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Random jets

Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 10:01 pm
by leatherneckcountry
Anyone know why there have been jets flying over macomb for the last few hours

Re: Random jets

Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 11:23 pm
by ST_Lawson
leatherneckcountry wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 10:01 pm Anyone know why there have been jets flying over macomb for the last few hours
No clue, but we've noticed them too. Some people on facebook were saying they had heard it was some training out of Scott AFB (down by St. Louis), but I haven't seen any confirmation of that.

Re: Random jets

Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 11:22 am
by Db2
The FAA has reserved airspace that is called "Military Operations Areas" (MOA's). An MOA is a box of airspace between 9,000 feet and 18,000 feet that is used for military flight training. When the MOA is active, small planes know to fly below 9,000 feet in this area, and commercial jets know to fly above 18,000 feet. Macomb is under an MOA called "Howard East MOA". Last night, the MOA was active, and was being used for night training flights, most likely by the Illinois Air National Guard.

FYI, this MOA is scheduled to be active again tonight (May 12th) from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. (although sometimes they schedule them and don't use them).

Re: Random jets

Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 12:56 pm
by ST_Lawson
Db2 wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 11:22 am The FAA has reserved airspace that is called "Military Operations Areas" (MOA's). An MOA is a box of airspace between 9,000 feet and 18,000 feet that is used for military flight training. When the MOA is active, small planes know to fly below 9,000 feet in this area, and commercial jets know to fly above 18,000 feet. Macomb is under an MOA called "Howard East MOA". Last night, the MOA was active, and was being used for night training flights, most likely by the Illinois Air National Guard.

FYI, this MOA is scheduled to be active again tonight (May 12th) from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. (although sometimes they schedule them and don't use them).
Thanks for the info.

Re: Random jets

Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 3:54 pm
by vatusay
Using the plane finder app Monday and Tuesday night, it said they were Air Force KC-135-R jets. Both times I looked they were at 21k+ feet, according to the app. They had funny flight patterns also.