Malolo 1 on catapult launcher
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Our prototype catapult launch system worked well with Malolo 1 despite swirling winds on the foredeck. |
Malolo 2 on Launcher
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Cleared for Launch
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Tim, Allan and Kelly on the Flying Bridge
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With fight ops canceled for today there was time to join the spotters on the flying bridge in their task of spotting and logging marine debris sightings. |
55 gallon drum
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Amanda, our ace debris spotter, caught this barrel in her binoculars. |
Tagging Debris
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Robyn spotted this hawser line which was hauled aboard and tagged with a GPS tracking buoy. |
Tagged and Monitored
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The tagged line will give researchers valuable data about currents near the convergence zone. |
HF Radio Buoy
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This HF radio buoy is used to mark fishing nets. It is possible that some net is still attached to it, or it has broken free. |
Malolo 2
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On the flight deck ready for first day of UAS operations. |
Preflight
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Going through the preflight check list on Malolo 1 for first flight off OSCAR SETTE. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Launch
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First ever UAS launch from a NOAA ship. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Splashdown
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Malolo 1 landing in the Pacific Ocean next to the OSCAR SETTE, over 700 miles from the nearest point of land. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Recovery
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Malolo 1 is handed off from the small boat that picked it out of the water. |
Wave Runner
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Malolo 2 skims the waves on its maiden flight. It handled like a dream and has replaced Malolo 1 as the primary flight aircraft. The new designed center section is water tight and provides easy access to electronics. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Wave bounce
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Malolo 2 caught the top of a swell on touchdown and launched itself. Despite expert piloting by Curt, the ocean waves deal out their own punishment. The Resolution has proved to meet the punishment and has never suffered an landing incident. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Landing
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Malolo 2 plops gracefully in the ocean after it's first flight. Photo by Allan Ligon. |
Foggy Morning
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The day dawned to a flat sea and surreal fog. |
Malolo 1 almost ready
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Tim mulls over our next step in prepping the aircraft. |
Net Fragment
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As the frequency of debris sightings picks up we notice a piece of fishing net drift by. |
Submerged CTD Instrument
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The water and light combine to give this view of our CTD array a painterly quality. |
Can you hear me now
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Probably not. Even Verizon doesn't have towers out here. |
Malolo 2 on the bench
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The Big Eyes
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These large, high powered binoculars are part of the system we are using to search for debris |
The Big Eyes Team
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These scientists stand watch and log debris and sea mammal sightings. |
Another amazing sunset
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Curt's batting 1000 so far on his sunset shots. |
USNS Adventurous
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The Oscar Elton Settee in it's former colors. The Adventurous was a Navy sub chaser before it was turned over to NOAA to use as a research vessel. |
Malolo 2 taking shape
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The updated center section is assembed for preliminary weight and balance tests. |
Curt's morning routine
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Curt has taken to getting up early each morning and going for a spin on the stationary bike located on deck. |
Red sky at night...
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...sailor's delight. The weather so far has been perfect. The weather chart's isobars remain widely spread, suggesting more fair weather ahead. |
Malolo 2
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We have upgraded our airframe to be more user-friendly and efficient. Here you see it in our "UAS Lab" on the Sette as we begin to prep it for operations. |
UAV Lab
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Space onboard ship is very limited, but we have a nice little corner all to ourselves to work on the aircraft. Mike is working on marinizing (salt water-proofing) the wing root and Tim is working on electronics. |
A Gorgeous Day
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Today the weather has settled down and is perfect for all of today's operations. Although we spent most of it inside working, it was nice to take a break and enjoy the sunshine and seascape. |
CTD Cast
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CTD operations involve submerging an instrument that gathers water samples at predetermined depths. We are checking to measure plankton levels as we approach the Sub-tropical Convergence Zone. This test is done to "Ground Truth" or validate the information we receive from satellite imagery. |
CDT Cast 2
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CTD Instrument
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Kyle, our chief scientist, is managing CTD operations. |
Distant showers and rainbow
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Spectacular sunset
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Curt was on hand to capture this stunning sunset. The ATI guys make it a point to get up on deck each evening for the show |
Sunset
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Tim and Mike watching the sunset at 6:44pm, Day #2 |
Dolphins
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A school of dolphins joined for a while this afternoon |
Ford Island Runway
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On our hike to the east side of the island we crossed the old Ford Island NAS runway. Lots of brave guys and beautiful old aircraft flew from here. |
Ford Island Control Tower
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Tim and Mike hike toward the old control tower on Ford Island. What a view there must be from up there! Too bad it's all fenced off. |
NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
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The Oscar E. Sette started as a subchaser. Here you see it moored one berth south of the USS Utah, a ship destroyed in the attacks of Dec. 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. |
Cruising out of Pearl
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With Diamond Head and Waikiki in the distance, the start of our shakedown cruise was certainly picturesque. Radio and video system tests were perfomed during the 5-hour cruise. |
Tim powers up a buoy
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Tim powered up an OTR-200 buoy to allow live tracking during this sortie. |
USS Utah
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The USS Utah, destroyed in the December 7th attacks, still rests at the berth directly north of the Sette. The Utah was a battleship built in 1911 and was later converted to a gunnery training/target vessel. It was positioned where carriers normally berth and was torpedoed by Japanese aircraft. |
Retrieval
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Russel ready to pick up the UAS after landing in the ocean. |
The Resolution
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The Resolution is a flying wing design to be taken apart and packed in airline approved cases. The assembly takes approx. 10 minutes and it is ready to fly. |
Flight
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The Resolution UAS in flight |
Oscar E. Settee
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The NOAA ship that we are flying the UAS from. It is stationed in Honolulu, HI |
Assembly
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Tim Veenstra is assembling the Resolution aboard the Oscar Settee with Kevin Wong supervising. |
On the Ship
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Tim holds the Resolution on board the Oscar E. Settee. |
Mike Boze
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Mike is holding a Resolution class UAS before flight trials. |
First water landing
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Mike retrieving the Resolution after it's first water landing. Despite the gusting winds and temps below freezing, the flight was a total success. |
Curt piloting the Resolution
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Another cold Minnesota day for a flight test. Curt has done most the flight testing of the Resolution at a flying field in Minnesota. |
Flight
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The Resolution has a distinct silhouette against the sky. It is a very efficient airframe and flies extremely well. The carbon fiber wings with Kevlar reinforcement make the airframe extremely strong. |
