Hurricane Hunter flight coverage (Bill) USAF(Res) WC-130J

[Jason Foster]

Looks like I'll be heading out this evening for a flight on the USAF (Reserve) Hurricane Hunters WC-130J.

Originally it was scheduled for tomorrow morning, but because of the storm, they've bumped up my time to fly at around midnight tonight. Still have to get security approval for the new time, but that shouldn't be too bad.

I don't have time now to include links for tracking and such, some of you other guys will have to include those for me. I will be departing out of Andrews Air Force Base.

I should have tons of fun stuff to share when I'm back late Sunday or Monday.

 

[cdcollura]

Good afternoon,

WOW - Jason!

I did the Gulfstream IV jet with Jim Edds back in 2005 ... I wanna get on one of those low level ones soon ;-)

I just linked to your site!

Good luck!

 

[George Kourounis]

Awesome, I flew into Ike on one of the WC130-J planes as it slipped off the Cuba coast. It was a blast. Have fun.

I'm currently in Halifax, waiting for Bill to show up.

 

[Jason Foster]

Man, that was super sweet. I'm back now, and took a quick nap. Now I have to work on the video and photos. Will post here what I can.

BTW..I used a Sony Z1U....that camera is effing' heavy. I don't remember the other HD 3ccd/cmos cameras being that heavy. I hope the HD camera I get isn't that heavy. Otherwise I'm really going to have to up the workout .

 

[Jim Edds]

Sony Z1 heavy? Maybe you were pullin a lot of Gs in the updrafts.

 

[Jason Foster]

yeah Jim...spec is 4.3 lbs. Compared to other cameras I've held and used, it felt a bit heavy (plus there was a LED light and, shotgun mic, hand mic with mic cord that were attached). Most cameras are like 3 1/4 lbs. or less, and getting lighter and lighter with each new version....with the exception of the FX1000 (4.6 lbs). I don't know how it compares to other brands thought. It's funny how the difference of just 1 lbs makes, but while on the flight I had to hold the camera in many different ways to get the shots in the tight spaces (or out the small windows). Holding the camera over my head for long periods got pretty tough at times. I'm sure also having to counter act the sometimes sudden moves of the WC-130J wasn't helping either, but the camera was heavy feeling.

I much would have preferred the Gulfstream flight you and Chris went on for certain video elements (well audio). It was so noisy on the Hercules that you couldn't even hear each other talk. I tried to adjust/balance the audio, but never got enough background noise canceled out. I'm sure when I get equipment of my own I'll remember to get a quality mic that deals with this issue much better. It was my first flight on a Hurricane Hunter so I was kinda going into blind. I certainly should have called you and Chris first, but they certainly didn't give me a ton of time to prepare.

I see George got on the USAF flight too. I'm certainly talking to you about the flight...I found it pretty tough to get a ton of footage, especially since a large portion of my flight was at night.

 

[Jason Foster]

Me with the plane, at the end of the 14 hr. hop into Hurricane Bill Sunday morning.

This was shot around 5:30am EDT.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

Cool shot Jason ... Notice the "hail damage" to the nose / radome of the WC-130 ;-)

 

[George Kourounis]

Hey Jason.

Yes, the Hurricane Hunter flights are extremely noisy but there is a way to capture the conversations that are going on. (This technique works in helicopters too)

Take a good quality, wireless lavalier lapel microphone and put it in your earpice of the headphones, between the headphone speaker and your ear. This way, the outside noise is reduced and the comms are picked up easily.

Some planes allow you to take a direct feed from the comm system but I find that is rare and that this mic trick works well.

I'm glad you enjoyed Hurricane Bill. I was enjoying it along the Nova Scotia coastline... I'll post some photos when I eventually get home. I drove 1000 km yesterday and I still have another 800 to go today.

 

[Jason Foster]

Hey Jason.

Yes, the Hurricane Hunter flights are extremely noisy but there is a way to capture the conversations that are going on. (This technique works in helicopters too)

Take a good quality, wireless lavalier lapel microphone and put it in your earpice of the headphones, between the headphone speaker and your ear. This way, the outside noise is reduced and the comms are picked up easily.

Some planes allow you to take a direct feed from the comm system but I find that is rare and that this mic trick works well.

I'm glad you enjoyed Hurricane Bill. I was enjoying it along the Nova Scotia coastline... I'll post some photos when I eventually get home. I drove 1000 km yesterday and I still have another 800 to go today.

That is one trick I certainly will have to use. That is somewhat like what the PAO mentioned to me when I first encounter the issue. Interestingly enough, the audio off the Z1U actually came out good for the non-verbal stuff, fairly quiet (so I got the levels right for B-roll stuff). I am going to pick up a splitter in both 1/4" phono jack and XLR (looked like what they use on the plane too, not just for the camera) and then I'll just record the audio separate with a digital voice recorder. I'll keep a small box set-up and away, and plugged in the entire flight (next time). I'm sure it'll be $300+ for parts and a recorder that can handle the 10-14 hour flight. I also want to check the frequency if I can also just use a scanner or other receiver for the audio, and not even bother plugging in. I know all the FAA stuff is on VHF (108mhz-132mhz), but I have no idea if the USAF has the same, or different, or even an outside receivable source. I did notice the entire crew does NOT use wireless headsets, and have a cord (long ones) attached to their sets all the time. I thought this might keep the crew audio internal, and not transmitter over the airwaves (so in war the enemy doesn't here anything).

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

That is one trick I certainly will have to use...

The George Kouranis idea should really work well. Since you mentioned it, I tried a similar thing with a cheap PC pike (the clip-on one) for a separate audio feed when I was abourd the L-39 jet fighter.

The MIC totally fit inside the headphones and was well protected from the loud noise / whine of the jet. I taped separate video off my hand-leld camcorder, but queued it exactly to the mic audio being recorded to one of those micro-digital recorders in my pocket.

The flight was about 30 minutes, so I kept the camcorder running the whole time, and started the audio from the MIC at the same time, so both tracks were easily que-able.

The two audio tracks were easy to edit and combine in Adobe Premiere. This is even a better method because you now have a separate "inside" audio track for the dialogue and intercom, plus the "ambient" sound from the camcorder / video feed.

I figured I'd thrown this in as I may use it the next time I am in high-noise "extreme" event like that discussed here. Thanks for the ideas Jason / George!

 

[Jason Foster]

...The flight was about 30 minutes...

Your Katrina flight was only 30 minutes...wow, that was fast then. I was on the plane 11 hours....and no comfy seats, although I did get to ride upfront in the cockpit for Take-off and Landings.

 

[cdcollura]

Good afternoon,

Your Katrina flight was only 30 minutes...wow, that was fast then.

Not the Katrina flight - That was 9-10 hours. I was talking about the ride in the jet fighter (L-39).

 

[Jason Foster]

Not the Katrina flight - That was 9-10 hours. I was talking about the ride in the jet fighter (L-39).

Oh..that makes more sense...I skipped over the part when you wrote that.