Statistics
Trends, leaderboards and the estimated taxpayer-cost breakdown for tracked RCH (Reach) airlift activity. Generated 2026-09-23 11:36 UTC.
Totals
Daily trends
Busiest days
- 2026-07-23118 flights
- 2026-07-20108 flights
- 2026-07-17103 flights
- 2026-07-2499 flights
- 2026-08-0299 flights
- 2026-08-1094 flights
- 2026-07-3092 flights
- 2026-07-0991 flights
- 2026-07-3191 flights
- 2026-08-0690 flights
Domestic vs. overseas
| Category | Flights | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic (US→US) | 1425 | 22% |
| Overseas | 2112 | 33% |
| Unresolved | 2829 | 44% |
Estimated cost by aircraft type
| Type | Name | Flights | Hours | Est. gal | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C17 | Boeing C-17A Globemaster III | 5390 | 9,735.3 | 23,364,622 | $81,776,176 |
| C5M | Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy | 703 | 1,082.9 | 3,789,982 | $13,264,937 |
| K35R | Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker | 178 | 421.0 | 1,115,758 | $3,905,155 |
| C30J | Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules | 80 | 156.1 | 101,432 | $355,014 |
| C130 | Lockheed C-130 Hercules | 15 | 36.6 | 23,805 | $83,317 |
Top routes
| Route (inferred) | Flights | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| ETAR → North Atlantic | 357 | $7,196,203 |
| North Atlantic → ETAR | 314 | $5,782,060 |
| LGMK → ETAR | 204 | $5,113,106 |
| North Atlantic → North Atlantic | 164 | $1,520,404 |
| ETAR → LGMK | 130 | $2,873,186 |
| ETAR → LGHI | 124 | $2,678,493 |
| North Atlantic → ETAD | 86 | $1,427,958 |
| ETAD → North Atlantic | 74 | $1,370,043 |
| LGHI → ETAR | 73 | $1,845,266 |
| North Atlantic → KWRI | 70 | $1,367,470 |
| KWRI → North Atlantic | 62 | $1,116,797 |
| North Pacific → KSUU | 58 | $635,050 |
| North Atlantic → KBGR | 55 | $895,940 |
| KSUU → North Pacific | 49 | $612,456 |
| KDOV → North Atlantic | 46 | $807,694 |
Busiest bases
| Code | Name | Total ops | Dep. | Arr. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETAR | Ramstein Air Base | 1565 | 796 | 769 |
| KWRI | Mc Guire Air Force Base | 587 | 297 | 290 |
| LGMK | Mykonos Island National Airport | 492 | 308 | 184 |
| ETAD | Spangdahlem Air Base | 351 | 178 | 173 |
| KBGR | Bangor International Airport | 300 | 149 | 151 |
| KDOV | Dover Civil Air Terminal/Dover Air Force Base | 292 | 144 | 148 |
| KSUU | Travis Air Force Base | 275 | 133 | 142 |
| LGHI | Chios Island National Airport | 268 | 96 | 172 |
| KCHS | Charleston International Airport | 234 | 106 | 128 |
| KADW | Joint Base Andrews | 220 | 109 | 111 |
| KNGU | Norfolk Naval Station (Chambers Field) | 133 | 64 | 69 |
| KPSM | Portsmouth International Airport at Pease | 126 | 62 | 64 |
| RJTY | Yokota Air Base | 123 | 63 | 60 |
| PAED | Elmendorf Air Force Base | 116 | 55 | 61 |
| PHIK | Hickam Air Force Base | 115 | 47 | 68 |
Most-active aircraft
| Tail | Hex | Type | Flights | Hours | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06-6157 | ae145b | C17 | 128 | 218.6 | $1,836,173 |
| 05-5143 | ae144d | C17 | 114 | 178.5 | $1,499,047 |
| 00-0171 | ae0676 | C17 | 104 | 162.5 | $1,364,849 |
| 07-7186 | ae20c7 | C17 | 100 | 152.3 | $1,279,068 |
| 97-0044 | ae07f6 | C17 | 95 | 177.9 | $1,493,990 |
| 10-0216 | ae4d69 | C17 | 93 | 162.8 | $1,367,360 |
| 08-8200 | ae2fac | C17 | 88 | 159.3 | $1,337,818 |
| 00-0177 | ae0813 | C17 | 86 | 142.1 | $1,193,539 |
| 05-5145 | ae144f | C17 | 83 | 152.1 | $1,277,590 |
| 98-0057 | ae0803 | C17 | 83 | 150.9 | $1,267,216 |
| 03-3114 | ae1197 | C17 | 81 | 159.2 | $1,337,188 |
| 10-0220 | ae4f14 | C17 | 79 | 149.1 | $1,252,213 |
| 98-0056 | ae0802 | C17 | 78 | 154.3 | $1,296,187 |
| 00-0181 | ae0817 | C17 | 78 | 124.1 | $1,042,616 |
| 00-0180 | ae0816 | C17 | 74 | 142.3 | $1,195,564 |
Methodology & limitations
Where the data comes from
Flights are reconstructed from publicly broadcast ADS-B position data, retrieved as per-aircraft historical track files from ADS-B Exchange. We fetch a maintained watchlist of US military airlift/tanker ICAO hex codes and regenerate the most recent 2 days each run so transient gaps self-heal.
What counts as an “RCH mission”
A tracked aircraft/day is only counted when a callsign seen in its track begins with RCH (case-insensitive). This separates tasked Reach airlift from local training and positioning. The callsign is recorded per flight.
How origin & destination are inferred
ADS-B carries no flight plan, so we infer airfields by matching the track's departure point, arrival point, and farthest turnaround point to the nearest airfield in the OurAirports dataset (which includes military bases). Each match gets a confidence tier by distance:
- Confirmed — nearest airfield within 5 km
- Likely — nearest airfield within 12 km
- Approx. — nearest airfield within 18 km
- Signal lost — nearest airfield within 80 km
- Open ocean — no airfield within range (mid-ocean)
More significant airfields are preferred when several are nearby, since airlift uses real runways rather than private strips.
Fuel & cost model estimates
Estimated fuel = flight duration × a per-type average cruise burn rate. Estimated cost = fuel × jet-fuel (JP-8) price, currently $3.50/gallon (configurable). Per-type burn rates used:
- C130 Lockheed C-130 Hercules: ~650 gal/hr
- C17 Boeing C-17A Globemaster III: ~2,400 gal/hr
- C30J Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules: ~650 gal/hr
- C5 Lockheed C-5 Galaxy: ~3,500 gal/hr
- C5M Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy: ~3,500 gal/hr
- K35R Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker: ~2,650 gal/hr
- K46 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus: ~2,400 gal/hr
- KC135 Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: ~2,650 gal/hr
- KC46 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus: ~2,400 gal/hr
- Fuel burn is estimated from flight DURATION x a per-type average cruise burn rate. It does not model takeoff/climb, payload, winds, or holding.
- C-17 cruise burn is approximated at 2,400 US gallons/hour from public USAF performance figures.
- Jet fuel (JP-8) is priced at a configurable default of $3.50/US gallon.
- All fuel and cost figures are rough public ESTIMATES, not official Department of Defense accounting.
This is a documented minimum
Counts undercount real activity: they cover only aircraft on the watchlist that were broadcasting ADS-B within coverage. Military aircraft sometimes disable ADS-B or fly outside receiver range, and the watchlist is incomplete by construction. Treat every figure as a transparent lower bound, not an official total.