The wing also used a new high-tech system consisting of strut-mounted cameras and interconnecting navigation equipment in three of its airplanes. Using this system, aircrews collected and delivered over 7,530 gigabytes of photographic data incorporated into 210,900 very high-definition images.
Louisiana Wing aircrews captured photo data and images involving almost 440 square miles of storm-afflicted area. In doing so, they flew 142 sorties totaling 317 hours of flight time in nine planes using 15 airports. Nine of the wing’s fleet of ground vehicles were also used in support.
The wing additionally conducted overview flights, providing government officials with first-hand views of the hurricane damage to help in the recovery efforts.
“This hurricane season has been a test of our readiness, skills and endurance,” said the wing’s commander, Col. Patrick Yglesias. “I’m very pleased that we exceeded that test in all counts.”
The Civil Air Patrol, the longtime auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, operates a fleet of 560 single-engine aircraft and 1,994 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). It performs about 90% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited with saving 130 lives during the past fiscal year.
CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief, and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.
Operating as a nonprofit organization, CAP also plays a role in STEM/aerospace education, and its members serve as mentors to about 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Civil Air Patrol’s Louisiana Wing recently “capped” a busy hurricane season that began in late July with Hurricane Hanna, which was followed by hurricanes Laura, Sally, Beta, Delta, and Zeta.
For much of that three-month period, Louisiana Wing members flew photo-gathering missions over wind- and flood-battered areas of southwest and central Louisiana.
After hurricanes Laura and Delta, the wing delivered more than 2,730 high-resolution aerial photographs taken with precision cameras with embedded GPS capabilities.
The wing also used a new high-tech system consisting of strut-mounted cameras and interconnecting navigation equipment in three of its airplanes. Using this system, aircrews collected and delivered over 7,530 gigabytes of photographic data incorporated into 210,900 very high-definition images.
Louisiana Wing aircrews captured photo data and images involving almost 440 square miles of storm-afflicted area. In doing so, they flew 142 sorties totaling 317 hours of flight time in nine planes using 15 airports. Nine of the wing’s fleet of ground vehicles were also used in support.
The wing additionally conducted overview flights, providing government officials with first-hand views of the hurricane damage to help in the recovery efforts.
“This hurricane season has been a test of our readiness, skills and endurance,” said the wing’s commander, Col. Patrick Yglesias. “I’m very pleased that we exceeded that test in all counts.”
The Civil Air Patrol, the longtime auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, operates a fleet of 560 single-engine aircraft and 1,994 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). It performs about 90% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited with saving 130 lives during the past fiscal year.
CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief, and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.
Operating as a nonprofit organization, CAP also plays a role in STEM/aerospace education, and its members serve as mentors to about 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.