Flight ID:
- 950517I
Flight Track:
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Chief Scientist: Watson/Ziegler Flight Director: Damiano Doppler Radar: Shepherd Pilots: Kennedy/Tenneson Cloud Physics: --- Data Technician: McMillan Radiometer: --- Systems Engineer: Barr Observers: Doswell Navigator: Strong Observers: Butcher (REU), Richter (REU) Takeoff Time: 1843 UTC Landing Time: 0051 UTC Official Mission Duration: 6.3 hrs Mission Breakdown VORTEX: 6.3 hrs ARM: 0.0 hrs Number of Data Tapes Used: Radar: 1 Cloud Physics: 0 Video: 3Data Systems Log
Radar Data System Log Time On(UTC) Time Off(UTC) Comments Tape #1 1854 Begin TA & LF 2342 Stop recording Some problems with radar system, possibly due to heat in cabin. Did not save radar calibration at end of flight. Cloud Physics Log Time On(UTC) Time Off(UTC) Comments 1850 0040 Tape drive problem Data saved on disk ETL Radiometer Log Time On (UTC) Time Off (UTC) Comments 1830 0055
Strong dynamics with mesolow, east-west cold front, bulging dryline,
good CAPE made the chances high for supercell development in central and
eastern Oklahoma. We hurried our planned takeoff and were airborne at
1843 UTC. The Electra followed 30 min later.
On climbout from OKC, there were TCu all quadrants. It was very
clear in southwest Oklahoma. After doing a radar calibration in western
Oklahoma, we performed a mini INIT leg at 500'AGL eastward along 35N. We
encountered the dryline over Chickasha, ever increasing moisture to Purcell,
and finally, southerly winds 20nm east of Purcell with towering Cu.
Following the INIT pattern, we climbed and went northward to contact
the ground teams, and then proceeded to the most intense convective growth 15nm
southwest of Kingfisher, OK. Due to TCu surrounding the main cell and the
need to remain high for repeater coverage, we had difficulty setting up radar
legs until we descended to 2000'AGL and began radar legs at 2112 UTC. We
completed 10 Doppler passes on the supercell before it began to line out and
had to abandon our patterns due to the Tulsa airport traffic area.
We relocated to a single cell south of Tulsa which showed encouraging
evolutions before dying. We completed 8 radar passes before the FC cancelled
operations at 0000 UTC. We returned to OKC at 0051 UTC, consuming 6.3 hours.
Irv Watson