This is a 54-minute Combat Camera documentary about the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, made around its June 30, 1991 deactivation. The spine says it covers 1942 to 1991.
Bob Sheets, Robert Simpson, and Neil Frank narrate the history of planes flying into hurricanes, beginning with the first deliberate hurricane flight in 1943. The tape also follows the squadron’s final stretch, including its deactivation ceremony and last flight. There is champagne sprayed at the planes, which is how you say goodbye to a unit that spent its career flying toward weather everyone else avoided.
Program details
- The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the history of hurricane flights
- Bob Sheets, Dr. Robert Simpson, and Neil Frank
- The Typhoon Chasers of the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
- A marijuana boat interception
- The Silver Skate Award for most goof-off time, retired to the wall
- The 53rd WRS deactivation ceremony and “The Last Flight of the Hurricane Hunters”
Military history will occasionally hand you exactly one useful detail. Here it is the Silver Skate.
