Jets Flying Overhead

[NH.Solar]

The reason that you are hearing them so much now is because the new F22 Raptors are much louder than the F16s they are replacing. The fly out of both NJ and Burlington Vt National Guard centers to practice over the Sandwich range because the terrain is similar to what they may encounter in the mid-east. When you are hearing a lot of activity is usually indicates that there may be a new deployment coming up, and once that happens it will quiet down again for a couple of months.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by NH.Solar

The reason that you are hearing them so much now is because the new F22 Raptors are much louder than the F16s they are replacing. The fly out of both NJ and Burlington Vt National Guard centers to practice over the Sandwich range because the terrain is similar to what they may encounter in the mid-east. When you are hearing a lot of activity is usually indicates that there may be a new deployment coming up, and once that happens it will quiet down again for a couple of months.

The Green Mountain Boys are replacing their F-16s with F-35s, not F-22s. Still loud, but a different aircraft.

A few years ago I watched 2 flying over the lake doing maneuvers and shooting flares at each other.

They weren't shooting flares at each other; the flares are used to decoy IR sensors on anti-air missiles.

[rick35]

The planes that visited yesterday were F-15's

[rick35]

I saw a different kind of aircraft fly overhead yesterday. I had never seen a CH-47 Chinook before. That's the helicopter with the twin rotors. I haven't seen the Air National Guard med choppers based out of Concord this summer. The last I heard they had deployed.

[Jdarby]

Originally Posted by rick35

I saw a different kind of aircraft fly overhead yesterday. I had never seen a CH-47 Chinook before. That's the helicopter with the twin rotors. I haven't seen the Air National Guard med choppers based out of Concord this summer. The last I heard they had deployed.

Yep, that Chinook flew right over the top of our place!

[rick35]

Other cool things that have flown over:

1. Two helos refueling from a C-130 up and down the Broads
2. B-1 bomber flying low buzzing the lake. Probably wasn't that low but was just really big. Must have been saying hi to mom and dad.
3. Hood blimp flew really low just above our trees. It was pretty quiet and the next thing you know it's right over us.

[tis]

Really? Refueling over the water? Now isn't that smart.

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by tis

Really? Refueling over the water? Now isn't that smart.

They refuel over water all the time.... Not a big deal!

Woodsy

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by tis

Really? Refueling over the water? Now isn't that smart.

would you prefer over your house ?

[tis]

We are so careful with other things around the lake and we risk the chance of fuel going into the lake?

[Descant]

Originally Posted by tis

We are so careful with other things around the lake and we risk the chance of fuel going into the lake?

Maybe they do a dry run? No fuel exchange, just practice connection and flying together.
We used to practice bombing and mining, but never dropped any actual bombs or mines.

[tis]

Originally Posted by Descant

Maybe they do a dry run? No fuel exchange, just practice connection and flying together.
We used to practice bombing and mining, but never dropped any actual bombs or mines.

Let's hope.

[gbracer53]

I attached a couple of flight tracks of a refueling op that occurred in May. (I seemed to have a lot of free time on my hands in the spring and I spent a lot of time “surfing the net”. That’s how I found this app!) Standard stuff available on the flight aware web site. This tanker originated in NJ, refueled another AC in the racetrack pattern that covers central NH and VT, Then heads down to western PA and then back to NJ. The close up of the leg up from Concord to the turn at Laconia shows them not flying over the Lake. Just so you know, there is a 10 minute or so lag between where the aircraft is and where it shows up on the flight aware tracking app. I guess it’s some kind of security thing. At any rate, if you see a refueling flight overhead, look on the app down around Concord. You might pickup the flight!

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by tis

Let's hope.

You should be worrying more about any of the dozens of gas pumps around the lake, that are located over the water, malfunctioning and polluting the lake. The chances of that happening are much greater than an aerial refueling incident that might affect the lake.

[WeirsGuard]

Flew on KC-135 Tankers while in the AF. Valving and other safety features prevent any large amounts of fuel from being dumped during Air Refueling. Also, aviation fuel vaporizes very quickly at the altitudes we refueled at. Even at low levels vaporization is quick. I would have to dig out the old checklists but I believe our emergency fuel dump procedures had a minimum altitude of 3000 ft. Used to love using Eagle Island as a radar offset for turning on the NE leg of AR Track 212 which runs right up over Northern New England into Maine.

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by tis

Let's hope.

You are worried about a big bunch of nothing.... like Guard said: at those altitudes, the fuel vaporizes and disperses very quickly in the atmosphere.

More fuel gets dumped into the lake at the marina gas stations... and even that evaporates quickly.

Woodsy

[NH.Solar]

Gasoline is fairly volatile and unless a spill is large it will most likely cause little permanent damage. It won't mix with the water and will evaporate off the warm lake surface fairly quickly this time of year. That isn't to say that every spilled drop doesn't count and all precautions should be taken in proper fueling, any petroleum product spilled on lake, or anywhere for that matter, is a very bad thing for our environment!
I suspect however that most of the damage being done to the lakes right now comes from lawns and artificial plantings near the shoreline and it is the nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers mis and over applied to them that is causing the worst harm to Winnipesaukee.
The water quality early this past spring was noticeably better than it is now, due I'm sure to the quiet and inactivity created by the virus and the stay at home orders. Still, it didn't compare to the crystal clear water I remember as a kid growing up on the lake in the 60s and 70s. At that time when the light was right it was easy to see the bottom twenty+ feet down, there was no milfoil to speak of, and most rocks didn't have a film of algae. The lake will never again be that beautiful due to the overpopulation it now has, but a lot of ground could certainly be recovered if there were no lawn fertilizing allowed within 250' of the shoreline.
I have covered my shore front from 50 feet back with a few inches of organic NH mulch from Ambrose. It is soft to walk on, smells great, and decomposes naturally just like the forest duff that used to cover most of our lake's shores. Within 50' of the water my shorefront is just as natural as the day I found it and mostly covered in blueberry bushes ...as it should be

[XCR-700]

No idea what people are talking about leaky gas pumps on Winnipesaukee, I havent seen a gas rainbow in 20 years. As a kid I recall how sloppy people were often using 5 gal jugs, and pouring 2 cycle oil, and you would see significant slicks.

I have truly not seen a single gas or oil spill of any size in so many years I cannot recall.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by XCR-700

No idea what people are talking about leaky gas pumps on Winnipesaukee, I havent seen a gas rainbow in 20 years. As a kid I recall how sloppy people were often using 5 gal jugs, and pouring 2 cycle oil, and you would see significant slicks.

I have truly not seen a single gas or oil spill of any size in so many years I cannot recall.

If you are referring to my post above ("... gas pumps... malfunctioning and polluting the lake"), I am not talking specifically about any current or past incidents of leaky gas pumps; I am simply making a comparison of the chances of fuel getting into the lake by a marina gas pump problem versus an aerial refueling incident over the lake.

[dickiej]

NH Solar....you are so right....the use of fertilizer from all those who want green lawns is causing so much environmental damage to our lakes, rivers and groundwater that it should be made illegal. The first thing we did when we bought our new house in Washington was tear up the lawn and put in a rock garden.

[dickiej]

Why would you want a lawn when you can have this?

[ApS]

Originally Posted by NH.Solar

At that time when the light was right it was easy to see the bottom twenty+ feet down, there was no milfoil to speak of, and most rocks didn't have a film of algae. The lake will never again be that beautiful due to the overpopulation it now has, but a lot of ground could certainly be recovered if there were no lawn fertilizing allowed within 250' of the shoreline.
I have covered my shore front from 50 feet back with a few inches of organic NH mulch from Ambrose. It is soft to walk on, smells great, and decomposes naturally just like the forest duff that used to cover most of our lake's shores. Within 50' of the water my shorefront is just as natural as the day I found it and mostly covered in blueberry bushes ...as it should be

You can still see 20+feet down, if you boat to the edge of winter's ice!

We used a grapnel to pull up our mooring chain. Alas, we can't see the mooring in spring any longer.

Lake Winnipesaukee, like other NH lakes, was formerly surrounded by forests of White Pine. (White Pine is the first tree to recover from forest fires, which were plentiful before "discovery").

Below every mature pine tree is a thick mat of discarded needles, which strongly resists erosion. Compare with the tiny needles of Eastern Hemlock, which wash away after "tear-down" lots are cleared of the White Pines. (The building industry pays a fortune for straight pine logs--and even more for the decimated Red Pine).

The lake would be self-healing with a White Pine restoration project and no fertilizers or weed-killer.

Ever seen that 50-foot shoreline-strip of brown, underfertilized grass?

Me neither.

[dickiej]

TiltonBB....that's my point! I agree...I would love a nice green lawn, but in order to have a nice green lawn you need fertilizer and lots of water....lawn fertilizing is becoming an environmental disaster for groundwater and lakes and rivers and all the watering is a waste of resources.

[rick35]

How did this go from jets to lawns?

[steve-on-mark]

Originally Posted by rick35

How did this go from jets to lawns?

It's a natural progression!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

[Jdarby]

Originally Posted by rick35

How did this go from jets to lawns?

Some planes land on grass runways.

[mhtranger]

Originally Posted by dickiej

TiltonBB....that's my point! I agree...I would love a nice green lawn, but in order to have a nice green lawn you need fertilizer and lots of water....lawn fertilizing is becoming an environmental disaster for groundwater and lakes and rivers and all the watering is a waste of resources.

Problem is no one knows how to read a bag. They use the whole bag on their lawn. If put down correctly it won’t cause any long term affects.

[dickiej]

Or use a fertilizer like milorganite...organic...."from the sewers of Milwaukie"