FRCSE aids Canadian filmmaker with Mighty Planes series

Transcription

1 On Sept. 26, a second Canadian film crew arrives at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast for two days of taping maintainers repairing a WP-3D Orion aircraft used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for hurricane hunting. Discovery Channel Canada is featuring the aircraft in its Mighty Planes series scheduled to air in (U.S. Navy photo/released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. On Sept. 27, a Canadian film crew wrapped up the second of two segments filmed at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) highlighting depot-level maintenance on a P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol aircraft, one of two owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Discovery Channel Canada is producing a series entitled Mighty Planes featuring six aircraft with one program devoted to NOAA s two Hurricane Hunters, both Lockheed WP-3D Orion turboprop planes used for hurricane research and reconnaissance missions. The series is scheduled to air in the spring of Nadine Pequeneza, the Orion s episode director, said coordination among the production studio, NOAA and other agencies was much like conducting a well-orchestrated symphony with its many working parts. Page 1 of 5

2 We flew into Hurricane Leslie, a two-day mission with three shots, said Pequeneza of her flights on Sept. 7 and 8. I was on Kermit flown by a female pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Cathy Martin. There were also meteorologists, mechanics and technicians onboard. I was intrigued by the plane s capabilities to fly into the eye of a hurricane. David (Johns), the director of photography, filmed on the G-IV (Gulfstream IV-SP jet). NOAA s two P-3 aircraft are named Kermit and Miss Piggy after two of Jim Henson s famous Muppet characters. NOAA pilots also fly the G-IV, a high altitude, high speed, twin turbofan jet aircraft that augments the Orion s low altitude data with upper atmospheric soundings and meteorological data according to the NOAA website. The crew also filmed in Miami at the National Hurricane Center and the NOAA National Research Center, and at NOAA s Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. where the P-3s and G-IV are home based. While taping at FRCSE Sept. 26 and 27, Pequeneza said she was highly impressed with the artisan s knowledge and skill level. I ve never seen a plane taken apart like that, she said. It s very intricate. The mechanics were showing us all the rivet holes and how each one has to line up. They showed us lightning strikes they were repairing on Miss Piggy. There were four or five, and you could see them very clearly. It s quite incredible. Pequeneza also shot footage at FRCSE with Navy Cmdr. Dervin Brakob, the NOAA maintenance officer, Wes Couch, the crew chief responsible for Kermit's maintenance, and Clinton Batten, a business management specialist and P-3 program manager from July 2010 to August 2012, who escorted the crew while filming at the military depot. Batten said the aircraft is at the facility for 6-year maintenance, a plan that includes scheduled depot-level maintenance and repairs, Zone 5 wing plank inspection and repairs, as well as wing center section removal and replacement. Earlier in September an advance film crew arrived at FRCSE to begin taping footage for the maintenance segment of the episode. Canadian Herrie ten Cate directed the taping during the first visit, which was overseen by Michael Ellis, the shoot s director of photography. The Mighty Planes series is featuring not only the WP-3D Orion but also five other aircraft including the Navy s Blue Angel F/A-18 Hornet; NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the world's largest airborne astronomical observatory; business magnate Donald Trump s private $100 million jet, a tricked out Boeing 757; The Page 2 of 5

3 Omega Air KDC-10 refueling tanker; and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, an enormous military transport aircraft. Herrie ten Cate (left), a film producer with Fetz Films, listens as Adam Davis, an aviation structural mechanic, explains how he will replace a center wing corner fitting on a WP-3D Orion aircraft as Michael Ellis, the director of photography, videotapes the exchange in the maintenance hangar at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Sept. 14. The Canadian production crew is filming a segment for a series entitled Mighty Planes that includes NOAA hurricane hunters for Discovery Channel Canada. (U.S. Navy photo/released) Canadian film crew members David Johns (from left), the shoot's director of photography, and Nadine Pequeneza, the episode director pose with John van der Does, an American audio operator, before a WP-3D Orion aircraft named "Miss Piggy" in the production hangar Sept. 27. Discovery Channel Canada sent two film crews to the military facility in September to film artisans Page 3 of 5

4 performing depot-level maintenance on the aircraft, one of two used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for hurricane research and reconnaissance missions. The segment is part of the Mighty Planes series featuring large and unique aircraft. (U.S. Navy photo/released) In the P-3 Production Hangar at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Sept. 27, Nadine Pequeneza inspects the outboard leading edge of a WP-3D Orion wing damaged by lightning while hurricane hunting for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She is the episode director responsible for filming the NOAA aircraft, one of six featured in the Mighty Planes series being produced by Discovery Channel Canada. (U.S. Navy photo/released) On Sept. 28, Sheet Metal Mechanic Tony Zarbo makes structural repairs on a tailpipe section removed from Miss Piggy, one of two NOAA WP-3D Orion hurricane hunter aircraft that receives maintenance and repairs at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast. (U.S. Navy photo/released) Page 4 of 5

5 (U.S. Navy photo/released) Sheet Metal Mechanic Gary Boyer (left) looks on as Metals Inspector Tony Vazquez performs a visual inspection for corrosion on the airframe of a WP-3D Orion aircraft used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to hunt hurricanes. (U.S. Navy photo/released) A WP-3D Orion aircraft owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for hurricane research and reconnaissance sits in the production hangar to Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Oct. 4. The NOAA plane is undergoing six-year, scheduled depot-level maintenance and repairs at the military facility to ensure it remains mission ready. (U.S. Navy photo/released) Page 5 of 5