Date: 12-28-89 00:40
From: Michael Corbin
To: All
Subj: The Secrets of Dreamland

========================================================
(C) Copyright 1989 ParaNet Information Service
All Rights Reserved unless copyrighted by Author. ========================================================
Reprinted with exclusive permission to ParaNet Information
Service.
PROBING THE SECRETS OF NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE
By Steve Douglass
If you are ever on Highway 6, just outside of the little
town of Tonopah, Nevada, and you can brave the heat, the
rattlesnakes, and the isolation of the desert, get out of your
car and wait. If you are patient enough you just might be amazed
by what you'll see.
At first you'll only hear it, a high-pitched whining sound
in the distance. Risking eye damage, you squint into the desert
glare trying to locate the source of the sound. Suddenly you'll
see it. It's an ominous-looking aircraft, perfectly flat on the
bottom, pyramidal on the top.
Roaring across the high desert with its twin tail and swept
back wings, it looks like a large black swallow. As it gets
closer, you'll feel the urge to duck down among the lizards and
the cacti. Such action is meaningless, though, for if you can
see it, it can see you. So just stand and watch the Nighthawk go
through its paces.
Since the beginning of the year, the F-117A Nighthawk
stealth fighter has been engaged in daylight training missions
from its secret base in Nevada. Still considered off limits to
the press and public, the security forces at the base take a dim
view of prying eyes. However, once in a while the Nighthawk must
leave its protective nest.
It is on these rare occasions, when the Nighthawk is not
surrounded by razor wire, patrolling dogs or security teams, that
is when you might catch the F-117A strutting its stuff.
The secret Tonopah base is part of the Nellis Air Force Base
military operations area. This secret range, which covers a
large portion of south central Nevada, is the home of the Air
Force's top secret proving grounds. Edwards Air Force Base was
once the premier testing center but now is considered too public
to test top secret stealth aircraft. The F-117 base on the
northwest corner of Nellis is remote and removed from all but the
most determined.
The F-117A Nighthawk is the official name of the stealth
fighter bu those who fly it have nicknamed it "The Wobbly
Goblin." At slow speeds, the fighter is apparently hard to
handle, hence, the odd title. Another term for the aircraft is
"the sacred airplane" because when people see it for the first
time they usually remark "Oh my God!"
A total of 49 are thought to be based on the Tonopah range,
also known as Mellon Strip. The secret base, located in Area 30
on the Nellis range, consists of 72 nuclear hardened, specially
built hangers for these secret aircraft.
The pilots who fly the F-117 are members of a new elite
unit, the 445th Tactical Group. Most of the pilots first flew F-
111 Aardvarks or have Wild Weasel experience. The special unit,
known as "Team One-Furtim Vigilans" (vigilant by stealth) became
operational in 1983.
Becuase of the secret nature of their missions, the pilots
are not allowed to acknowledge to civilian air traffic
controllers what type of craft they are flying. If asked, they
are to say they are an A-7 Corsair.
Team One squadron is not the only squadron flying strange-
looking aircraft on the Tonopah range. The 447th test and
evaluation squadron, the Red Eagles, is based there as well. The
Red Eagles fly authentic Soviet fighters. Captured in
Afghanistan and turned over to the U.S., Mig 17s, 19s, 21s, 23s,
25s, 27s and Sukhoi Su20 Fighters are flown regularly in Nellis'
Red Flag war games.
Occuring almost every eight weeks, the Red Flag exercises
are conducted in much the same way as the Navy's Top Gun school
is used to train USAF pilots in dissimilar air combat tactics.
What better way to train than against real Soviet fighters? To
add to the realism, the Nellis range even is dotted with real
Soviet air defense radars and SAMS (surface to air missiles) to
give training pilots the feel of the real thing.
There is yet another secret base located in the middle of
Nellis. Groom Lake, in an area called Dreamland, is known to be
the test base of the mysterious Aurora and the F-19 stealth
fighter. The Aurora, the stealth replacement for the SR-71
Blackbird and the F-19, the stealth replacement for the F-15
Eagle, is said to be flying from the Watertown Strip.
Teh Air Force has reportedly been testing the two top secret
aircraft in Dreamland, Area 51, since 1980. (The SR-71 Blackbird
was test flown in complete secrecy.) Other aircraft likely to be
test flown from Dreamland in the near future are prototypes for
the ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter), the Phalanx Dragon, a
stealth helicopter killer, and the A-12 (Navy Advanced Tactical
Aircraft), a replacement for the A-6 intruder.
Although the bulk of stealth aircraft operations seem to be
centered around Nevada, it is said that stealth aircraft have
been seen at other bases as well. Last April the USAF said the
F-117A would be used at bases nationwide to help integrate thge
stealth technology within the rest of the Air Force inventory.
The F-117A has been seen flying near Yuma, Arizona; Edwards AFB
in Calfiornia, and Kadena AFB in Okinawa.
Recently it was rumored that F-117s are being stationed at
the recently opened Roswell Air Force Base in New Mexico. The
Roswell strip was constructed originally for heavy bombers during
WWII and Vietnam but closed in the late sixties. Residents of th
area report that strange aircraft are once again slying out of
the base. The White Sands missile range is not far from Roswell
and the F-117A may be using the range to test the stealth cruise
missile, General Dynamics AGM-129.
Another black aircraft program by General Dynamics known
only as Project 100 is even more secret ahtn all other stealth
programs. Little is known about the project except that it is
thought to be test flying out of Holliman AFB near Alamagordo,
New Mexico, and only at night. A military radio net has been
heard on various frequencies in the Holloman area (see frequency
list) and it may be the testing of the Project 100 aircraft.
MONITORING
Trying to monitor the secret air force is nearly as hard as
catching a glimpse of them. Best bets are the HF and UHF
frequencies of the flight test bases and aircraft manufacturers.
Also, a good place to monitor would be SAC and TAC frequencies.
Another good place to listen is air traffic control centers near
test areas.
So get cracking, heat up your set, and maybe you'll be the
first to monitor the top secret Aurora and F-19!
FREQUENCIES
HOLLOMAN AFB, ALAMAGORDO, NEW MEXICO
Approach 324.3 MHz UHF
Departure 255.9 MHz UHF
Holloman flight test net/White Sands
Primary 260.8 MHz UHF
Secondary 264.9 MHz UHF
Other UHF frequencies monitored
397.9, 353.6, 364.2, 376.1, 189.4, and 251.1
HF link 9.023 MHz USB
SATCOM links mentioned 262.925 MHz uplink; 297.525 downlink
Call signs heard: Sierra Papa, Sierra Pete, Ringmaster,
Battlestaff, Guardian Papa, Dark Star, Dark Star Oscar
ROSWELL AIR FIELD, NEW MEXICO
Approach 239.6 MHz UHF
Tower 272.7 MHz UHF
Military Net
Primary 305.6 MHz UHF
Secondary 397.9 MHz UHF
Other frequencies monitored
259.2, 305.6, 348.7
NELLIS AFB, NEVADA
Approach 279.7 MHz UHF
Tower 324.3 MHz UHF
Ground control 275.8 MHz UHF
Clearance Delivery 289.4 MHz UHF
ATIS 270.1 MHz UHF
Nellis Military Operations Area
Dreamland base 255.8 MHz UHF
Sally corridor 343.0 MHz UHF
Groom Lake approach 361.3 MHz UHF
Watertown Strip approach 297.65 MHz UHF
EDWARDS AFB, CALIFORNIA
Tower 269.9 MHz UHF
Edwards command post
(Conform) 304.0 MHz UHF
Edwards VHF ground
control 121.8 Mhz UHF
Edwards approach 318.1 MHz UHF =================================================================



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