The NASA ER-2 aircraft took off from Warner Robins Air Force Base today (September 28) at 10:30 am (EDT) to sample the rainbands of Hurricane Georges north of the eye. Jim Barrilleaux, the ER-2 pilot, flew a triangular pattern from approximately Fort Walton Beach, Florida due west to Slidell, Louisana. After this point, he headed southeast to 28 degrees North latitude and 88 degrees West longitude which was should have been an area south of the forecast position of the eye. After passing through this point the pilot headed back to Fort Walton Beach. This triangular pattern was flown twice before the pilot broke off to fly under the TRMM satellite at 2:14 pm (EDT). He then returned to the triangular pattern for one more pass around. The total flight time was 6.5 hours.
The pilot observed a solid cirrus shield during the triangular manuever. He
did not see any cloud feature resembling an eye until he approached the TRMM
subtrack. At that point, he noticed a feature to the south of his track with
bubbling cloud formations. His aircraft altitude during most of the mission
was 65,000 feet. He did not experience any turbulence.