AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-05-13
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Quiet day over the falls — traffic running 30% below the two-day average, with the usual highway-in-the-sky crowd supplemented by an unusual volume of contacts who apparently misplaced their callsigns.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
- FDX10 [AB9E12] leads the speed board at 556 kts, 35,000 ft, outbound northeast. FedEx in a hurry, as is tradition. - DHK868 / DHK009 — two DHL contacts bearing UK registrations (407C8A, 407CF7), both northeast-bound at 35,000 ft doing 546–550 kts. Transatlantic cargo push, nothing unusual beyond the British paperwork. - BOX395 [3C4592] — German-registered, 33,000 ft, 541 kts, heading 055°. DHL's European cousin also making tracks northeast. - LXJ606 [A7DE1C] — fractional bizjet running highest among identified traffic at 43,000 ft, 417 kts, westbound. Someone's comfortable up there. - SWA1094 [AC2B61] — Southwest threading through at only 6,600 ft, 250 kts, heading 267°. Presumably on approach to Cleveland; close enough to wave at. - N181TB, N53491, N733EB — three light GA contacts low and slow, doing what light GA does. No drama detected.
ANOMALIES
Twenty-five contacts transmitted Mode S with no flight ID broadcast. That is not a typo. Twenty-five. Most are at cruise altitudes (27,000–43,000 ft) and likely represent routine transponder configurations without flight ID set — tedious, not sinister — but they collectively represent the largest single anomaly category of the day.
Of specific note: - C059D2, C01D16, C05220, C001EA — four Canadian-registered contacts, all silent on callsign. Canada is right next door; still polite of them to at least keep Mode S active. - VTM680 [0D0EC9] — callsign present, but ICAO hex falls outside any recognized national allocation. Origin unknown. Heading 232° at 32,000 ft. Filed under "interesting." - [A07B8F] — no callsign, no position data at all. We know it exists. That is the full extent of our knowledge.
PATTERN NOTES
Heavy westbound flow along the 41.2°–41.5°N corridor, consistent with upper-level routing off the Northeast. Eastbound traffic thinner but present. The 30% traffic reduction versus the two-day average is notable; no obvious cause in the data.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE