Iceberg Reconnaissance 

 and Communications 



During the 1987 Ice 

 Patrol year (from October 1, 

 1986, through September 30, 

 1987), 80 aircraft sorties 

 were flown in support of the 

 International Ice Patrol. These 

 included pre-season flights, ice 

 reconnaissance flights during 

 the season, post-season flights, 

 and logistics flights. Pre- 

 season flights determined 

 iceberg concentrations north of 

 48°N. These iceberg concen- 

 trations were needed to esti- 

 mate when icebergs would 

 threaten the North Atlantic 

 shipping lanes in the vicinity 



of the Grand Banks of New- 

 foundland. During the active 

 season, ice reconnaissance 

 flights located the southwest- 

 ern, southern, and southeast- 

 ern limits of icebergs. Logis- 

 tics flights were necessary to 

 support patrol aircraft with 

 aircraft maintenance problems. 

 Post-season flights were made 

 to check on the iceberg distri- 

 bution, to retrieve parts and 

 equipment from Gander, and to 

 close out all business transac- 

 tions from the season. 



U.S. Coast Guard air- 

 craft, deployed from Coast 

 Guard Air Station Elizabeth 

 City, North Carolina, conducted 

 all the aircraft missions. 

 Aerial ice reconnaissance was 

 conducted solely with SLAR- 

 equipped HC-130H aircraft. 

 HC-130H and HU-25A aircraft 

 were used on logistics flights. 

 Table 4 shows aircraft use 

 during the 1987 season. 



Table 4. Aircraft use during the 1987 IIP Year 

 (October 1, 1 986 - September 30. 1987) 



Aircraft 

 Deployment 



Pre-season 

 Regular Season 

 Post season 



Total 



Sorties Flight Hours 



14 



58 



8 



80 



69.9 



370.2 



38.0 



478.1 



Iceberg Reconnaissance Sorties by Month 



Month 



Jan 



Feb 



Mar 



Apr 



May 



Jun 



Jul 



Aug 



Total 



Sorties 



1 



2 



11 



6 



13 



10 



7 



3 



53 



Flight Hours 



4.7 

 13.5 

 81.4 

 43.4 

 90.3 

 69.3 

 46.8 

 19.5 



368.9 



11 



