Mission Plan :

N42RF will fly an NHC-tasked reconnaissance mission into Tropical Storm Hanna north of Hispañola leaving MacDill AFB, FL at 04:00 UTC and recover at MacDill AFB at 12:00 UTC.

Mission Summary :

Shortly after takeoff, it was discovered that the computer network, and the Tail and Lower-fuselage radars were all down. Only the computer network onboard the aircraft was brought back up during the flight. As a result, the mission was conducted with no radar available. Four passes through the center were completed, with a dropwindsonde released in each. The pressure remained within 1 hPa of 990 hPa throughout the mission as the storm moved slowly northwestward away from land. Maximum flight-level wind speed was 65 kt with maximum surface wind speed of about 60 kt from SFMR reported, though the latter value is questioned.

Problems :

Radar problems limited the utility of this mission.

Mission Data