Last summer, a modified private jet circled Michigan airspace at 43,000 feet, leaving behind vapor trails and numerous conspiracy theories. The mysterious Gulfstream IV with tail number N515JA made a one-hour flight from Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti to Gaylord airspace and back.
Another Michigan airport, Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, received many calls about that unusual flight. "We took a lot of calls on that plane with a lot of ideas about what it was," said Cherry Capital Airport Director Kevin Klein.
Thomas Freundl, a professional drone pilot and mechanical engineer, said one possible explanation for the strange flight pattern is that the government is testing some aspect of an unmanned system.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assigns a flight a transponder or "squawk" code to identify an aircraft each time it takes to the sky. The June 19 flight of the N515JA was assigned squawk code 7441, according to data. A 7400 code is used for unmanned flights.
"It's not uncommon for the FAA to use that (squawk) code with an aircraft having a pilot on board who is actually there to monitor new drone technology," Freundl said. Squawk codes are used to identify an aircraft when it flies, and it helps communicate with air traffic control.
A previous owner of the mysterious plane, Fabian Bello of Journey Aviation in Boca Raton, Florida, said that the plane was conducting "atmospheric research" for commercial and not for military applications.
The repeated flights in the same locations were made to ensure that the results are consistent, although he did not disclose specifically what the studies and results are for. (Related: Mysterious unmanned black drone spotted hovering near JFK airport.)
Numerous flights of mysterious plane recorded
While there may not be anything new to report in Traverse City, the plane had been busy since it last departed the area on June 30. Flight Aware showed that the plane made a single trip from Willow Run airport to Traverse City airspace and back, then flew to Newport News, Virginia and landed at Williamsburg International Airport.
Repeated flights have since been recorded in Newport News, Virginia; Flying Cloud, Minnesota; Salina, Kansas; Oxnard and Victorville, California; and Honolulu, Hawaii. The flights lasted between 24 minutes to more than six hours, according to data.
The owner of the plan changed in September 2020 when registration documents from the Federal Aviation Administration showed that the plane now belongs to Aery Aviation, LLC. Aery offers various services such as design, modification and certification of modern business jets to the Department of Defense (DOD) flight standards to support special mission tasks in support of government customers.
In December last year, the company announced that it will be purchasing 13 aircraft, including Gulfstream IVs as part of its five-year, $146 million contracts by the Navy.
The aircraft will be modified in order to simulate airborne threats and train crew to "counter potential enemy Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Attack (EA) operations in today's Electronic Combat (EC) environment," according to the announcement.
The N515JA also made 12 flights between Willow Run Airport to the airspace above Traverse City, and sometimes circling Flint. These flights lasted between 1 hour and 13 minutes and 2 hours and 58 minutes, which came to the attention of some local residents on June 19.
On the same day, Grand Traverse 911 mentioned the aircraft on their Facebook page, suggesting the pilot could be participating in a training exercise. However, this theory was put to rest when the right side of the plane modified with a large camera lens and Federal Aviation data showed repeated flights to the area, sometimes twice daily between June 6 and June 24.
Willow Run is known as an airport where technological advances are tested, especially concerning mobility, Klein explained.
Flying Cloud airport in Minnesota is known as a home base for corporate business jets while Newport News and Honolulu airports are known for their proximity to Naval bases. The Salina, Kansas airport has an Army Aviation Support Facility.
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