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(big band music with old movie reel)

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(people talking)

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- [Army Bar Goer] Here's to the F five!

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- [Narrator] It all started as a dare

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between two Army Air Corps pilots in 1943.

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Flight instructor Major Joe Duckworth

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flew a propeller driven single engine

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T-6 Texan trainer into the eye

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of a hurricane.

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He made it out alive then flew

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back in a second time.

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Carrying a weather officer along.

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It was the beginning of how the

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Air Force collects hurricane data today.

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In 1944 the 3rd Weather Reconnaissance

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Squadron became the first official group

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of hurricane hunters.

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They flew WB-25 D Mitchell's through

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the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane

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reporting data back to the National

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Hurricane Center.

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The Mitchell's bomb bay's were modified

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to carry extra fuel tanks
instead of munitions.

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These tanks allowed for longer flights.

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50 people died in the Great Atlantic

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Hurricane compared to
nearly seven hundred in

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the 1938 Great New England Hurricane.

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The hurricane hunters were credited

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with keeping the death toll significantly

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lower by giving out ample warning.

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- Resident's are advised to get out now.

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- The Air Force stripped some B-50

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Super fortresses of
their defensive armament

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in 1953, equipping them for long range

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weather reconnaissance missions.

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Now called the WB-50, the aircraft had

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high altitude atmospheric
samplers, doppler radar,

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weather radar, and a bombay
fuel tank for extended range.

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In 1959 the WC-130B Hercules became

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operational, followed by the E model

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in 1962 and then the H model in 1964.

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The H model flew until 2005, when it was

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replaced by the current WC-130J.

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As America entered the space age, the

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first successful launch of a weather

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satellite in 1960 helped forecasters

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detect hurricanes.

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Satellites still play a big role in

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forecasting hurricanes,
but they don't provide

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the information needed to predict

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hurricane development and movement.

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The atmospheric distributed
data system, or ADS

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and omega drops on wind finding system,

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became standard equipment in 1987.

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The ADS system has sensors
that measure temperature,

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humidity, altitude, wind
speed and direction.

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The data from these sensors
is collected and sent to

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the National Hurricane Center.

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Over the years the hurricane
hunters have had many

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designations and called
many air fields home.

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On November 1st, 1993, the
Fifty Third weather recognisance

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squadron as it is known today,

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was reactivated and assigned
to the Air Force Reserve.

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In 2007, the stubbed
frequency microwave radiometer

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was added to the hurricane
hunters arsenal of technology,

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to continuously measure surface winds,

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and rainfall rates below the aircraft.

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The mission of the hurricane hunters,

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makes it possible to give it
advance warning of hurricanes,

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increasing the accuracy
of storm predictions.

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(light music)