Recon Flight Pattern

[ticka1]

James,

I have a strange question - does the Recon plane have a specific flight pattern they fly each time they fly into a storm? Do they start at point A and then take observations from all points in the storm for data? What point do they start at most of the times - the center or in one of the quadrants of the storm?

Thanks,
Patricia

[jfranklin]

Well, you can't start in the center, can you. :-)

The standard pattern is called an "alpha" pattern or a "figure 4" pattern. It starts 105 nm out from the center in either the NW, SW, SE, or NE quadrants, depending on where the plane is coming from. They fly through the center, go out 105 nm on the other side, and then go downwind (counterclockwise) to the next quadrant. So, for example, if they start in the NW quad 105 miles out, they would go through the center to a point 105 miles SE of the center, then fly north to a point 105 nm NE of the center, then to a point 105 nm SW of the center, and so on.

James

[ticka1]

Okay James you got me on that one. Thanks for the answer - I am trying to learn how to read recon reports and have a link to a decoder on the web.

Thanks.