The last day of the campaign (Friday), was again very windy and foggy, and we decided to spend the day packing up our equipment. It’s amazing how long it takes to pack up such a small amount of stuff! After packing was complete, I took some time to take a look at the AMF3 instrumentation… Read More

This morning I was optimistic – the wind was way down, and for the first time since we arrived nearly two weeks ago, we saw the sun. By all accounts, it looked like it was going to be a good day for flying. Jack and I headed out around 930 this morning (right at sunrise!)… Read More

This morning the wind was unrelenting and several folks at breakfast were unconvinced that it would let up at all today. However, I was holding on to some hope that we’d get some flights in, mostly due to something I’d seen on the first weather forecast I picked last night, which showed the winds beginning… Read More

For the last few days, I’ve been saying that Tuesday was not going to be a good day for flying, and that came true. With high winds and no icing, we can try to fly, and with icing conditions and low winds, we’re happy to test our equipment. But when there are high winds (~25 mph)… Read More

That title probably sounds somewhat negative, but ultimately, this was a pretty positive day up here on the North Slope. I’ve made a routine of checking the weather display at the Air Force facility every night before going to bed, and every morning when I get done with my morning workout. At first glance, things… Read More

Today was the halfway point in the COALA campaign. As is likely obvious from earlier posts, the wind and weather have limited our operations and this has been somewhat disappointing. Jack and I have been trying very hard to complete flights in the sub-optimal conditions, but ultimately, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re at… Read More

This morning started as yesterday ended – blustery, snowing, and overcast. Despite the bleak weather, Jack and I headed out to the AMF3 to prepare for the day’s measurement activities. Optimistically, we prepared an aircraft for flight and headed out to fly. One of the things that make these small DataHawk aircraft unique is that… Read More

It was another windy day at Oliktok Point. The weather station readout is currently showing sustained values in the 20 mph range, with gusts to 35 mph. The top speed of the DataHawks that we have with us is around 40 mph, and as a general rule, flight gets dicey when winds are above 18… Read More

At first glance, this morning seemed to bring another uphill battle for getting a DataHawk into the sky. Overcast skies, light to moderate snow, and winds blowing at 15-25 mph forced us to turn our attention to the wind vane for our morning work. After some work on the vane and going through the required… Read More

We spent today unpacking our crates, making sure that everything was in working order and setting up our ground station. The DOE ARM program has their third Mobile Facility (AMF3) set up here at Oliktok Point, and in addition to all of the instrumentation that is included with that facility there is some space for… Read More