G-IV and NASA Global Hawk coordinated mission

This past Wednesday (Sept. 14, 2011), the G-IV and NASA’s Global Hawk flew a coordinated mission to test and validate the dropsonde system on the Global Hawk. They flew a coordinated racetrack flight pattern in the Gulf of America, off the coast of Florida. Twenty-six sondes were launched in tandem. Below is the flight pattern that was flown as well as pictures of the Global Hawk taken from the G-IV.