Tag Archives: hunter

Airborne Hurricane Hunters, when did it all start?

The first hurricane (typhoon) hunter was a pilot flying a Second World War T-6 Texan through the eye of a hurricane, on a dare!  Realizing that flying through a hurricane was doable, the U.S. Air Force set upon a long journey of modifying aircraft to collect weather data about hurricanes.

The first data collected, in 1944 by B-25 bombers (WB-25 Army Hurricane Reconnaissance Unit), is credited with saving hundreds of lives.  Prior to the development of airborne hurricane hunters, thousands of people in the United States died as a result of hurricanes, but after the use of flying weather trackers the average death toll dropped significantly.

Painting by Thomas Wojahn of a WB-50 of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Falcon Alpha Mission-1957.

Perhaps the name The Hurricane Hunters came from the the title of a book first published in 1955 about the U.S. military’s obsession with tracking hurricanes. Download your free copy here.

Silent U.S. Navy film, from 1961, showing the use of the EC-121 Warning Star (WV-2) ‘AWACS’ as a hurricane hunter:

Hunter AFB, WB-47E City of Savannah Hurricane Hunter I, September 1963.

Even the B-47 strategic bomber (WB-47) was used as a Hurricane Hunter.

WC-130 Hercules f the 815th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, 920th Weather Reconnaissance Group, being prepared for a mission to monitor Hurricane Allen, August 1980.

Official USAF video history report, including the T-6, B-25, B-29 (WB-50) and C-130:

A USAF WC-130 Hercules from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, ‘Hurricane Hunters’, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. USAF photo dated 1995.

But it not just lives that are saved with the creation of airborne hurricane hunters, in this 2018 video report about the purpose of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi) it’s revealed that mass evacuations of the public cost one-million USD per mile of coastline!  Taxpayer costs can be reduced by providing accurate weather data to allow for more timely evacuation orders:

HurricaneHunters.com

WC-130J & WP-3D: HUNTING DORIAN

T-6 SNJ TEXAN POKEY AIRPORT, 2012 & 2014

Vehicle I-D: NATO’s Cold War era Hawker Hunter Russian aggressor?

U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps use an outdated aircraft to simulate Russian aggressors.

Marine Corps Base Hawaii, 24NOV2020. USMC photo by Corporal Jacob Wilson.

Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist Third Class Arnesia McIntyre, 23NOV2020.

Key West, Florida. USN photo by Danette Baso Silvers, 09OCT2019.

Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Eric M. Fisher, 14MAY2019.

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. USAF photo by Airman First Class Gerald R. Willis, 07SEP2018.

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. USAF photo by Airman First Class Gerald R. Willis, 07SEP2018.

The U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, conducts ‘dissimilar’ air combat training, pitting contracted Cold War era British empire made Hawker Hunters against the super expensive F-35B Lightning-2.

A Mark 58 Hawker Hunter aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Terry Haynes, 18APR2018.

Two seat Hunter operated by taxpayer funded Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC). USMC photo by Lance Corporal Terry Haynes, 18APR2018.

ATAC Hunter over South China Sea, Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise 33 (PHIBLEX). USN photo by Petty Officer Second Class Raymond D. Diaz the Third, 09OCT2016.

Two seater Hunter. USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Dengrier Baez, 26JUN2016.

ATAC Hunter at Boca Chica Field, Florida, USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian Morales 25MAR2015.