What Is This Thing
A 54-minute documentary produced by Combat Camera, the U.S. Air Force’s military film unit. It was made specifically to commemorate the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron’s deactivation. Not a commercial production. Not a broadcast. A limited-distribution piece made for the squadron and the Hurricane Hunters Association, and probably not much else.
It’s not on IMDb. It’s not on the Internet Archive. No commercial database has a record of it. This is almost certainly a lost media item.
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
The Hurricane Hunters flew WB-29s, WB-50s, and eventually WC-130s into Atlantic and Gulf storms from 1943 through 1991. The first deliberate flight into a hurricane eye happened on July 27, 1943, when Lt. Col. Joseph B. Duckworth flew an AT-6 Texan near Galveston, Texas on a bet. The 53rd flew that mission profile for 48 years.
Post-Cold War budget cuts ended it. The Air Force decided hurricane reconnaissance was a non-combat activity and inactivated the squadron. Hurricane Andrew hit in August 1992. By November 1993, the 53rd was reactivated as an Air Force Reserve unit. The budget office got that one wrong.
Three Directors Narrate
The documentary is narrated by three former National Hurricane Center directors, each of whom had direct ties to the squadron’s history:
- Bob Sheets – NHC Director 1987-1995; made over 200 flights through hurricane eyes during his career
- Dr. Robert Simpson – NHC Director 1967-1974; co-creator of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale in 1971; survived the 1919 Corpus Christi hurricane as a child
- Neil Frank – NHC Director 1974-1987; longest-serving NHC director; later chief meteorologist at KHOU Houston
What’s on the Tape
Full history from the Duckworth flight in 1943 through the deactivation ceremony. The documentary covers the squadron’s involvement in tracking Western Pacific typhoons through the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, includes details on the Annual Silver Skate Award (awarded for most accumulated goof-off time, retired to the wall at deactivation), and documents the final flight with champagne spraying and the full deactivation ceremony.
Signed off with: “Thanks and well done, Hurricane Hunters.”
Lost Media Status
Not found on IMDb, Internet Archive, or any commercial database. Produced for internal Air Force and association distribution. No copies have surfaced publicly. Questions that remain open: how many copies were made, whether the Hurricane Hunters Association has records of the production, and whether this is the only surviving tape.
This tape streamed on 90s Craig on February 22, 2026. Watch live every Thursday on Twitch.