How do you stay awake flying twin otters on these routes?!
Anybody know what’s up with this? 
These are aerial survey flights. Considering they are over water I would imagine they may be fish spotting.
In a Twotter? I doubt they’re fish spotting.
Go to the web page for Twin Otter International, the operator of this particular aircraft: twinotter.com/
Take a look at what the research page says:
Research Aircraft
DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter(s)
Two Pilot All-Weather STOL Aircraft
Large & Small Camera/Nadir Port Aircraft
UAV Science Platform with Wing Hard-points
Wescam Skyball & Raytheon Turrett Installation and Operation
Oxygen Equipped (25,000 feet ASL max)
Autopilot & Trackair Aerial Survey Pilot Display
USG satellite Automated Flight Following ( www.aff.gov)
Satellite Phone Communications
Intercom for Science Team/Pilot Communications
4500-7000 lbs Useful Load
8400W Max Scientific Power (300 Amps @ 28VDC
384 Cubic Foot Extra Large Cabin
Large Door (H=50", W=55")
Marine Mammal Survey
Airborne Surveillance
Other Modifications On Request
Customers Include: DOE, NASA, JPL, TVA, MIT, NOAA,NRL
Those are only samples. It could have still done fish spotting or some other oceanic survey besidesthe marine mammal survey mentioned above
Looks like the aircraft did surveys on the west coast and the Gulf of Mexico also:
flightaware.com/live/flight/N258 … /KAPC/KAPC
flightaware.com/live/flight/N258 … /KPFN/KPFN
Look at the route it took from APC to RKD:
APC-WJF 23 Jul 09
WJF-TUS 23 Jul 09
Stayed a while at TUS. Wonder if it was maintenance or just no work for the aircraft?
TUS-TCC 09 Sep 09
TCC-ICT 09 Sep 09
ICT-GYY 10 Sep 09
GYY-ERI 10 Sep 09
ERI-GFL 11 Sep 09
GFL-RKD 11 Sep 09
We operated quite a bit in this area, and I would say they’re either counting whales (“marine mammal survey”) or doing some other environmental survey.
They weren’t fish spotting- a fish spotter doesn’t carve holes in the same spot all day long. I use to fish spot in Alaska.
That is a TOIL vistaliner out of grand junction CO. They are on a Government contract. The work they are doing is not public.
I just emailed my buddy that works for them
“Now I know I left that submarine around here SOMEWHERE !”
Prolly a holding patern.
My first thought was scientific research for Right Whale surveys, but they’re usually a heck of a lot lower altitude than the tracklog shows.
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/read/protspp/RightWhale/page2.html#b
Maybe it’s surveys for the wrong whale or the left whale or the center-of-the-road whales?