Hurricane hunters

The Hurricane Hunters are aircrews Reconnaissance Squadron]] and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunters; such missions have also been flown by Navy units in Vermont and other Air Force and NOAA units. Hbdhjoef rfjhbfcbdhhdhdhdhhsh Five U.S. aircrews have been lost during such missions since they started during World War II.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

1943 Surprise Hurricane

The 1943 Surprise Hurricane, which struck Houston, Texas, during World War II, marked the first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. It started with a bet.

That summer, British pilots were being trained in instrument flying at Bryan Field. When they saw that the Americans were evacuating their AT-6 Texan trainers in the face of the storm, they began questioning the construction of the aircraft. Lead instructor Major Casey Hamilton took one of the trainers out and flew it straight into the eye of the storm. After he returned safely with navigator Lt. Ralph O'Hair, the base's weather officer, Lt. William Jones-Burdick, took over the navigator's seat and Duckworth flew into the storm a second time.

This flight showed that hurricane reconnaissance flights were possible, and further flights continued occasionally. In 1946, the moniker "Hurricane Hunters" was first used, and the Air Force and now Air Force Reserve have used it ever since.

VW-4

The United States Navy's VW-4 / WEARECORON FOUR Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Four, "Hurricane Hunters" was the seventh U.S. Navy squadron dedicated to weather reconnaissance. They flew several types of aircraft, but the WC-121N "Willy Victor" was the aircraft most often associated with flying into the "eye of the storm." The squadron operated WC-121s between late 1954 and 1972.^[1] VW-4 lost one aircraft and crew in a penetration of Hurricane Janet,^[2] and another to severe damage in a storm, but the mortally damaged Willy Victor (MH-1) brought her crew home, though it never flew again. During 1973-1975, VW-4 operated the turbine-propeller Lockheed WP-3A Orion.

Swan 38

In 1974, a newly converted WC-130 (serial number 65-0965) was transferred to the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the "Typhoon Chasers", at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. The aircraft was sent to investigate Typhoon Bess. The crew departed Clark Air Base in the Philippines with the callsign "Swan 38".

Radio contact with the aircraft was lost on 12 October 1974, apparently as the aircraft was heading into the typhoon's eye to make a second position fix. There were no radio transmissions indicating an emergency on board, and search teams could not locate the aircraft or its crew. All six crew members were listed as killed in action.^[3]

Swan 38 was the only WC-130 lost in a storm.

Hurricane Katrina

The landfall of Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005 devastated Keesler Air Force Base, home of the 53rd WRS. The equipment and personnel of the squadron were flying out of Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Atlanta. Despite heavy losses, the squadron never missed a mission from the National Hurricane Center. The 53rd has since returned to Keesler.

TV series (2012)

A reality television series featuring the USAFR 53rd, also entitled Hurricane Hunters, debuted on The Weather Channel in July 2012
(Official page for the TV Series).

Bibliography

Marson, Peter J., The Lockheed Constellation Series, 1982, Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, Tonbridge, Kent, ISBN 0-85130-100-2.

References

^ Marson, 1982, p. 318
^ Harlin Garland (October 1966). "U. S. Navy Hurricane Hunters". ESSA World. Environmental Satellite Services Administration: 7.
^ Tom Robison. Whiskey-Charlie! Retrieved on 2008-09-26.

External links

[1] Marson, 1982, p. 318

[2] Harlin Garland (October 1966). "U. S. Navy Hurricane Hunters". ESSA World. Environmental Satellite Services Administration: 7.

[3] Tom Robison. Whiskey-Charlie! Retrieved on 2008-09-26.

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