so I'm assuming it's on the AZ 777.
"I can't wait until tomorrow, cause I get better looking everyday"
--Joe Namath
>we know that HMX-1 is going to move him about when he's in washington and nyc, <
Hey I started that rumor. LOL!! It seems that in DC he used a limo from Andrews to DC. We'll know tomorow if they use HMX from JFK to Manhattan and
I have yet to read that he he is going to travel to and from JFK by copter. Hey maybe the Pope will fly the copter himself. In todays Daily News they had a small
story about some fun facts you didnt know about Pope Benedict and one was that though he doesnt have a drivers license he does have a PILOTS LICENSE and
has been known to get in the cockpit of the Italian AF helicopter when he flies up to the summer retreat. How cool is that?
Pope Benedict's aircraft, B772 "Sestriere", AZA 4002, arrived at JFK at 9:26 AM from Andrews. It touched-down on Rwy 31L since the hangar is located at the end of 31L. Incidentally, I also read that Pope Benedict has a pilot's license and even flies his own helicopter!
You know they should really hire some spotters for news coverage concerning aircraft. I had taped Fox5s Pope arrival coverage and they had a
reporter outside the fence off I believe was Hangar 19 and this guy had no clue that the Popes plane had arrived until they just happened to see it taxiing towards the hangar!! "Oh I think thats it"? he exclaimed. Then he mentioned the HMX helicopters and once again he had no clue about the type of helicopters they were.
ANYWAY........
Except for the babbling of the talking heads in the studio along with a priest the footage was very cool. They showed the five HMX helicopters departing JFK to JRB and Fox5 had their ENG ship SkyFox5 stationed somewhere over the Harbor (I'm thinking Staten Island) shooting incredible aerial footage of the VH-3 zipping across the Harbor, taking a circle of the Statue then coming back over Brooklyn for its approach to the JRB pad. Also there was a ground based camera at Wall Street that had some awesome shots of the three CH-46 Sea Knights coming in to land on the barge at JRB. Made me proud. LOL!!!
I had thought they might shutdown the whole airspace in Manhattan while the Pope was on the move but apparently not. I went to lunch after 1PM and had brought my scanner in so I cruised a few blocks down to where the motorcade was coming through. Using my ipod earphones and securely placing the Bearcat in my backpocket I had no problems. Of course the motorcade blew right past me but it was still pretty cool and the SS guy in the back of one of the SUVs sure had an impressive looking weapon!! And even while he was on the move from the UN to East 72st they were allowing flights in the East River corridor and the tour flights were busily working on the Hudson River. Of course PD had three ships working. PD 18 (Koala) was buzzing the route at 500 feet and two of the 412s (PD14 and 23) were working 1000ft and above. Once he was secured at the 72 Street residence the USSS cut loose the aerial security. # 18 and 23 headed back to Floyd while # 14 headed up north to scout some LZs before heading home. But at the same time they had two other Koalas airborne,# 15 which flew south over me as I hung out by the East River and # 16 which was working the brush fire in Queens which eventually had #12 airborne for bambi bucket drops.
With the warm sun shining on a beautiful day it was hard to head back to work but it had to be done. Oh well!!
Oh one thing, does anyone know the call sign the Popes VH-3 was using? Thanks.
HMX uses the callsign "Nighthawk"Originally Posted by Gerard
<>HMX uses the callsign "Nighthawk"
Yes that I know. I was just curious if the VH-3 the Pope was on used Nighthawk 1 or a call sign specific to the Pope.
I saw the Korean Air 747-400 climbing out of AFW today.
Is that supposed to be ADW?
Yes, Andrews Air Force base which I guess is ADW. Sorry for the mix up.Is that supposed to be ADW?
This is kind of off topic but is anyone going to see the pope tomorrow at ground zero?
Anyone know of any good places to be (stand) of where he might pass by?
Patrick O --- Staten Island, NY
>This is kind of off topic but is anyone going to see the pope tomorrow at ground zero?
Anyone know of any good places to be (stand) of where he might pass by?>
Unless you were at Ground Zero the only glimpse you would have had would be of the motorcade.
What a very moving and emotional ceremony this morning at Ground Zero.
Back on topic..... during the ceremony the talking heads remained quiet and with the silence I didnt hear any helos in the
background. Either they were told to backoff in deference to the ceremony or possibly they were grounded at Floyd due to low
ceiling/visiblity this morning. The weather looks to be breaking out now so they'll get airborne for the Yankee Stadium detail.
So the day that was forecast to be chilly with some rain turned out to be sunny and nice for the Yankee Stadium Mass. Divine intervention?
Once again SkyFox5 was up (along with lots of PD/AU) following the motorcade to the Stadium. They looked to be on station by the GWB or upper Manhattan. I heard the Skyfox reporter on Sat mention how the TFR was "fluid" and it could change at any time the USSS wanted it to.
It seems though they werent so drastic with it though.
After the Mass, sometime after 5PM, the Pope returned to Manhattan and by 7:20 was heading down to JRB. This time NBC4 provided the most
coverage and I caught some nice footage, I guess from Newscopter4, of the VH-3 flying along the Narrows to the VZ then over to Coney Island
and following the shoreline to JFK. They had "wheels down" around 7:46PM. It would probably be faster to fly across Brooklyn and Queens to JFK
but for security and safety reasons they use the shoreline/water route.
I see the V-POTUS and his wife were at the departure ceremony and that would account for the USAF G5 that Phil saw at LGA this afternoon.
Good catch there. Though the stations returned to regular programming I would say Shepherd 1 must have departed close to 9PM.
Now the city can sit back and take a deep breath.
BTW-did JFK stop all aircraft movements when the Pope was on the move like they do for the President?
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