Help Catching Campaign Planes

[Steve Kurtz]

Guys, I need some help! I would very much like to catch Sen. McCain's and Sen. Obama's campaign aircraft. I live in the MCO area, and believe it or not, Sen. McCain's plane (N802TJ) is at MCO right now and I didn't know it was coming in.

When I first heard McCain was going to be in Orlando, I went to Flytecomm but could see no arrivals that seemed to match his plane. I also went to FBOWeb and entered the tail number, but the flight in their system was from a long time ago.

Sen. Obama is coming to the Tampa/St. Pete area tonight or early tomorrow. I have occasionally been able to track him on Flytecomm and FBOWeb using North American flight 1 (nao1). However, Flytecomm shows nothing and FBOWeb still shows the plane in St. Louis. I think he left St. Louis yesterday.

In any case, how the heck can I track these aircraft so I can get some photos prior to the election?

Thanks!
Steve

[njgtr82]

McCain
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWQ802
Obama
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/NAO1

Bill

[Steve Kurtz]

Bill:

Thanks for the links. However, Sen. McCain's plane (Swift Air 737-400, N802TJ) is at MCO (I saw it on the news), but it isn't showing up on the FlightAware link.

Any idea why it wouldn't show up when we know it is at MCO?

Thanks,
Steve

[nwafan20]

VFR non-filed flight maybe???

[Chris102]

Sometimes McCain doesn't show up on the trackers. When he flew from BWI up here to AVP, it didn't show up on the trackers, but it's departure from AVP to ABE showed up....

[moose135]

VFR non-filed flight maybe???

I would be very surprised if a presidential candidate on a 737 would fly anywhere VFR. Probably just an aberration on the flight trackers.

[Speedbird1]

Great question. What is the tail # of Obamas' North American B757?

[PhilDernerJr]

Obama is N755NA, but the flight number will remain the same in most cases, as we've seen above.

I am sorry I am somewhat useless when it comes to tracking the plane. I work closely with the aircraft, as it's my job to track its movements, but there are things I just cannot provide to the public. Not sure if my higher-ups and Secret Service would approve.

[lijk604]

You're doing the right thing Phil. I doubt anyone here would give you grief over that.
There is a reason they pay to have the aircraft to themselves.

[Novanglus]

It appears as though Obama's aircraft will no longer be able to be tracked. The flight number/callsign have changed.

[Matt Molnar]

Makes sense. I'm sure the chorus of threats is getting louder as election day nears. We'll have to just read the news to find out where he's going and when he'll be nearby. Everyone should be doing that anyway.