I just started using this site a couple of weeks ago and became a member today. It has been a great tool. I am on call for 10 days and off for 5 days. It is great to see when and where the plane I fly is when im on call. (less stressful)
Anyway, I used to fly cloud seeding missions for Weather Modification Inc. I think that it’ll be very interesting to track some of their flights this summer. For people that don’t know what weather mod is you basically fly into the feeder clouds on the southwest side of a thunderstorm or poke into the side of a storm and seed it with silver iodide or dry ice.
Here is a list of some of the cessna 340’s that IFR around 25,000 feet:
N340FR
N812V
N8SS
From what I could see on the track info these planes will be working the project that starts today in Northwest North Dakota.
You can find more of their planes by searching regestration for Weather Modification INC. The 340’s are usually IFR and the rest seed the bases VFR but may have flight following.
I didnt know 340’s could get to FL250, I’m impressed!
When I worked the ramp in SLC I would sometimes hear aircraft seeding over and around the airport to help clear away the fog/ freezing fog/ nasty stuff to keep the airport open. Very interesting indeed. The seeding would create snowy-pellets unlike any precip I had seen before.
Welcome to the site!
James (the younger, better looking)
You either look outside if VFR or use the weather radar if it is IFR. You are basically looking for clouds that have an updraft of 500 fpm or more and supercooled water. If they do, you seed them. There is also ground radar that meteorologists use to help let the pilots know where to go.
It has been a great tool. I am on call for 10 days and off for 5 days. It is great to see when and where the plane I fly is when im on call. (less stressful)