Who uses the callsign Oxcart?

[Cessnaflyer]

Yesterday at work there was an aircraft flying around Honolulu with an oxcart callsign that must have been on the HF because I never heard the actual plane calling. It was asking for orbits around radial/DME fixes up in the very high flight levels like 650 high. What aircraft could this be?

 

[Roger Roger]

I would guess it is military.

A search for callsign oxcart gives a lot of hits about the A12 program, but I think that's all shut down now, right?

 

[hook_dupin]

Why ask at all? Why not just cancel and do what you want? A U-2 guy I once knew said that was his favorite part of his sorties.

 

[Cessnaflyer]

Well I assume it was asking because all I could hear was the controller issuing instructions. The president left yesterday as well. I wonder if the two were related.

 

[Inverted]

If it was that high it had to be a U-2.

 

[Maurus]

Would be a good callsign for a caravan operator

 

[dark_reaper]

I knew throughout the development of the SR-71, the callsign of the prototype (A-12) was "Oxcart" but they have been retired since 1998 I think.

 

[inigo88]

Well I assume it was asking because all I could hear was the controller issuing instructions. The president left yesterday as well. I wonder if the two were related.

Which freq did you hear this on? Most centers have access to a couple UHF discrete frequencies that are specifically allocated for high altitude use (above FL600). They're called "special use frequencies" and they're published in FAA Order JO 7210.3X (so I guess they aren't that secret). While hook_dupin is correct that Class E starts above FL600 and the pilot may cancel if they wish, most U-2 pilots will at least remain under flight following and advise the center of any altitude changes. "Oxcart" is clearly an homage to the Lockheed A-12 (single-pilot predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird), although I suspect you heard a U-2. The 9th Air Reconnaissance Wing out of Beale AFB in northern CA is the sole operator of the U-2 (well other then the airframes belonging to NASA) and they normally use the callsign "Piñon", which is a type of pine tree.

Top Gear's James May got to ride along in Piñon 93 in this video:

 

[Roger Roger]

Would be a good callsign for a caravan operator

Reminds me of a story from the development of the Beaver. The Beaver was custom built for bush flying in Canada, and DeHavilland had several bush pilots and operators they were working with to optimize their design. The bush pilots and operators DeHavilland had making suggestions for the design kept asking for stuff like big, beefy landing gear and a STOL wing. The engineers came back to them and said, "if we put all that stuff on there, it's going to make the airplane slow!". The pilots replied "so? Where we are flying it only has to be faster than a dogsled."

 

[z987k]

Which freq did you hear this on? Most centers have access to a couple UHF discrete frequencies that are specifically allocated for high altitude use (above FL600). They're called "special use frequencies" and they're published in FAA Order JO 7210.3X (so I guess they aren't that secret). While hook_dupin is correct that Class E starts above FL600 and the pilot may cancel if they wish, most U-2 pilots will at least remain under flight following and advise the center of any altitude changes. "Oxcart" is clearly an homage to the Lockheed A-12 (single-pilot predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird), although I suspect you heard a U-2. The 9th Air Reconnaissance Wing out of Beale AFB in northern CA is the sole operator of the U-2 (well other then the airframes belonging to NASA) and they normally use the callsign "Piñon", which is a type of pine tree.

Top Gear's James May got to ride along in Piñon 93 in this video:

104 knots indicated - .707M Sweet.
Looks like the airspeed tape is upside down to.

 

[Inverted]

The U2 is the coffin corner champ lol.

 

[Cessnaflyer]

Which freq did you hear this on? Most centers have access to a couple UHF discrete frequencies that are specifically allocated for high altitude use (above FL600). They're called "special use frequencies" and they're published in FAA Order JO 7210.3X (so I guess they aren't that secret). While hook_dupin is correct that Class E starts above FL600 and the pilot may cancel if they wish, most U-2 pilots will at least remain under flight following and advise the center of any altitude changes. "Oxcart" is clearly an homage to the Lockheed A-12 (single-pilot predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird), although I suspect you heard a U-2. The 9th Air Reconnaissance Wing out of Beale AFB in northern CA is the sole operator of the U-2 (well other then the airframes belonging to NASA) and they normally use the callsign "Piñon", which is a type of pine tree.

Top Gear's James May got to ride along in Piñon 93 in this video:

It was while we were between Molokai and Kapalua on with HCF at 119.3. The orbit instructions were Around the Lanai VOR radial 27x and about 35 miles Which is just south of the Waikiki area.

I love that James May video. He has some awesome shows.