Re: Hurricane planes get overhaul as NOAA eyes next generation
Posted by
Chris in Tampa on 7/2/2015, 9:51 pm
I thought that was nuts too when I heard it and then read:
"NOAA last conducted a study like this in 2009, Twining said, and determined Miss Piggy and Kermit would need upgrades but could keep on flying."
It was time for round two. I suppose it must be very detailed, but it seems like a massive amount of money to spend. That might include actually going over the aircraft in great detail, like taking it apart. (not sure how much the previous study cost) Perhaps that is how they found that they needed $42 million in refurbishments. As for the future, I guess they are considering other aircraft which might involve a lot of research to determine how the aircraft might behave in hurricanes. How well can that aircraft do with all the other types of research NOAA does. NOAA takes things on and off their aircraft all the time for various research missions, they really are a leader in researching things, and they need to make sure they can do that with other aircraft.
As for the drones, that is understandable. You could make sure they can float and put a long lived tracker on it, but unless you had a boat in the area, it would probably cost too much to retrieve. I guess they could try to use them closer to land where it might be possible to retrieve them easier in the water, or even land them on land, but making them waterproof and/or able to land might not be possible that easily. (or maybe they can do some of that now, but I have never heard of it) |
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