pdunn: Comments

I believe that is a mock-up for Boeing's new Dreamliner 787.
http://newairplane.com/

Here's a map with F-18s with similar configurations:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/16178/

I think it is missing it's outer wing panels.

It's an assumption based on the fact many of the ships surrounding this sub are being dismantled, and it is at a location where many ships like the battleship Missouri had been mothballed for many years. However, after reading the description of the base, it very well could be taking on missiles.

Here's that description:
...

I was hoping for a better match-up than a souped-up pickup and sportscar. Somewhere across the globe there's gotta be a couple of dragsters trailing a roostertail of tire smoke, caught on film. Race ya.

Here is the photo Analogman provided with the map 20911:
http://www.proctorp.com/img/48346g1.jpg

Miine also. I don't think Globetrotting will ever get old as long as you can count on finding events like this virtually anywhere you look. Check out the horse jumping just across the fairgrounds.

Here's hoping that somehow the folks a Microsoft were following our discussion and decided to fix all the hopping back and fourth between BEV and aerial, and have gone back to the old system just long enough to program out the glitches.

Very cool paint scheme. Great find!

wow, I can't tell you how much time you just saved me. Thanks for the tip, Kjfitz.

No problem what so ever. You just replace the coordinates between "cp=xx.xxxxx~y.yyyy&style" with the corresponding coordinates from the map view permalink. Once you get the hang of it you can do it in your sleep. Keep up the informative maps!

Fab,
Unfortunately, in BEV, it's not possible to simply cut and paste the "share this map" coordinates. You have to first go back into map view and paste those coordinates into the BEV coordinates. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Here's a helpful tutorial:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2253/an/0/page/0#2253

Could you resubmit the Bird's Eye View coordinates? The current ones don't match the thumbnail. Thanks!

Don't worry about including each link to the various satellite services. Once you've given us one, the rest are tabulated automatically. Keep up the steady supply of great maps!

Looks like F-111 Ardvarks and a Canberra

I have to believe you are on to something. Hopefully someone who has been there can answer conclusively.

Another nice find!

That's one of the great things about this site. Post virtually anything and there's always someone who can ID it. Thanks for the link. I think you nailed it. Notice the brightly colored Aero Vodochody pictured in the link is parked at the center of the tarmac by the control tower,

By chance do you know which Flying Fortress this is:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/27884/

Super find!

Here is a map of a "Pumpkin Seed" at the Skunk Works similar to the one that would be found within this facility:

http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/22955/

Super link and post!

Welcome to VGT! Ineresting first map.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1157542/M/

Okay, I think I've ID'd them. I think what we are seeing are "Ionospheric Scintillation Monitors" for calibrating GPS satellites. Now, what exactly is a "Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor?" For that you will have to see:
...

Sorry. Looks like you already discovered that tidbit of information.

No, I went around also and came up empty. In the process of researching, though, I learned Ascension is one of three locations pivotal in configuring Global Positioning Satellites. Perhaps the mysterious circles are antennas.

Here is a link that may shed some light on what the heck these things are. It offers a virtual tour of Asecion Island. Click on the red dots and each offers a 360 interactive view of the island from that spot.

http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/virtualtour/index.html

Welcome to VGT! You're off to a great start.

Welcome to VGT! Nice start. Super description.

Great white sharks max out at about 21', the average lengh for a basking shark is between 22'-29', and whalesharks have been recorded as large as 59' and average about 44.

Here is some neat pics of a great white off New England and footage of a Basking shark:
http://www.newenglandsharks.com/N.ENG.%20whites.htm

Nice Catch!

Another great photo:
http://www.serve.com/mahood/RCS/hd-mpyln.jpg

Here is a great closeup of the "pumpkin seed:"
http://www.serve.com/mahood/RCS/hd-polec.jpg

Thanks for the ID!

According to the link below, the "pumpkin seed" is placed on the end of a telescoping pylon within radar cross section test chamber and is designed to be "so stealthy, that only the very tip of the pylon ends up being a significant source of signal return."

Here is a link that describes the "pumpkin seed" in full detail:
http://www.serve.com/mahood/RCS/helendal.htm

cool effect

This could also be (and is porobably far more likely to be) an Egyptian C-130. However, without higher resolution itcould be either.

This one is a tough one. While it definitely has Mustang looks, the horizontal stabilizer is too far back to be a non-modified P-51 and the leading edge of the wing is too straight to be a Mustang. Here's a good shot that shows the differences: http://www.zap16.com/images/vlk04%20p51%20damn%20yankee%2002.jpg

Thanks for the link Parabellum!
90% of the aircraft shown in it can be found on the airfield—including this very Canberra.

The airstrip is heavily censored in Google Maps but not at all in Live Local. Any suggestions?

In the East view at least 4 r/c planes are in flight directly over the runway.

Super collection of Davis-Mothan aircraft you've assembled at Birdseyetourist. Great job!

I think the other is an F-84 Thunderflash

It's a maintenance platform for working on the huge stabilizer of a C-5 Galaxy. You will see one in use sticking out of the hangar to the east in BEV.

Thanks to your tutelage, I easily recognize those as Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros'. They seem to proliferating small airports all across the US.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1145473/M/

That's "VFA-203"

According to this article on Global Security.Org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/vfa-203.htm

These F-18's are part of VFA-2003, The Blue Dolphins (Deestablished in 2004). The Blue Dolphins were a fully operational and combat ready Hornet Squadron, whose primary purpose was to deploy on short notice to crisis situations. Another key component of their mission was to...

I think you may have found a pair of MGR-1 "Honest John" Surface to Surface Missiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_John_missile

Great story. It's always good to have the opportunity to match the image to actual events and lives. Thanks.

The British C-130K has an added 100" spacer ahead of the wings. The addition was the result of discovering earlier models would often be completely loaded while still being well under the Hercules' weight limits. The extra length was added to give the plane more carrying capacity.

Here are two maps where the size differences between the US and British variants are evident.
British:
...

I believe so. It's my understanding the air-to-air refueling probe seen extendng above the cockpit is a variation the British added to their entire fleet of C-130's as a result of the Falklands War and the long transits it required. If their are US C-130s with the same configuration, I'm not aware of them.

I believe the is Northrop Grumman's X-47B J-UCAS Aircraft, or JOINT UNMANNED COMBAT AIR SYSTEM, a stealthy drone designed to demonstrate the feasability of weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles. The program was recently scrapped in favor of a new generation of long range strategic bombers.

http://www.darpa.mil/j-ucas/X-47/gallery.htm

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1130890/M/

Great find! Looks like bunch of Concord nose sections in the Nw corner.

Interesting that all the other Predators around the site are the original Predator-MQ/MQ1s. However, the images of this and the Predators taxiing are all Reapers.

Here is an indepth description of the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (Predator-B):
http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app2/q-9.html

Check the "West" view and you can catch these same four F-18s taxiing down the runway after landing.

Good call. The link you provided also has photos of the airstrip (from a distance) as well as a lot of the ground control aperatus cleary visible in BEV shots:
http://www.ga-asi.com/resources/image_library/company.php
http://www.ga-asi.com/resources/image_library/ground_control.php

It really has opened up a whole new avenue of exploration. I've found if you start at any map and head north just one square, and then switch to any of the other compass points and come back down to the square you started, you have an entirely new set of images for each of the compass points.

I'd love to try the technique on that other Predator test strip to the north that kjfitz found, but it is at the edge of the BEV territory, so you can't do that one hop north that gives...

Okay, forget those last directions. In the "North" view, head north one map to the JAWS set and then select the "South" view and head back to the area of the "War of the Worlds" set (now to your north) and you should have a whole new set of maps, including the one pictured in the thumbnail.

Here's the perma-link to the angle pictured in the thumbnail:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=pppd7t543xzx&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=6839420

If that doesn't work, head north in the "south" view until you reach the "JAWS" lake set and then come back down, and for some reason, you get a new set of maps...

Unfortunately, the forums don't recognize me or my password, so I'm unable to participate. But I look forward to reading other's comments on the subject. When you say you don't have problems with old URL's, does than mean you are still able to see the images like this formation of planes? Because I click on the link and only see empty airspace.

Proving once and for all, there is a god.

What's the verdict on the LL update? Do we have to go back and re-discover the images in all these maps, or will there be a quick coding fix that brings the pre-SPACELAND maps up to the current configuration?

It's a Piaggio P-136 Amphibian:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1069770/M/

My guess the mystery fighter is it's either an AT-6 "Texan." Or, more likely, a Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Allied code name: Oscar).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-43

Great catch!

I can't be positive. It looks to me like you can see footprints coming from the bottom left corner of the thumbnail and ending with the "object." However, in my searching, I have also come across signposts with triangular signs that better match the shadow. Of course, in my book, "person patrolling desert" makes a much better headline than "triangular signpost just standing there." ;o)

Look directly south one map grid and you can't miss it.

You are probably right. There's quite a bit or radar equipment to the south east, perhaps it has something to do with that.

It amazes me that there really are more than just the North, West, East, and South photos available in LL Birds Eye Images. Take this Raptor for instance, come searching for it in "NORTH" from the south, and you find nothing but empty tarmac, as well as Parabellum's white SR-71, but come at at it in the "NORTH" view from the North, and the SR-71's gone, but the Raptor is present. Just goes to show that when you think an area has been totally mined, there's always more just one map away.

Medium Large Fit Screen ]
URL (link) to this photo: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1123035/M/

I think the unknown fighter is not a US variant, but a Soko G-2A Galeb, the first Yugoslavian jet design to enter production.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0568886/M/

It's a mock aircraft used in firefighting training. Over its career, it'll be set on fire hundreds of times. The one in the link above looks like its been around for a while, while this one looks brand-spanking new.

Well, in addition of a good laugh, it also clears up the mystery to this map:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/22011/

What are the chances of that? I had just commented on an F-8 of Parbellum's and the first aircraft sighting of the night was also an ancient F-8. Freaky.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1106059/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1039913/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1112856/M/

One of the roads is called Grumman Lane. Does Northrup Grumman have a plant in the area with something in the works they don't want to us to see?

It's interesting Live Local doesn't have the same blurring; however, they also don't have the same resolution. Their BirdsEye imagery can be nudged up right to the northwest corner, revealing a number of light aircraft and some small jets, but it ends there.

Cool find. I wonder if this could be the realization of dda's "clone stamp" theory, where, rather than do a lousy job blurring over sensitive sites, they clone stamp actual buildings, or the surrounding environment, to make the omissions less obvious. "Annonymous Tourist Building Footprint" could be the cartographer's notes as to the desired look of the obscured building, not intending it to be read by the general public. Possible?

You're undoubtedly right. Chances are the actual module would be in a clean room, and the only one allowed near it would be wearing smocks and booties.

I'm not really up on my armor, but I think there are a mixture of antiques, utlra-modern, and foreign vehicles here. If I'm not mistaken, the north east corner contains a number of soviet-made BMPs. One in particular seems to have battle scarring.

I agree with you. The photo I linked to is of a T-33

Stay in the "north" view and come down the beach from the west and you run into this view:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nm6wgm6x12vk&style=o&lvl=2&scene=3325995

Showing four sleds with two facing toward the water. Somewhere in this area, we should be able to find a second Sea Dragon, because one map farther, and there are only three sleds in...

Now that would be cool.

It looks like our best chance to find one sweeping is find the missing sweeper in the "North" views. The south view shows a total of 4 sweepers, all oriented toward the water, which makes me think that was the Live Local aircraft's first pass, before the hookup with the Sea Dragon pictured in the North views. Either that, or the south view is the culmination of the excercise, after all the sweepers had been retrieved (assuming there were only...

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1063370/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0608590/L/

Here the link to that map:
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/24516/

Is the photo in your link an authentic B-29 left over from WWII converted into an early warning platform, or is it a Chinese knock off?

Piaggio P.180 Avanti (Parabellum's ID)
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/24121/

I'm impressed! That couldn't have been easy.

Cool, thanks for the pics, dda!

Judging by this link, I think jbottero nailed it. The sixth photo shows plane #81, minus the red paint, and mentions its basingat Chandler Memorial Airport, Arizona:
http://www.air-and-space.com/Lockheed%20C-130%20Tankers.htm

The guy who lives there obviously has plenty of Mooney.

What, you mean the saying doesn't mean, "Party until the steaks arrive in the refrigerator?"

I came across a photo of this very wing section on Airliners.net:
...

Thanks! You can always count on this site for answers.

Thanks for the help.

Look closely within the piles of debris and you can make out other fueselage forms, leading me to guess this is an accident investigation lot where they analyze debris of various crashes.

By the looks of the camo pattern, I think it was one from Nellis' agressor squadron, or else, it could possibly be the wreckge of foreign fighter plane recovered for inspection.

Very cool catch. Great job!