JMSDF P-3 s/n 5081 suffered a runway excursion on May 8th. No injuries. Info: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/387731

Info: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/375331

https://wingsoffreedommuseum.org/wp/ Located on fence line of former NAS Willow Grove. Visited today to donate aviation-related books. They were very pleased. Parked outside is a beautiful P-3 that was recently restored. This museum is excellent & worth a visit. Jack

I went to jr hi at the former NAS Ft lauderdale in the late 1950s - in the original Navy buildings. At that time the Electra version of the P-3 would be seen taking off from the airport nearby, climbing at a very steep angle. The Navy still had a mine warfare op there. In recent years I moved to Bucks County in suburban Phila. I enjoyed stopping by the small visitor area at NAS Willow Grove. Callsign NXX. They had a number of WWII planes on display including an Me-262 & a Henschel float plane. All gone now but there is a very nice museum nearby that I donated my WWII military aircraft books to. The local ground water is contaminated with the Forever Chemicals left by the Navy from years of using fire-fighting foam. During the late 50s we drove from FL to NY & were on the Chesapeake Bay car ferry when a P-2 overflew us on a training sorty. Jack

Argentina acquires P-3 Orion aircraft for control and surveillance of the South Atlantic October 17, 2023 The Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, and the head of the Argentine Navy, Admiral Julio Guardia, today led the signing of an agreement with the head of Department D3 of the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency of the Kingdom of Norway for the acquisition, through the National Defense Fund, of four P3 Orion aircraft that will be used for surveillance and control and search and rescue in the South Atlantic. “These aircraft have a particular observation capacity and also have a great autonomy, which allows them to fly for many hours, being very useful for the surveillance and control of our territorial sea and especially of our exclusive economic zone. They will also be of great importance for the search and rescue system,” said the Minister of Defense on the Presidente Sarmiento frigate. “The acquisition of these aircraft,” said Taiana, “is a great contribution to strengthening the policy we are developing to improve the surveillance and control of our waters. To do this, we created the Joint Maritime Command, and under its direction the four new ocean patrol boats are used, but, in addition, we needed a long-distance observation aircraft such as the Orion, which will be based in Trelew, a specific observation station of the Naval Aviation.” “We are also in the process of purchasing specific helicopters for hangars on the ocean patrol boats, so we believe that with all these measures we are taking a very important step in covering and defending our sovereignty and taking care of our resources. We are the ones who guarantee control in our waters,” said Minister Taiana. For his part, Guardia said, “These four aircraft are central to the Force, since they allow almost continuous permanence in what are our areas of interest, thanks to the enormous autonomy they have, the radar systems they have, and some other technical elements that we plan to add through national development.” The acquisition of these aircraft will make it possible to recover the capacity for long-range exploration in the Exclusive Economic Zone and to have a greater presence in the maritime areas of interest and the Argentine Antarctic, especially with regard to the control of living and non-living resources and maritime lines of communication. In addition, these aircraft, thanks to their characteristics and performance, are essential to fulfill the functions of search and protection of human life at sea, a responsibility that the Argentine Republic assigns to the Navy. It should be noted that the negotiations for this incorporation began last March and continued throughout the year through meetings held in Buenos Aires, as well as in Norway based on the technical visit carried out by aeronautical engineers from the Naval Aviation Command together with the team from Department D3 of the NDMA. The NDMA, the agency through which the new aircraft were acquired, reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, whose task is to obtain, maintain, and dispose of the material for use by the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Norway. As for the aircraft, one of them is the P-3N version (SAR and Mobile Logistics Support) and the remaining three in the P-3C exploration version, with an average flight potential of 17,000 flight hours, which represents an employment time of at least 15 years. It should be noted that the agreement made by the entire Norwegian P-3 system will be supported entirely with funds from FONDEF. On the other hand, its extensive radius of action of 1,500 nautical miles (2780 km), added to its autonomy of 12 hours of flight, allow it to cover the Argentine maritime coast, continental shelf, and Argentine Antarctica without inconveniences, allowing the permanence in a certain zone or area for prolonged periods. Its ability to operate in all types of weather allows operation from any base and airport on the sea coast, which facilitates its presence in a given area in a relatively short period of time, essential for a SAR search. In addition, the aircraft

NOAA WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter Flight into Hurricane Ian https://www.omao.noaa.gov/find/media

Florida NOAA hurricane hunter team getting new plane The Associated Press November 25, 2021 LAKELAND, Fla. — The Florida-based hurricane hunter team is getting a new aircraft to help chase fierce storms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s team will add a Gulfstream 550 to the three other aircraft at its home base at the Lakeland Linder International Airport in central Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The fleet currently consists of two Lockheed WP-3D Orion four-engined turboprop aircraft and one Gulfstream IV-SP – affectionately named after Muppet characters Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo. NOAA’s 2022 budget request includes $100 million for the acquisition of a new hurricane hunter aircraft. The contract was awarded to Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. The agency has been trying to get a new aircraft since 2019 and originally wanted it to be active by 2022. It will take a couple more hurricane seasons before the new aircraft joins the team and gets a Muppet moniker. “We are continuing to work with Gulfstream on integrating the desired instruments and weather modifications and now expect delivery in time for the 2024 hurricane season,” NOAA Aircraft Operations Center spokesperson Johnathan Shannon told the newspaper. Shannon said the new aircraft will be outfitted with real-time Doppler radar, dropsondes capabilities, enhanced sensors, and space for wing pods to mount cloud sensors. It also will be tailored to carry up to 14 crew and mission systems operators, including flight directors, meteorologists, hurricane specialists, and engineers, he said. As a hurricane hunter plane, the aircraft will be flying between 43,000 and 49,000 feet (13,106 and 14,935 meters) at Mach 0.8 for nine-hour missions as they explore hurricanes and tropical storms. The fleet’s current Gulfstream, named Gonzo, was built in 1994 and joined the fleet in 1997 after modifications were made to support NOAA’s scientific missions, Shannon said. “[Gonzo] is reaching the end of its useful service life. There are no immediate plans to retire the NOAA Gulfstream IV-SP,” Shannon said. “It will continue to fly missions as long as it remains operationally capable.” The fleet needs the addition because of the number of storms they chase each season. The 2021 season was well above average with 20 named storms. but not nearly as taxing to the hurricane hunter team as the 2020 season, which had 30. The team logged 3,500 flight hours in 2020. Last year was the first time both P-3s were deployed at the same time for hurricane exploration, Shannon said. Both P-3s were obtained from Lockheed Martin in the mid ’70s, according to NOAA.