In February 2000, the Naval Postgraduate School's CIRPAS undertook a research project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Ours was just one part of a major ongoing project. The principle investigator for our part was Dr. Carl Friehe of the University of California, Irvine. The overall goal of the project is to improve understanding of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL), its spatial structure and variability, and the resultant ocean surface forcing over the Japan/East Sea (JES). For more information go to: http://www.whoi.edu/science/PO/japan_sea/ or http://sam.ucsd.edu/onr_jes/onr_observations.html.
The original plan had been to operate out of South Korea, but it was determined that Misawa, Japan would be a better option. The principle op-area was located between 60 and 150 miles south of Vladivostok, Russia and was about 400 NM from Misawa. So on January 8, 2000, the CIRPAS UV-18A Twin Otter, with 1000 extra gallons of fuel in special ruggedized ferry tanks, departed Monterey, CA for Hickam AFB in Hawaii on the first leg of the ferry flight to Misawa. The 7900 NM trip included stops in Hawaii, Midway Islands, Wake Island, Guam and Okinawa. It was my priviledge to be one of the pilots to make this journey, certainly one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever taken. I had crossed the Pacific before in other aircraft, but never so low, slow and with so many stops in pleasant places.
Since the major obstacle to our crossing was the 2100 NM leg to Hawaii, we had planned to be ready to launch January 7th and to go as soon as we got the favorable winds necessary to make it safely. We had until the 21st to get to Misawa, so since we were able to launch on the 8th, we could delay enroute in order not to get to Misawa too early. We left Monterey just after dawn and arrived 13 hours later at Hickam. We stayed in Waikiki until the 11th when we departed Hickam around noon in order to arrive at Midway just after sundown. The reason for arriving after sundown was to avoid gooney-bird activity. The gooney-birds (Laysan Albatross) don't fly at night.
Midway airport is operated by the Midway Phoenix corporation and they did an excellent job of hosting us. We were lodged in the old Navy BOQ and assigned old Navy beach bicycles to get around. Midway gets some "eco-tourists" and others who have discovered this incredible get-away. The island is serviced by Aloha airlines and offers fishing, scuba diving and bird watching. We spent an enjoyable day riding around the island, watching the gooney-birds and other wild life and even assisted in a beach cleanup effort (for which we were rewarded with free Midway posters). We departed just before sun-up on the 13th and arrived at Wake on the afternoon of the 14th after crossing the International Date Line.
Wake is still an Army Air Field, but it is run by a contractor. After checking in to our rooms, we rented gear and went snorkeling in the lagoon, then walked out on the beach to look at old Japanese gun emplacements, ate dinner and watched a spectacular sunset. We left the next morning for Guam.
We rented a car in Guam and went to find a hotel. Our first hotel catered entirely to Japanese tourists. Everything was designed to make a Japanese tourist feel at home. The telephone and even the bathroom fixtures were all from Japan. The rent was at Japanese levels too, so we went in search of a cheaper place to stay the next day. We found a hotel that offered rooms for $25 for three hours and we got a real deal - just $35 for a whole day! I made sure the sheets were clean, but I wouldn't touch the bedspread. We spent Sunday and Monday exploring the island and departed Tuesday morning, the 18th, for Kadena AB in Okinawa. We rested the 19th and flew the last leg to Misawa on the 20th. Our ground crew met us there and immediately began to reconfigure the aircraft for the first mission scheduled for the 31st.
We
flew our first mission on the 31st and completed the project after 11 missions
on February 28th. Two other pilots ferried the aircraft back, using 60 knot tailwinds
to go direct from Misawa to Midway in 13 hours, then on to Honolulu and home to
Monterey. I flew back commercial. For the picture
gallery, click on the picture above.