WP-3D Hurricane Hunters - The Aviationist

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NOAA43 approaches NOAA’s Air Operations Center (AOC) after a hurricane hunting training sortie. (All images: Author)

We visited NOAA Air Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida to discuss the impending Atlantic Hurricane season.

On May 1, 2017, the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) moved its Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) to a brand new 156,043 square foot facility at the Lakeland Linder International Airport (LAL) in Lakeland, Florida. They moved from their 99,000 square foot facility at MacDill AFB (MCF) in Tampa, Florida. The move to their new home provided NOAA with mission specific facilities and a 37% increase in useable operations area.

The NOAA AOC move was necessary because MacDill AFB, primarily a KC-135R tanker base, needed additional room for an incoming KC-135R squadron, the 50th Air Refueling Squadron (the Big 5-0 as MacDill’s Deputy Chief Pub Affairs Terry Montrose told me they were referred to), a squadron with roots dating back to WW II. The Big 5-0 took possession of NOAA’s former space on October 2, 2017, and added 250+ personnel to the roster at MacDill AFB.

In review, NOAA’s move from MacDill AFB to the Lakeland Linder International airport turned out to be a huge win-win for both NOAA and MacDill AFB.

That’s a fast-forward that jumped a significant global event: COVID-19. In speaking with some of the team members at NOAA during my visit there, I was privileged to be the recipient of much information, and many resources for this article. To cover the effects of COVID-19 on NOAA’s AOC mission would be a massive article unto itself. What they did convey to me without hesitation, and with zero uncertainty, was that NOAA and its super dedicated and ultra-capable people remained steadfast to their multiple missions globally, hurricane research (hunting).

Two Lockheed WP-3D Orions

 “Kermit” & “Miss Piggy” (N42RF and N43RF, radio callsigns NOAA42 and NOAA43, respectively): according to NOAA, their two Lockheed WP-3D Orion “Hurricane Hunters” play a key role in collecting data vital to tropical cyclone research and forecasting.

NOAA43 approaches NOAA’s Air Operations Center (AOC) after a hurricane hunting training sortie. NOAA43 is seen taxiing with Lakeland’s new tower in the background. Look closely and you can see that these images were taken on one of central Florida’s 90°+ days. Direct head-on view of NOAA42 illustrating the massive propellors of Lockheed’s WP-3D Orion. Lockheed originally came up with this design hoping the giant props would generate extra lift, which they do.

These highly-capable four-engine turboprops also support a wide variety of atmospheric and air chemistry missions. The two NOAA WP-3Ds were specifically made, brand- new, by Lockheed for NOAA and first flew in 1975. The aircraft were introduced into service in 1976.This is an interesting photograph because it encompasses a lot of the Lakeland Linder International Airport: We see NOAA’s two WP-3Ds (Kermit in the foreground and Miss Piggy taxiing), we see a general aviation Cessna departing runway 27 to the west, and to the very left of the photo you can see the beginning of the Amazon Prime airport facility. Amazon Prime’s presence is BIG at LAL, and it will be the feature of an upcoming article.

These aircraft are not re-missioned ex-military aircraft. The scientists aboard the NOAA WP-3D Hurricane Hunters utilize a combination of weather radar, spectrographic lasers, disposable Dropsondes, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure and track their targeted storms.

A dropsonde is an expendable weather reconnaissance device created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). These are the ports through which NOAA’s dropsondes fall. The cockpit of WP-3D “Kermit”. We can tell this because of the small Kermit doll hanging over the instrument panel. Miss Piggy has one, of her, hanging there too. I’ve been told by the pilots that they can tell how strong a storm is by how much the dolls bounce. Technology. After every storm intercept, NOAA’s aircraft are adorned with a “victory mark” with the name of the storm in it. Also, the markings plainly illustrate that NOAA’s scope is global.

Our visit to NOAA’s AOC facility culminated with a one-on-one meeting with base commander, Cmdr. Christian Sloan. Cmdr. Sloan assumed command of NOAA’s AOC on Dec. 2, 2019. For a guy with such a big job, Cmdr. Sloan came across as very approachable, very informed, and overall a really nice guy. Not to sound overly colloquial, but considering this tightly-run NOAA AOC ship, a ship run by Cmdr. Sloan, I think I was expecting somebody a little meaner. In fact, everybody we encountered at the facility came across as truly exceptional, friendly, and just happy to be there. It reminded me a little of the time I spent working with the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration team The Blue Angels. Everybody was sharp, they did their job very well, and they were all, genuinely, happy to be there. When you have a team like that, and a team like that at NOAA’s AOC facility, that kind of success starts at the top. Like them, we were happy to be there and honored that the people at NOAA took their valuable time to spend time talking to us – and, just a reminder, the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is just days away.

Quartering view of NOAA42, “Kermit the Frog”. Kermit currently differs from Miss Piggy in that it has a weather probe protruding from it nose radome AND port wing. Miss Piggy only has the probe on her port wing.

NOAA does have “home grown” programs where new pilots interested in becoming part of this exemplary service can start from the ground up. For those interested, you can visit the NOAA CORP webpage here.

This is the first of a series of NOAA related articles. We gathered extensive information that needs to be shared, including a story about the time a WP-3D lost an engine in the middle of a Category- 5 hurricane and went as low as 100’ ASL, a story conveyed to us by Paul T. Flaherty, Chief of the Science Branch at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center and Jack Parrish, NOAA Flight Meteorologist, Project Manager (40+ years experience).

Miss Piggy artwork.