Summary of LEAR 36 FLIGHT #2
Monday 13/1/97 from St. John's, Newfoundland (YYT: 47.5N, 53W)

all locations, altitudes, winds & temperatures are from controls & GPS in airplane cockpit 
(i.e. pressure altimeter), not from dropsondes.  all information is approximate.

takeoff:  9:41 Z from YYT  (scheduled for 9:15 Z, fuelling delay).  6:11 local time.
landing:  15:15 Z at YYT

flight time:  5 h 35 min
total distance:  approx. 2000 miles
during flight:  no noteworthy weather, 30-100% cloud cover below flight level..

pilot:  Gordon Stevenson (Flight International)
co-pilot & navigator:  George Kickhofel (  "  )
dropsonde operator & chief purser:  Dean Lauritsen (NCAR)
science-liason-on-board & chief crew:  Rebecca Morss (MIT)

planned flight path:
YYT        -> 40N 58W, time of arrival = 11Z
	-> 40N 45W
	-> 48N 41W
	-> YYT
drop ~ 12 sondes, at corners & midpoints of legs


DROPSONDES:
it takes an avg. of 30 seconds after launch for sonde to begin tracking satellites & obtain 
wind data (using GPS).  several sondes took much longer to obtain winds, which is noted;
thermodynamic data was still recorded in these cases.

leg 1:
increasingly slow air speed due to increasing headwinds.

1.  10:06 Z	45.8N, 54.0W	27000 ft = 8.2 km = 344 mb
	T=-47C		winds from 196deg at 46 knots = 23 m/s	near launch location

2.  10:39 Z	43.1N, 56.0W	27000 ft
	-45C		211deg at 79 knots = 40 m/s
     no sonde wind data above 7 km. 
     beautiful sunrise!

3.  11:00 Z	41.5N, 57.0W	27000 ft
	-41C		233deg at 82 knots = 41 m/s

proceeded into the 1st turn and were cleared to climb to 41000 ft by air traffic control.  next drop 
was a few minutes after turn, in mid-climb.

leg 2:
tailwinds, air speed much faster.  slow climb to 41000 ft due to air temperature.

4.  11:29 Z	40.0N, 56.6W	34500 ft = 10.5 km = 240 mb
	-43C		257deg at 137 knots = 69 m/s
     no sonde wind data above ~5 km.  next sonde launched early to obtain wind data.

5.  11:35 Z	40.0N, 55.3W	37000 ft = 11.3 km = 217 mb
	-36C		259deg at 137 knots = 69 m/s
     no sonde wind data above ~9.5 km.

6.  11:44 Z	40.1N, 53.7W	39000 ft = 11.8 km = 197 mb
	-43C		271deg at 113 knots = 57 m/s
     no sonde wind data, probably due to error in detector channel (4).  this channel was
        used for sonde 6 only.  next sonde launched early to obtain wind data.  
     noted 9C surface temperature.

7.  11:54 Z	40.1N, 51.8W	39500 ft = 12 km = 192 mb
	-41C		293deg at 144 knots = 72 m/s
     poor signal (but data still obtained) for 1st half of drop.  noted 10C surface temp.

8.  12:12 Z	40.0N, 48.2W	40000 ft = 12.2 km = 188 mb
	-42C		272deg at 134 knots = 67 m/s

9.  12:28 Z	40.0N, 45.1W	41000 ft = 12.5 km = 179 mb
	-46C		280deg at 131 knots = 66 m/s
     altitude calcuated by sonde is ~ 5 km too low, due to bit error in signal.  signal somewhat 
        reduced at beginning due to turn just after drop.

cleared back down to 27000 ft by air traffic control, began descent.  drops 9-10 were slightly 
early in order to obtain higher altitude data.

leg 3:

10.  12:43 Z	41.3N, 44.2W	35000 ft = 10.7 km = 239 mb
	-46C		253deg at 146 knots = 73 m/s

11.  13:18 Z	45.2N, 42.4W	27000 ft
	-43C		165deg at 51 knots = 26 m/s

leg 4:

12.  13:44 Z	48.0N, 41.2W	27000 ft
	-43C		244deg at 120 knots = 60 m/s
       sonde launched just after turn.

13.  14:03 Z	48.0N, 43.8W	27000 ft
	-46C		214deg at 50 knots = 25 m/s

14.  14:34 Z	47.9N, 48.4W	27000 ft
	-49C		212deg at 22 knots = 11 m/s

then back to St. John's.  sunny & beautiful, very smooth landing.