Whiskey Charlie by Tom Robison

"In the eye of a hurricane, you learn things other than of a scientific nature. You feel the puniness of man and his works. If a true definition of humility is ever written, it might well be written in the eye of a hurricane."  Edward R. Murrow, speaking aboard a WB-29, in the eye of Hurricane Edna, 10 Oct 1954 

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U.S. Air Force aerial weather reconnaissance began a new era in 1962 when the Air Weather Service received its first Lockheed WC-130 Hercules. Over the intervening years, the Air Force and Air Force Reserve has operated 50 WC-130s: Three A-models, 17 B-models, six E-models, 15 H-models, and ten new J-models. ¹¹

WC-130s have served all over the world, from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the forests of central Europe, from the islands of the Caribbean and the South Pacific to far above the Arctic Circle, from Japan to the Azores to Australia to the West Indies to China to the Middle East.

The primary mission of the WC-130 has been that of tropical storm reconnaissance, but there have been other, no less demanding operations, such as atmospheric sampling¹, rain-making⁵, fog-seeding ⁹, winter storm reconnaissance, and the air-drop of Christmas gifts. They have suffered the pounding of torrential rain, gut-wrenching turbulence, and the indignity of battle damage. They have carried their crews through the boredom of synoptic reconnaissance and into the intense snow squalls of the worst winter nor'easter.

This is a meager attempt to chronicle the history of these aircraft. They are presented here in the order that they were obtained by the Air Force.

This document is as accurate as I can make it using the published sources available to me. Comments, suggestions, additions and corrections are encouraged.  Contact the author at:   herkynut@yahoo.com

Last Revised:  28 January 2011

The C-130 had been coveted by the Air Weather Service since it was first introduced in 1955. It was the ideal long-range reconnaissance aircraft, and a perfect replacement for the aging WB-29s then in service. AWS was thus deeply disappointed in mid-1956 when it learned that the Air Staff had approved the transfer of 66 B-50 aircraft to AWS to be modified to WB-50. Even though AWS enjoyed a high priority due to its success at radiation sampling and hurricane reconnaissance with war-weary B-29s, the mission simply did not warrant the procurement of brand new aircraft.

After a grueling and deadly six years of operations with the WB-50, AWS was finally granted authority to purchase five new C-130Bs, purpose-built at the factory for atmospheric sampling¹. They were delivered to the 55th WRS at McClellan AFB, California in October and November of 1962, and were immediately put to work flying daily reconnaissance tracks across the Pacific. After a brief period of OT&E, they were dispersed across the Pacific, one each to the 54th, 56th, and 57th WRS’, with the 55th keeping two, one at McClellan, the other at Eielson.

The five were modified for weather reconnaissance with the AN/AMR-1 Dropsonde Recording System² at WRAMA in 1965 and were transferred to the 53rd WRS, then at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico. The 53rd wasted no time in putting their new Herks to work, recording the first hurricane penetration by a WC-130 on 27 August of that year. (Since that time, the 53rd has logged thousands of hurricane penetrations with the WC-130B, E, H, & J without serious mishap.)

All five B-models were again modified in 1970-71 under Project Seek Cloud³. 62-3492, which had become something of a guinea pig for the WC-130 fleet, was subsequently modified with the prototype Kaman Aerospace Advanced Weather Reconnaissance System4 (AWRS) in 1972.

As delivered, these B-models were a natural aluminum finish with full color markings and "day-glo" red panels on the nose, upper wings, and tail surfaces. After modification in 1965, they were painted the standard MAC gloss gray, again with full-size color markings and a variety of MAC, AWS, and Squadron emblems and designations. They remained in this livery until conversion to transport.

As a result of a number of HC-130H aircraft becoming available to AWS in 1972, the five original B-models were "traded in" and converted to standard transport versions. 62-3496 was converted in 1974, and -3493, -3494, and -3495 were converted in late 1976. 62-3492 remained a WC-130 until 1979, as she was the only Herk equipped with the AWRS.

62-3494 was sold to Pakistan in 1985. On 17 August 1988, this aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Bahawalpur Airport, killing the Pakistani president and several senior military officers. It is suspected that the aircraft was sabotaged or shot down by Pakistani dissidents.

Having proven the worth of the C-130 as a sampling and reconnaissance platform, AWS asked for and received six more, in 1965. 61-2360, 61-2365, and 61-2366 were transferred from TAC, and 64-0552, 64-0553, and 64-0554 were brand new. They were modified for weather reconnaissance² at WRAMA. All six were delivered to AWS in 1965, and transferred to the 54th WRS, Andersen AFB, Guam, that same year. In 1967 they were sent to Lockheed-Marietta for the addition of the atmospheric sampling system, and then returned to the 54th where they remained through mid-1972. For the following fifteen years all of them would transfer 'round and 'round amongst the 53rd, 54th, 55th and 56th squadrons, wherever the operational demand was greatest. After the 54th closed in 1987, all six Es were reunited at the 53rd WRS, then at Keesler AFB, Mississippi.

In 1989, all the E-models were modified once again with the Improved Weather Reconnaissance System (IWRS)⁸ which had finally reached operational status after three years of testing and evaluation. At the same time, the atmospheric sampling infrastructure was removed from these aircraft, thus ending forever that capability of the WC-130.

In 1991 the 53rd was deactivated, and all six Es were transferred to the 815th Weather Reconnaissance "Flight" of the 815th TAS, 403rd TAW, an Air Force Reserve unit at Keesler. (For a time the 815th Flight was designated as the 920th Weather Reconnaissance Group.)

In 1993, the 53rd WRS Hurricane Hunters were re-activated as an Air Force Reserve entity at Keesler, and assumed all weather reconnaissance duties, aircraft, and personnel from the 815th. At that time, four C-130H aircraft of the 815th AS, which had previously been WC-130s, were re-converted to the type, and the six E-models were granted a well-deserved retirement in the Arizona sunshine.

NOTES

1) The Atmospheric Sampling equipment consisted of:

• Two U-1 air collection "Foils", located on either side of the cargo compartment just aft of the flight deck. These were approximately 6 feet long by about 2 feet in diameter in the middle, Each contained a "juke-box" style filter-changing mechanism, which held a dozen 18" paper filters in wire screens. The paper filters captured particulate radio-active matter in the air as the airstream passed through the foil.
• The I-2 sampling foil, a smaller intake used to continuously monitor outside air to "sniff" for hot spots; the intake and exhaust ports of this device were built into the starboard lower fuselage just under the starboard U-1 Foil.
• The "P"-System, a palletized 4-compressor system that was mounted on the floor of the cargo area. It collected whole air samples from the aircraft bleed-air system, and compressed the air into steel bottles for later analysis.
• The above equipment was controlled by the sampling console, mounted to the floor of the cargo bay on the starboard side just aft of the forward bulkhead. The equipment was usually operated by an AFTAC technician.

All of the Atmospheric Sampling equipment (except for the I-2 Foil) was easily removable and was rarely installed unless mission requirements called for it. It was completely independent of the weather reconnaissance system.

2) The "state of the art" in weather reconnaissance equipment in the 1960s was the Landers, Frary & Clark AN/AMR-1 "Radiosonde Receptor", a one-box tube-type receiver designed to record the data received from the Bendix AN/AMT-6 dropsonde. The system recorded strictly "raw" data on a strip chart, which was then converted into code groups by the dropsonde operator. The ARWO then transmitted this information by voice to ground stations.

3) The Project "Seek Cloud" modification included the following equipment:

• The AN/APN-42 Radar Altimeter, AN/AMQ-28 Rosemount Total Temperature System, and the AN/AMQ-19 Dropsonde receiver and vertical sub-system control panel, all of which had been removed from retired WB-47's;
• The AN/AMQ-29 Dropsonde Data Recording System, a.k.a. the Hewlett-Packard 9206A System, consisting of several pieces of off-the-shelf test equipment configured to record and quantify signals from the dropsonde receiver;
• HP 9100B Desktop Programmable Calculator;
• The AN/AMQ-31 Dropsonde Dispenser, designed around the existing AN/AMT-13 Radiosonde (The dispenser is a marvel of engineering simplicity: two telescoping tubes, with a big spring in the top, and an electrically actuated trap-door at the bottom. After the 'sonde is loaded, the upper half of the tube is lowered and locked, compressing the spring against the top of the 'sonde. The push of a button opened the trap door and the 'sonde was flung from the aircraft.)
• The AN/AMQ-34 Cambridge Optical Dewpoint Hygrometer;
• Barnes Engineering PRT-5 Infrared Sea-Surface Temperature System;
• Three dual-channel strip chart recorders to collect wind speed and direction data, ambient dew point, sea-surface temperature, pressure altitude and radar altitude. These, along with controllers for the hygrometer and sea-surface thermometer, were installed in a new Weather Officer's console on the flight deck.

4) In the wake of Hurricane Camille in 1969, the Air Force and the Commerce Department launched a joint effort to develop an advanced storm reconnaissance data collection system. In May, 1971, Kaman Aerospace was awarded over $7-million to develop the Advanced Weather Reconnaissance System (AWRS), later designated the AN/AMQ-32. After a cost overrun of some $2.5 million, Kaman installed the prototype system on 62-3492 in early 1972. The system was installed just behind the forward bulkhead on the starboard side of the cargo bay. (NOAA's Ark may have also carried this system, but the records are unclear.)

Political infighting between the Air Force, DOD, and the Commerce Dept. delayed the implementation of a production system until the design was obsolescent, so the Air Force and Commerce Dept. started over with a new plan that resulted in the IWRS. (see note 8)

5) The best published discussion of the USAF rain-making effort in Southeast Asia can be found in John Fuller's Thor's Legions. Fuller and Charles Bates briefly discussed this activity in their earlier work, America's Weather Warriors. An article on the 1966 test missions over Laos can be found in the December 1997 issue of VIETNAM magazine. Precious little else has ever been seen in print about this intriguing operation.

6) Isn't it ironic that a former hurricane hunter aircraft should be destroyed on the ground by a hurricane? Even though 58-0740 was damaged beyond economical repair, the fuselage was salvaged and is being used as a loading trainer at Homestead AFB.

7) 65-0965 had only recently arrived at the 54th WRS after having been converted to WC-130H. On 12 Oct 1974, "Swan 38" departed Clark Air Base in the Philippines on a recon of Typhoon Bess. The last radio contact was at about 2200, when their position was approximately 400 miles northwest of Clark. An investigation board later speculated the crew was on the final leg inbound to make a second fix when they encountered some catastrophic problem. No emergency communications were received. Sea conditions at the time were such that a successful ditching was highly unlikely. Four days of relentless searching by rescue aircraft and two surface ships proved unsuccessful, and the six crewmen were declared missing and presumed dead. The callsign "Swan 38" was retired and a plaque honoring the crew was affixed to the squadron building at Andersen. [Said plaque was removed when the 54th closed in 1987, and it's whereabouts are currently unknown] The crew members, carried on AWS rolls as Killed In Action, were:

8) As stated above, the IWRS resulted from the aborted AWRS. The system is made up of three semi-independent sub-systems:

• The Atmospheric Distributed Data System (ADDS) records and computes flight level meteorological data from various angle-of-attack probes, the radar altimeter, the pressure altimeter, ambient temperature and dewpoint sensors, and navigation data. This subset is the "horizontal" part of the system;
• The Omega Dropsonde Windfinding System (ODWS) processed the temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction data received from a dropsonde as it fell to the ocean. The 'sonde determined wind vectors and position via signals from the Omega navigation system. The system automatically processed and formatted the received data into standard format messages and relayed the data to the National Hurricane Center via satellite link. This subset made up the "vertical" part of the system;
• SATCOM, the Satellite Communication system, provides a rapid and reliable means of communicating critical weather data to the National Hurricane Center or other ground stations.

Since the elimination of the Omega navigation system in 1997, The Omega system components of the IWRS have been replaced by AVAPS, which uses lightweight digital radiosondes with integral GPS receivers for windfinding and positioning. New processing hardware in the dropsonde operator's console includes a personal computer, color monitor, new narrow-band receiver, GPS processors, and radiosonde interface circuitry. Another significant advantage of the system is its ability to track and record data from four radiosondes simultaneously. AVAPS was incorporated into all WC-130H aircraft in 1998. However, the installation in the new J-model has the ARWO pallet and the Dropsonde operator pallet side by side at the forward end of the cargo compartment, just aft of the forward bulkhead (FS245), with the Dropsonde position facing forward and the ARWO position facing aft. The dropsonde dispenser has also been moved to a central location just aft of the Dropsonde console.

9) In the mid-1960s, Elmendorf AFB, near Anchorage, Alaska, and Rhein-Main AB, near Weisbaden, Germany, were critical to USAF operations in Europe and the Pacific. These bases were located in areas that were very susceptible to "super-cooled" or frozen fog, and anytime these bases were fogged in, it created serious disruptions to USAF missions.

Scientists had discovered years before that seeding this type of fog with powdered dry ice would clear the fog by creating snow. Many experiments were performed to develop an appropriate seeding method, and eventually a suitable crusher was developed. The task of clearing the fog at these bases was given to the Air Weather Service.

Therefore, from 1966 through 1972, the 54th WRS packed up and moved to Elmendorf for the seeding season, which usually began in November and ended in mid-February. Likewise, the 53rd WRS conducted similar operations in Germany.

The ice crusher was a massive, roaring, clattering device that literally hammered 10-pound blocks of dry ice into powder. The dry ice was kept in insulated ice chests which were strapped to the cargo deck. Each 10-pound block was loaded into the crusher by hand.

The end result is powdered dry ice that merely drops through the hole where the dropsonde dispenser had been, and scatters in the wake turbulence of the aircraft. The dry ice caused frozen fog particles to join together, and the resultant heavier particles fell to the ground as snow, thus clearing the fog. It was a very successful, though expensive, operation. Later, other cheaper methods were developed to dissipate the fog, but none have been quite as effective.

10) From the FY1997 Appropriations bill: "Sec. 8041. None of the funds appropriated or made available in the Act shall be used to reduce or disestablish the operation of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the Air Force Reserve, if such action would reduce the WC-130 Weather Reconnaissance mission below the levels funded in this act."

From the FY1998 House Appropriations Subcommittee Budget Summary: "WC-130. The Committee continues to strongly believe that the weather reconnaissance mission is critical to the protection of Defense installations and the entire population living along the east and Gulf coasts of the United States. The level specifically funded in this Act is to support a stand-alone squadron with dedicated 10 PAA aircraft, 20 line assigned aircrews, evenly divided between Air Reserve Technician (ART) and Reserve aircrews. The Committee directs the Air Force to provide a minimum of 3,000 flying hours to perform tropical cyclone and winter storm reconnaissance missions, aircrew training, counterdrug support, and airland missions in support of contingency operations during the non-hurricane season or slow periods during the season. The Committee is aware that advancements in two pilot cockpit technology do not provide an adequate margin of safety in the unique and dangerous hurricane reconnaissance missions that range from tropical storms to category 5 hurricanes which have winds in excess of 200 miles per hour. The Committee is pleased that the Air Force agrees with user recommendations to include a fully equipped augmented crew station to be manned by a navigator in all WC-130J aircraft and directs that the final operational requirements document reflect this decision."

11) It was hard to keep track of which WC-130Js were actually being operated by the 53rd WRS during the period after the initial delivery until they were declared fully operational in 2005.  It is believed that all ten WC-130Js are now owned by the 53rd WRS. The issues delaying the use of the J-model were many, and, unfortunately, the unit was not allowed to discuss problems that were being worked.  From official AF news releases, we know that the two biggest problems were, 1) damage occuring to the leading edge of the new high tech composite propellers, caused by heavy rain, and occasional hail, found in tropical storms, and  2) a lack of sensitivity with the new color radar.  The propeller problem was solved by adding a metal "taco" to the leading edge of each blade.  Changes in the radar software fixed that problem, allowing the aircraft to be declared fully operational. 

SOURCES FOR WHISKEY-CHARLIE

This history could not have been written without Lars Olausson's Lockheed Hercules Production List, published every year by the world's premier Herky Nut;

BOOKS:

• Thor's Legions, Weather Support to the U.S. Air Force and Army, 1937-1987, by John F. Fuller, 1990;
• America's Weather Warriors, by Charles C. Bates and John F. Fuller, 1986;
• Air Weather Service: Our Heritage 1937-1987, by Rita M. Markus, Nicholas F. Halbeisen, and John F. Fuller, Military Airlift Command, 1987;
• Colors & Markings of the C-130 Hercules, Vol. 7, Special Purpose Aircraft, by Ray Leader;
• Flying the Weather, The Story of Air Weather Reconnaissance, by Otha C. Spencer, 1996;
• B-29 Superfortress in Detail and Scale, Part 2, Derivatives, by Alwin T. Lloyd, Tab Books, 1987.
• The Fireballs: An Unofficial History of the 54th WRS, by Robert Mann, privately published.

PERIODICALS and MAGAZINE ARTICLES:

• The Hurricane Hunters, Gary Frey, Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society, Spring 1980;
• World Airpower Journal, Volumes 6,7,8, and 18;
• USAF Aerial Weather Reconnaissance Using the Lockheed WC-130 Aircraft; Henderson, Capt. Rodney; Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 59, No. 9, September 1978;
• Sow A Seed Of Science; Cranfill, Capt. John E, and Cole, Sgt. Dave, Airman, November 1971;
• The Typhoon Hunters; Clarke, Richard, Air Classics, December 1974;
• Hurricane Hunters; Lutz, LtJG Galen I., Naval Aviation News, July 1975;
• The Hurricane Hunters; Sack, Capt Thomas L, Air Classics, issue unknown;
• Into the Eye; Graham, SMSgt Vickie M, Airman, December 1984;
• AF Tries Again to Cut Back "Storm Trackers"; Air Force Times, 18 May 1992;
• Day Of The 'Storm Trackers'; Air Force Magazine, November 1992;
• Air Force Crew Keeping an Eye on Storm; Kristin Hussey, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette, 11 Jul 1996;
• The Hurricane Hunters; Schmid, Major Valerie, AWS Observer, May/June 1997;
• USAF Puts Weather Control on the Map; Evers, Stacey, Janes Defense Weekly, 26 Nov 1997;
• The Weather War; Stevaux, Craig, VIETNAM Magazine, December 1997;
• Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine:

     WEB SITES:

• 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC); 
• The C-130 Hercules Headquarters
  
• The National Center for Atmospheric Research
• A Hurricane Hunter's Photo Album, by Scott Dommin
• Joey Tabaco's Weather Page
• Air Weather Reconnaissance Association Home Page
  

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE:

• Correspondence with Maj. Valerie Schmid, MSgt Robert E. Lee, and Tsgt David Blackmon of the 53rd WRS (AFRC), Keesler AFB, Mississippi;
• Correspondence with Lars Olausson, Herky Nut Emeritus, Såtenäs, Sweden;
• Correspondence with Ms. Lil Wilbur, Mr. John Fuller, and Ms. Rita Markus, current and former AWS Historians;
• Corrections and updates from various e-mail correspondents on the C-130 Internet Mailing List (with particular thanks to Bob Daley).
• For photos of WC-130s on the net, click on this link:  http://www.theaviationzone.com/images/html/hercules/wc130/page1.asp
•  My deepest thanks to Bernie Barris and Joey Tabaco for their assistance with this article.