The weather observer was located in the nose of the aircraft, forward of the pilot and co-pilot. In the forward compartment behind the pilots were the navigator, the radar operator, the right scanner, and the left scanner (who also served as the dropsonde operator).
In 1947, the WB-29 made the first low-level hurricane penetration at night. The missions were long, typically 10 to 20 hours. In those days, it took 30 minutes to collect, encode, and transmit each weather observation, compared to only 30 seconds with today's automated system.
A typical weather reconnaissance mission of the 53rd during the days of the WB-29 was one flown on a Sunday in early 1952. At 3:30 a.m. the nine man crew was on the ramp at Kindley Field beginning radio, engine and equipment checks in preparation for a 14-hour flight. The control tower reported a take-off time of 4:35 a.m. as 60 tons of aircraft, fuel, equipment, and men were airborne over the Bermuda shoals. The plane headed southwest for the first 500-mile leg of a track designated as "Gull Item."
By about 5:00 a.m., the weather observer had composed the first of 22 weather reports completed during the mission. The data included readings of temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and radar altimeter measurements. A few hours later, at the Air Weather Service headquarters near Washington, D.C., this "Station One" report of the standard "Gull Item" track became an important piece of the puzzle that formed the world's weather picture for the day.
At 7:30 a.m., the WB-29 reached the end of the first leg of the track and began climbing to 10,000 feet for the second leg which was 700 miles in length on a northeast heading. Box lunches were handed out at 8:30.
The big aircraft churned on, grinding out periodic weather reports for transmission from the various "stations" along the route. The cloud cover thickened and the aircraft began to pass through cloud buildups that reached upwards to 14,000 feet. By 11:40, the flying weather station had reached the end of leg two. Another leisurely climb followed on a southeast heading to 18,000 feet.
After nearly nine hours of flight and a second round of box lunches, the plane neared "Station 16," 1,600 nautical miles from Kindley. A dropsonde was released on arrival at the designated point. The dropsonde was a small weather unit attached to a parachute. As it descended, a tiny radio transmitted readings on temperature, atmospheric pressure, and humidity back to the aircraft.
As the flight neared "Station 19," the first signs of weariness began to show in the crew. The second dropsonde was released at "Station 21" and its code was recorded by the dropsonde operator. Spirits revived as the pilot made the final turn on the last leg of the flight.
70 miles from Kindley, the big plane began its descent at about 1,500 feet per minute. The lighthouse on St. David was sighted as dusk descended on Bermuda. The wheels touched down at 6:35 P.M. and another "Gull Item" mission was complete.
