NOAA Hurricane Hunter Flight

[AA 777]

Just saw this on Flight Aware and thought it was really cool....Thought you guys would enjoy it!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/NOAA42

Ladies and Gentlemen from the flight deck, were going to leave the seatbelt sign on for todays flight! :mrgreen:

[PhilDernerJr]

I would think that a P-3 would take quite a beating flying through a hurricane. Old prop-job like that.

[LGA777]

That is cool Matt thanks. I like the way Flightaware calls the P3 a "Quad Turboprop". While an acurate description, I don't think I have ever seen that term used.

LGA777

[SengaB]

FBOweb gives a better view of it as it doesn't get cut off. You can zoom in as well.
http://www.fboweb.com/s/tr/qt2.aspx?i=NOAA42

Senga

[dimamo1983]

So Cubans were fine with a US military plane flying overhead?
I'm sure they had other things to worry about right at that time, but still...

[flyboy 28]

So Cubans were fine with a US military plane flying overhead?
I'm sure they had other things to worry about right at that time, but still...

I don't believe NOAA operates under a military designation.

[LGA777]

ABC's Good Morning America had a nice video from onboad a P3 flight out of MacDill AFB this morning. I could not link to the actual video but from this link in the middle of the page click on "Inside the eye of a Hurricane" fairly interesting video.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/

LGA777

[DHG750R]

Here is a link to the schedules , callsigns

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAREPRPD.shtml

[Mateo]

NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce. US civil flights go over Cuba just as Cuban civil flights go over the US, although I'm sure it was a conscious decision to send a NOAA WP-3B over Cuba instead of the USAF WC-130J. Keep in mind, too, that the data gathered are made public, and the Cuban meteorological authorities are free to make use of it for their own products.

[moose135]

From NOAA's web site (http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/stories/sir19.html):

NOAA is the only federal agency with hurricane tracking capabilities that is authorized by Cuba to fly in its airspace.
So sending a USAF WC-130 over Cuba would be out of the question.

Also, from the same page, is this information on the aircraft NOAA uses:

2 WP-3 Orions, or P-3s, turboprop aircraft (nicknamed Miss Piggy and Kermit) – Used for both hurricane research and reconnaissance. P-3s penetrate the eyewall repeatedly at altitudes up to 20,000 ft. and as low as 1,500 feet (which is by far the most dangerous role as it allows marginal time for the aircraft to take corrective measures if it gets caught in maximum hurricane winds - up to 175 mph - in the eyewall). The P-3s collect research-mission data critical for computer models that
predict hurricane intensity and landfall. This information is used differently than the hurricane reconnaissance information provided to the National Hurricane Center by U.S. Air Force Reserves WC-130s, which penetrate hurricanes at higher, less turbulent altitudes to determine the position of the hurricane eye.
As you can see, the AF WC-130s and NOAA P-3s have different missions, and are not really interchangeable.

[Mateo]

Thanks, Moose. I wasn't aware of the difference, but it makes sense. Last night, there were two flights going on simultaneously, WC-130J 97-5304 and WP-3B N42RP. For the photogs, the P-3s aren't usually in the Northeast due to the nature of their missions, but in odd years, NOAA brings one of them on a "Hurricane Awareness Tour" that stops in a couple of populated coastal areas (OQU, WWD, MTN, and ECG for 2007). I noticed also on the daily plan there was a mission scheduled for N49RP, NOAA's G-IV. The Gulfstream is used mostly for its high-altitude capabilities - the prop jobs aren't doing any work at FL410!

[LGA777]

On Sunday I posted a link to ABC's Good Morning America website, here it is again

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/

Then click on Inside the Eye of the storm midscreen.

As today they go on another Hurricane Hunter flight, this time on one of the WC-130's mentioned above from Homestead, AFB. and is fairly interesting.

Enjoy

LGA777

[LGA777]

For the photogs, the P-3s aren't usually in the Northeast due to the nature of their missions,
We where fortunate that a P-3 was the highlight of the LGA Kids Day back in 2003, due to the closeness of all the Static displays it was hard to get a shot of the entire aircraft but here is my shot of the tail boom.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=155113

Personally the most interesting aircraft I have toured at the annual LGA Kids Day event.

LGA777