AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2014 - 78

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a degree. "It doesn't have to be as formal,"
Halverson said. "At least think about things
before you go flying."
Teamwork offers another layer of protection, and is drilled into the NOAA Corps
culture. Even before pilot and co-pilot grasp
the power levers together through the takeoff, as the pilots did departing Hyannis,
there is collaboration-on the weather
briefing, the flight plan, and decision to
launch-and each member of the flight crew
is expected to speak up when necessary. Lt.
j.g. Robert Mitchell, a Twin Otter instructor
and lead point of contact for its operations,
said the ideal NOAA Corps pilot is as disciplined as he or she is skilled.
"What I'm looking for is, can that pilot
know his limitations in the plane, and
make sure that they can circle, in our case,
at a safe airspeed-and know when it's
not a safe situation?" Mitchell said, referring to one of the primary maneuvers the
Twin Otter pilot must master: tight circles around objects of interest, allowing
for good photography and observation by
the scientists in the cabin. There can be a
thin margin "between flying and not flying," Mitchell said. "When you're doing a

50-degree turn at 90 knots, you can turn
it over pretty quick."
Co-pilots are expected to be constantly
engaged in the aeronautical demands of the
moment, ready to take over in an instant if
needed. "The co-pilot for the flight is constantly backing up the pilot," Mitchell says.
"We keep ourselves backed up. If there's
any sort of indication of a stall, we train to
immediately recover and climb out of that."
'I WOULDN'T WANT TO GIVE IT UP'

For most NOAA pilots, the path to the cockpit begins in college, including military
academies, with a healthy dose of science
and math. For some, it extended through
a tour at sea aboard one of the 18 research
vessels that the agency operates. Others
were commissioned right into the cockpit,
although that path depends on demand.
Since the Merchant Marine Academy's
Global Maritime and Transportation School
closed in 2012, NOAA Corps candidates who
make the first cut now begin training at the
Coast Guard Academy in New London,
Connecticut, mixed into the ranks of the
larger service (the Coast Guard has 6,800
officers; NOAA Corps has 321).

NOAA sends pilots to FlightSafety
International for aviation training; some
come to NOAA with pilot certificates
already earned, although the agency has
trained promising officers from scratch.
Pilots wear their blue flight suits with
pride, happy to explain to the curious they
are members of the nation's smallest uniformed service-and not, in fact, the U.S.
Navy. It's a common enough mistake. "We
don't have our own particular uniform,"
Halverson explained.
Nearly all NOAA pilots begin their service career flying the Twin Otter. Many,
like Cowan, will transition to one or more
of the other aircraft in the 10-ship fleet,
which also includes the WP-3D Orions and
a Gulfstream IV used for high-altitude hurricane reconnaissance.
The Twin Otter remains the first love of
most NOAA pilots, who learn to love the distinctive smells of jet fuel and sweat flowing
freely inside a survival suit on a warm day.
"You never really get away from the Otter,"
Cowan said. "I wouldn't want to give it up,
either. It's a very fun aircraft to fly." AOPA
EMAIL james.moore@aopa.org

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2014

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