NOAA Hurricane Hunters
Flies straight into hurricanes so forecasters can see inside the storm
Tail numbers N42RF · N43RF · N49RF
Hurricane Hunter 'Kermit' N42RF
NOAA's 'Kermit' — one of two WP-3D Orions that fly INTO hurricanes on purpose. Kermit punches through eyewalls at 10,000 feet while instruments map the storm's core, and the data it radios out is what makes modern landfall forecasts possible. It has been doing this since 1976.
A single mission can cross a hurricane's eyewall four to six times — turbulence can throw the aircraft a thousand feet in seconds.
Hurricane Hunter 'Miss Piggy' N43RF
Kermit's sister ship, 'Miss Piggy,' has spent five decades storming through the worst weather on the planet. Between the two of them, NOAA's WP-3Ds have flown through hundreds of hurricanes — when a major storm threatens the coast, one of these is inside it gathering the numbers.
Miss Piggy drops parachute-borne 'dropsondes' straight down through the storm — each one radios data all the way to the sea surface.
Hurricane Hunter 'Gonzo' N49RF
Kermit and Miss Piggy fly through the hurricane. Gonzo flies above it. NOAA's Gulfstream jet circles the storm at 45,000 feet, dropping instrument packages into the winds that steer it — data that sharpens the forecast track for everyone below. When Gonzo is flying, somewhere a hurricane is coming.
A single Gonzo mission can drop 30 or more dropsondes — each one parachutes through the storm's steering currents, radioing back wind, pressure, and humidity the whole way down.
Quick answers
What are the tail numbers of NOAA Hurricane Hunters?
N42RF (Lockheed WP-3D Orion), N43RF (Lockheed WP-3D Orion), N49RF (Gulfstream IV-SP).
What kind of aircraft is NOAA Hurricane Hunters?
Lockheed WP-3D Orion, Gulfstream IV-SP.
Are they still flying?
3 of 3 are active.
The type
More space & science
Will NOAA Hurricane Hunters cross your map?
Famous airframes wear a gold star on Bogey's live map. If one of these flies near you, tap it and it joins your collection with its story.
- A live map of every aircraft around you, at its real position.
- Tap one and it flips into a trading card: type, airline, route, photo.
- Catch rare ones. Build a collection. Climb the leaderboard.
