more flights are required to cover the whole of 

 the limits leaving less time to cover interior 

 areas. When the area encompassed by the 

 limits of iceberg danger is large, the potential 

 for Ice Patrol reconnaissance to sight icebergs 

 is reduced. The further north in the Labrador 

 Current reconnaissance is conducted, the 

 higher the density of icebergs. When all re- 

 connaissance flights are dedicated to flying 

 along the li mits to define the area, the potential 

 coverage of the interior is greatly reduced and 

 thepotential for icebergs to drift south of 48 

 North in the Labrador Current and never be 

 sighted increases. The lack of interior cover- 

 age does not effect Ice Patrol's ability to fulfill 

 its mission but it does affect Ice Patrol's annual 

 report of the estimate of icebergs that drift 

 south of 48 North. 



Ice Patrol Reconnaissance 

 (1960-1982) 



Ice Patrol conducted visual aerial re- 

 connaissance during this period. On an as 

 needed basis, surface patrol craft, supple- 

 mented aerial reconnaissance. The surface 

 patrol craft's duty was to stand by the southern 

 most iceberg and report its position to shipping 

 and Ice Patrol headquarters. When it melted, 

 the patrol craft would locate and remain with 

 the next most southern iceberg. Surface pa- 

 trol craft were used only during the 1972 and 

 1 973 seasons. Vessels capable of conducting 

 oceanographic work were deployed to the Ice 

 Patrol operation area to conduct oceanographic 

 research for many of the years covered by this 

 report. These vessels were not considered 

 surface patrol craft but did report the positions 

 of observed icebergs. Neither the surface 

 patrol vessels nor the research vessels con- 

 tributed substantially to the number of iceberg 

 sightings. 



Dunng the period from 1963 to 1982, 

 Ice Patrol made iceberg survey flights north 

 along the Labrador coast up into Baffin Bay. 

 The iceberg sighting data from some of these 

 flights are included in the digital database. 

 The information entered into the data base 

 does not representthe complete set of sightings 

 received by Ice Patrol from these flights. Only 

 the data contained in the retained Ice Patrol 

 paper records was entered into the data base. 

 These flights were used to get an early indica- 



tion of the upcoming season's severity and 

 therefore did not effect the estimate of ice- 

 bergs crossing 48 North. 



Coast Guard aircraft were deployed 

 and available at a Canadian base of opera- 

 tions throughout the season. In 1 962, the HC- 

 130 (B model) was introduced as the aircraft 

 for Ice Patrol's mission replacing the R5D 

 (average patrol length 1200 miles). The HC- 

 1 30 was a longer range aircraft allowing more 

 area to be covered in a single flight. The B 

 model ice reconnaissance flights averaged 

 about 1500 miles in length, including transits 

 to and from the search area. In 1 981 , the HC- 

 130 H model was introduced into service with 

 Ice Patrol. This model had about 20 percent 

 more range (average flight track length of 

 1800 miles) than the B model. With each 

 increase in range, the aircraft covered more 

 area increasing the possibility of detecting 

 more icebergs during a single flight. 



From 1960 to 1970, Ice Patrol recon- 

 naissance aircraft were based out of Argentia, 

 Newfoundland. A permanent Coast Guard 

 aviation detachment was stationed in Argentia 

 with several aircraft at their disposal. This 

 allowed for more than one aircraft to fly ice 

 patrol reconnaissance flights to different ar- 

 eas on the same day when the weather was 

 good. In 1970 with the closing of the U.S. 

 Naval AirStationatArgentia, Ice Patrol moved 

 its base of operations to the Canadian Forces 

 Base at Summerside, Prince Edward Island. 

 The one aircraft used by Ice Patrol was de- 

 ployed from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth 

 City, NC and not permanently stationed in 

 Canada. The move from Argentia to 

 Summerside greatly increased the time re- 

 quired to make the transit from the operating 

 base to the iceberg search area. The increase 

 intransit corresponded to adecrease in search 

 time (and area) for icebergs. During periods 

 when good weather was forecast, the aircraft 

 would remain overnight in St. Johns, New- 

 foundland reducing the transit time to the 

 search area. 



In 1974, the Ice Patrol base of opera- 

 tions for aerial reconnaissance was moved 

 from Summerside to St. Johns. The base of 

 operations remained in St. Johns through the 

 end of the 1982 season. This change in 



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