On the Heritage Trail with Curator Mark Weber: NOAA Aircraft Operations Center

MARK WEBER: I'm Mark Weber, curator of the NOAA Heritage Program, and we're on the Heritage Trail at NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center, home of the famous P-3 Hurricane Hunters Kermit and Miss Piggy. Come on, let's go inside. Located in Lakeland, Florida, the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center was once based in Miami and called the Research Flight Facility. That's where airborne hurricane research really took off.

The aircraft fleet started with a pair of DC-6s. Those were replaced in the 1970s by two Lockheed WP-3D Orions, including the magnificent Kermit. Packed with radars and other sophisticated instruments, NOAA's P-3s are flying laboratories and weather stations, each operated and supported by an amazing team of professionals like NOAA flight engineer Dan Tyson. Dan, thank you for meeting with NOAA Heritage today.

Tell us about the P-3s. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be a flight engineer, and P-3s?

DAN TYSON: So I start flying P-3s in the Navy. I did 11 years in the Navy, and once I got out, I got a phone call from NOAA to come fly. Which to me, being a Florida resident, born and raised, it was a great experience and a dream come true.

MARK WEBER: And what do flight engineers do on the P-3?

DAN TYSON: So flight engineers are there for all normal and emergency procedures. So when things are great, we're there to start the engines. And when things are bad, we're there to tell us, hey, this is, no more. We need to, either find an alternative, or trick the system to work the way that we need it to be, or “Hey, let’s, we're done for the day. Let's go home.”

MARK WEBER: Okay, so how many flights on the P-3 have you had?

DAN TYSON: I've had hundreds of flights on the P-3.

MARK WEBER: Okay. And a couple of wild rides in there.

DAN TYSON: Yes, sir. So every every storm series, it seems like it's it's always a wild one.

MARK WEBER: Well, I guess we've got some great treasures from, the past of the P-3s here. What can you tell us about these items today?

DAN TYSON: So this is Kermit and Miss Piggy. They were actually used, to be for airshows, so--

MARK WEBER: Okay.

DAN TYSON: We had our airframe department or metalwork, they actually came up with these cool little flight seats, flight station seats. All we do is put them underneath the nose radar, there's a little glass dome area, and there would be sitting there, and it looks like they're kind of flying the plane. So it's really cool, like showpiece, going through the, the airshows and people see, and the kids love it.

MARK WEBER: Excellent. So I know there's the nose art of Kermit and Miss Piggy on the aircraft, but I gather inside the aircraft, there is always a Kermit or Miss Piggy in their respective airplanes flying as well.

DAN TYSON: Yeah, there's always going to be some sort of Kermit and Miss Piggy all sprinkled throughout the aircraft. We actually have them in our flight station, and they're dangling there. And that's one of the ways I determine how strong the storm is. If I see Kermit or Miss Piggy swinging around like crazy, like, wow, some good bumps there.

MARK WEBER: It's a very technical piece of equipment and unique to Noah. I guess. So what's this little photo album here?

DAN TYSON: So when we originally got the aircraft, it was in 1975. June 3rd. And this is a photo album of us accepting that aircraft. So this is N42 or Kermit. And this is the original paint scheme when it came from Lockheed Martin. And it's a cool little collection of photos of the original crew, gaining the aircraft.

And it's doing its first flight, acceptance flight. So it's really awesome to have this piece of heritage right here.

MARK WEBER: Sure. Now, I know this was a famous Navy aircraft, but these aircraft that came to NOAA were made specifically for the organization, I gather.

DAN TYSON: Correct. Yes. They came straight off the line from Lockheed Martin directly into NOAA custody.

MARK WEBER: Now, one of the important pieces of gear used by NOAA that I guess the Navy doesn't use are dropsondes. And these are pretty amazing. And, like, this is, I guess, the earliest model, right?

DAN TYSON: Yes, sir. That is, one of the oldest models we have here. And essentially what, they're used to determine how strong the storm is, whether it's wind speed, pressure, altitude, dew point, humidity, it's all going to relay that information back to the aircraft. Then we're going to take that data and put it into the models so we can determine where the storm's actually going to go.

MARK WEBER: Okay. And how was this deployed?

DAN TYSON: So we utilize a couple different methods. But the most popular one is called a PSLT or Pressurized Launch System. So we don't have to depressurize the aircraft. We can put it inside of a tube and it will shoot out directly from the aircraft.

MARK WEBER: Okay. And then what happens after it's shot out of the aircraft?

DAN TYSON: So a little parachute pops out and it slows it down to about 30 meters per second. And while it's falling down, it’s constantly relaying that information about four times per second back to the aircraft.

MARK WEBER: Wow. Amazing. And so the, I see the, quite a few different sizes here. Is this just the evolution of these instruments over time?

DAN TYSON: Yeah. As as we evolve, we're constantly adapting and changing and revamping our program and our system to see how can we better the space that we have and lessen our footprint in the environment itself. So we actually constantly revamp these so they get smaller and smaller and smaller.

MARK WEBER: Okay. And how many of these would you deploy during a typical hurricane flight?

DAN TYSON: Anywhere from 30 to 35.

MARK WEBER: Wow. Well, thank you so much for your time today. Dan. This has really been very interesting. Thank you for what you do for NOAA. I'm Mark Weber, Curator of NOAA Heritage on the Heritage Trail.