Re: 129.600 'REACH 4204'

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: I found this regarding REACH: : REACH #### designates an aircraft of the US Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC). Created from former MAC (Military Airlift Command) and SAC (Strategic Air Command) assets during a massive reorganization of the USAF in summer 1992, the AMC operates the bulk of the U.S. military airlift and aerial refuelling fleet. The callsign derives from AMC's stated mission of providing America with "Global Reach". : Up until just a few years ago, the REACH #### (formerly MAC #####)callsign almost always included the last five digits of the aircraft serial number. The full serial (such as 65-0071) is painted beneath the cockpit; the truncated version of this, the "tail number", (i.e. - 50071) is on the vertical stabilizer. Note that the first two digits of the serial indicate the fiscal year in which a particular aircraft was budgeted for delivery to service. : Nowadays, many of the REACH flights you hear are using a portion of their mission number as the numerical portion of their callsign. This is a long alpha-numeric string used by AMC's computers to keep track of the aircraft, its crew, and cargo. In some cases, that which follows the REACH portion of the call is a sequence which designates a particular destination and/or regularly scheduled mission. For instance, the C-5's and C-141's : which provided (and may still be providing) regular service to/from : Port-au-Prince following the U.S. action in Haiti used the call REACH #P#. : The REACH ---- aircraft you hear will include C-130s, C-141s, C-5s, C-17s, KC-10s, KC-135s among others. If you hear a REACH flight run a phone patch to a "metro" (metereological office) for the weather at a destination, the aircraft will often provide a PIREP (pilot report) of inflight weather conditions before ending the patch. The first item given in the PIREP is normally the aircraft type. : The "US Air Force Airpower Directory", published by Aerospace : Publishing (UK) and Airtime Publishing (Connecticut) in 1992, is one of the : better listings available of AMC serial numbers. The serials are listed for : each aircraft type; no information is given as to whcih unit the aircraft : belongs to. Be advised that although this is a very good overview of USAF : aircraft, it pre-dates the summer 1992 reorganization and virtually : everything it has to say regarding organizational structure is now obsolete. : Bob Lewallyn KC5PPV/4 : Atlanta, Georgia : ===== : This is the WUN mailing list. : To post to the list, send a e-mail to : wun@grove.net : To unsubscribe the list, send a mail to: majordomo@grove.net : with only "unsubscribe wun" in the BODY of the e-mail. : : : On Jan. 5 heard aircraft REACH 4204 calling Seattle Ops on 129.600 : : Mentioned "enroute to your location... parking spot sierra 12" also : : mentioned have 256 passengers on board and Capt. & Crew Chief is to get off : : plane. : : Can any one tell me who uses 129.600 in the Seattle area? I thought it was : : a AIRINC freq or is there a Civilian airline using a REACH call now?? : : Also heard him on Vancouver Center 134.800 so I know his callsign was : : definately "REACH". Any help would be appreciated.