It is useful to get some idea of what events have occurred or might be occurring around the world generally such as a terror attack or something in the news to give context to your search.

I normally do a quick check on the notables at the top of the bread and one or more the following sites to get an idea of what's happened that day or is happening at the time before checking the flight trackers.

Global Incident Map - http://www.globalincidentmap.com

Liveuamap - https://liveuamap.com

or

Military Maps - https://militarymaps.info

If I spot any strange air activity I cross check back to these, the breads, or news sites etc to check whether my spotting is relevant.

>>1313825

It doesn't generate too much curiosity in me but it depends on the context of what is/was happening around that area at the time.

The French Air Force like the RAF & USAF has worldwide commitments & fly regular supply flights to their various overseas territories.

That being said it is a little unusual to catch two aircraft this close together so far from home.

Similar types of aircraft belonging to various Mid-East countries seem to have increased their activities to & from the US & they are worth keeping an eye on.

Keep an eye on the news around the world & what is happening in the breads & then make a call as to whether you feel it is relevant.

Squawks

You will sometimes see aircraft flagged up in the lists in red with a squawk code of 7500, 7600, or 7700.

Don't panic & over react when you see one usually it is operator error or the controller has requested that they use one of these codes to more easily identify the aircraft on a cluttered radar screen.

Sometimes the codes are used to give the controllers some practice of handling an emergency - I have seen single/two seat fighter or trainer aircraft using the 7500-hijack code.

The most common code is 7600 as aircraft are handed off from one control area to another they change to the wrong frequency & can't talk to who they need to talk to so to alert the local controller they use the 7600 code & listen out on the emergency frequency until the controller establishes contact.

The 7700 code is for genuine emergencies such as engine failure or bird strike etc. Sometimes airliners use this when they have miscalculated their fuel consumption, needed to divert to another airport & need priority for landing.

The codes have specific meanings -

7500 – Hijack

7600 – Lost Comms (radio failure)

7700 – Emergency

OPSEC

When you spot a cluster of unusual activity, such as a bunch of helos or recon aircraft orbiting an area consider the operational security aspect.

These aircraft might be engaged on an active operation with boots on the ground and we don't want to put special operators at risk.

It is better to bag and tag what you find and post it later to allow the special operators time to complete their mission.

Clarity

Try not to post screen captures with half a gazillion overlapping tracks.

Just show the tracks of the relevant aircraft.

Adjust the zoom/cropping of the capture so that it is evident where the aircraft is and what it is doing.

On ADS-B scroll through the data list select & highlight the relevant aircraft so that its details are visible on the capture.

If necessary post two or more captures with one zoomed in close and the other zoomed out.

If you have an interesting group of aircraft or cluster of activity zoom in or out to capture the whole cluster highlighting aircraft & tracks as well as posting the individual aircraft.

Add a simple short explanation of what you have captured.

Try not to fill the post with a rambling wall of words.

Keep Calm Don't Panic

Sometimes events happen & other non-planefag anons start freaking out but don't let this panic you.

Usually this is an event such as a shooting, air attack, or air crash or something similar.

Try to ascertain what is happening and where to focus your search & then try to capture anything relevant.

Do try to keep those that tend towards panic reassured & informed about what you find & what is happening.

Sometimes you will find that you are trying to track multiple aircraft widely dispersed around the world.

Sometimes the aircraft you are trying to track plays hard to get or the trackers start acting up making thing difficult for you.

If this happens don't be afraid to put a call out to the other planefags for assistance tracking.

Beware of random aircraft shills

Sometimes shills try to deflect your attention by asking you about some random aircraft and ask if you know anything about it.

Generally they don't know what the aircraft was or when they saw it.

They will say something like 'I saw a strange plane acting in a strange way in some obscure location on an unspecified date' and then expect you to know what it was all about.

It can be an interesting way to waste half a day if you are bored but generally it leads nowhere.

>>1331238

Nothing I see there would cause problems. Norfolk Virginia area is quite busy for recon aircraft primarily Navy P-3 & P-8s.

I was primarily warning about clusters of helos or groups of recon aircraft working close together.

Clusters of helos operating close to or over urban areas or outside normal training areas/bases would sound some alarms as would clusters operating close to the Mexican border.

Sometimes there will be one of the larger recon aircraft (EC-130 or RC-135) and several smaller aircraft (usually RC/MC-12) working a search pattern.

The large aircraft in a medium/high orbit and the others slightly lower in orbits with different orientations (east/west & north/south for instance) this allows them to pinpoint the location of whatever they are interested in.

If you click on the aircraft you are interested in it will show its track and allow you to see where it has been and what it is up to.

Try to match it with news events what is being discussed in the breads at the time to judge its relevance/importance.

Ultimately use your best judgement at the time but err on the side of caution if in any doubt. If in doubt capture the activity and watch until the aircraft leave the area they are operating in and then post.

Main areas for the P-8 & P-3 operations & training are off the coasts of Virginia, Florida, the gulf around Pensacola, California, and around Seattle. Army RC/MC-12 are also often seen in the training areas near Yuma Arizona close to the border.

Sometimes you will see a cluster of aircraft in the middle of the Gulf of Guinea off Africa.

There is nothing odd about this it is just that if the aircraft doesn't update its location correctly the system defaults to 0N, 0W latitude longitude coordinates.

This is where the Greenwich meridian crosses the equator.

ATAC

ATAC the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company - is a company owned by Textron that provides training solutions for the military.

Basically they provide targets for the various branches of the military to practise there tactics on in a safe way.

These aircraft operate out of and around the following areas primarily (see map highlighted orange) although they can be found almost anywhere if they are needed by the military -

Point Mugu California, the training bases/areas around Las Vegas Nevada, the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida, the East coast of Florida up to the Norfolk Virginia area.

The operate a variety of aircraft the F-21 Kfir, Hawker Hunter, & L39 Albatross.

Whilst they can be fun to watch when things are quiet they are not of any importance to our task.

OMEGA

Omega is a company that provides aerial refuelling tankers for the military on a contract basis.

Most of their work is to do with training & supporting military exercises.

Mostly they are to be found around Southern California & just off the coast.

These aircraft have nothing to do with chemtrails or weather modification.

They use Boeing 707 and DC-10 aircraft roughly equivalent to the KC-135 & KC-10 used by the USAF.

As with ATAC the Omega aircraft can be found almost anywhere they are needed by the military.

As with ATAC Omega has nothing to do with our task.

For more info -

ATAC - http://atacusa.com

Omega - http://www.omegaairrefueling.com

>>1352500

On ADS-B select live radar on the front page.

Then go to the menu tab at the top of the map and then navigate to the filters section and select military filter.

>>1359850

The shot on the left looks pretty typical and normal number and variety of aircraft.

The map on the right is not too unusual either, many of those incidents are round-ups of MS-13 & terror suspects.

Some will false alarms maybe kids who want a day off school & file a false report etc.

Some will be where concerned citizens have in good faith filed a report about something they think suspicious that turns out to be a false alarm but needed to be checked.

Also notice that many of those markers are in the DNC strongholds and indicate where you should look for spoopy air activity.

Very little of those markers gets any sort of attention in the MSM.

Use that info to enlighten the normies about what is really happening.

Posting Captures

When posting captures try to keep them clean and easily read.

Highlight just the aircraft of interest preferably with a track trail so that its activity can be discerned.

Capture the details of the flight data - showing aircraft type, callsign, registration etc.

If need be edit with arrows or markers to highlight the details of the flight or other info.

Avoid heavily cluttered screens and multiple tracks where possible.

If necessary post two or more captures one showing the complete flight and others zoomed in to show more detail.

Add a short description about the flight avoiding a large wall of words.

All that is really necessary is the identity of the flight, its start finish locations, whether it is relevant to global events, stuff in the breads, or in the news etc.

Digging for info

If the skies are quiet dig around for info about some of the spoopy planes in the notables these are mainly the 2-#### aircraft.

Digging is as important as the tracking.

We need to find if they are connected to (((them))) the (((deep state))) etc.

If you find relevant info linking the planes to what is happening post it in the research bread.

If the info is not apparently relevant save it on your computer rather than post it in the bread because it might become relevant later.

Recently someone requested for planefags to dig for info into a flight into Bushehr Iran last year that subsequently to a 'Q' post and details about the Uranium 1 deal.

Use lateral thinking when digging not just flight tracking stuff.

>>1375133

They needed new fighters in the 1980s to replace the Hawker Hunters & Northrop F5s that dated back to the 50's & 60's. Aircraft needed to have good short takeoff/landing performance & be a capable multirole airplane, F-18 fitted the bill & ticked the boxes.

Canada & Spanish air force have them too & operate them purely from land.

Just love the Swiss carrier.

Clogging the Bread

When things are habbening and the bread is busy try to avoid posting unless it is vital.

Many thing get buried when people shit up the bread with unnecessary stuff.

If you are tracking multiple aircraft wait a while and then post all the updates in one post.

Updating the Anons

Remember we are the 1st Recon Squadron & recon is our purpose.

When tracking I periodically check for global incidents using a number of sites see for links- >>1312191

If you spot something of particular relevance don't be afraid to post a general SITREP report to help keep the other anons aware of what is happening it might well be relevant to their digging.

The anons & concernfags sometimes pick-up on an alarmist tweet or news report & can tend to overreact.

If this happens check out the live threat maps to see if you can shed more light on the situation.

Occasionally if they start getting panicky or concerned an anon will ask us if we know anything about the situation - in this event try to be obliging and give them what raw facts you can find n the threat assessment sites.

Report what you see and not what you think is happening.

Some More Useful Planefagging tools

Unusual activity can quite often be related to military exercises or air displays.

Below are a couple of links that I find useful.

The bottom links are great for info about military equipment, air displays, and other general stuff.

https://shape.nato.int/nato-exercises

https://www.milavia.net/

http://www.deagel.com

CHECKING N-#### NUMBERS

N-#### Numbers can be checked @ Federal Aviation Administration site.

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/nnum_inquiry.aspx