For the first time two Ice Patrol Flights were made the same day by 

 the same aircraft. See table 2 for 1964 aerial ice reconnaissance 

 statistics. 



Aircraft were first used by the International Ice Patrol in 1946 to 

 supplement the patrol ships. In 1949 the ice limits were guarded 

 and ice observation conducted solely by aircraft. Since 1949, Ice 

 Patrol vessels have been used only 3 years, the heavy ice years of 1950, 

 1957, and 1959, and the aircraft has become recognized as the primary 

 tool for guarding the ice limits and for ice observation. Nevertheless 

 there comes a time when aircraft cannot effectively do the job alone, 

 and the patrol by ship must be established. The patrol vessel is 

 required when there is a prolonged iceberg threat to Track B or C 

 near the Tail of the Banks. This area is perhaps the foggiest in the 

 world especially in the spring. Aircraft, simply cannot effectively 

 guard the limits under the above circumstances. 



Seven observation flights were made from 18 January to 29 Febru- 

 ary to determine the southern limits of ice, detect its progress and to 

 enable the decision on when to commence the International Ice Patrol. 

 Two of these flights were made in a survey from the Grand Banks of 

 Newfoundland along the coast of Labrador to Hudson Strait entrance 

 for the mam purpose of measuring the 1964 iceberg potential. Four 

 postseason flights were made from 29 July to 21 September to detect 

 the movement of stray bergs onto the Grand Banks after the conclu- 

 sion of the ice season. A total of 10 flights were made from 22 Sep- 

 tember to the end of the year to determine monthly ice conditions 

 along the Labrador coast, conduct an iceberg census of the western half 

 of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, and to conduct monthly iceberg 

 surveys in northern areas. 



Table 2. Aerial Ice Reconnaissance Statistics — 1964 Season 



1 Days on which an estimated 50 percent of flight area can be searched visually with 25-mile track 

 spacing. 



COMMUNICATIONS 



Effective ice observation is of no use to ships unless the pertinent 

 results therefrom can be rapidly and accurately transmitted to them. 

 For this purpose Commander, International Ice Patrol has Coast 



