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through the eye of a hurricane. Thus began the story of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, nicknamed the "Hurricane Hunters."

Initially, the unit undertook a variety of weather reconnaissance flights to aid the metrological offices of the US and armed forces. Although this is still the case to a lesser extent, it was not until the early 1950's that the 53rd became the predominant force in hurricane tracking, with the navy and satellites taking over many of the other weather forecasting tasks. Despite the fact that satellites might have been considered to be of more use in gathering hurricane data, as one hunter put it, "they could not get close up and personal," thus the aircraft, their crew and their missions were still invaluable.

The history of the 53rd squadron has been quite chequered, with there being several gaps in its fifty-year plus life. In 1947, it was disbanded for three and a half years, before being resurrected again in 1951. A similar hiatus occurred again in 1960 when it ceased to exist for a further eighteen months, and again in 1991 for two years. However, like a phoenix it has kept rising from the ashes of disbandment and today it is as strong and needed a team as ever.

The team have used many aircraft during their tours of duty, including the B-17 Fortress, WB Superfortreses and even the WB-47 Stratojet, but the most favoured plane, and one that has now been in use for over forty years, is the Hercules, which has run countless missions with the squadron. Similarly, they have seen many homes in their time, including Bermuda, Georgia, Puerto Rico and England, before finally making its home at the Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

Though many of us might consider that the role these "Hurricane Hunters" perform is bordering upon madness, there are thousand of people in the world today who owe their lives to the unsung heroes of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the "Hurricane Hunters."

Sources:
http://www.hurricanehu nters.com/cyberflight.html

Learn more about this author, Paul Lines.
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