Campaign diary on 10 September 2008

The day started with bad news and in the course of the day things got worse and worse. In the morning we got the news that there is no hangar on Okinawa available due to emergency procedures for typhoon Shinlaku, which is getting stronger and stronger. In the end it seems that was probably still one of the best news. The installation of the wind lidar was struggling with scanner and cable issues, but the really dramatic thing was that the fuelling for the Falcon on US military bases was stopped suddenly as it now required a specific agreement, something never communicated to DLR in the planning phase.People at NAF Atsugi were very supportive, but they could not really change the order and they passed with trying to contact every person that could possibly help. Shinlaku and the first 4-plane mission are approaching tomorrow and the Falcon is out of fuel. Well, at least on tank left to depart. Commercial airports are investigated as an alternative, together with Bessho-san and Nakazawa-san, but prices there would be a severe problem for the project. We decide to do the mission on 11 September with refuelling on the commercial airport of Naha despite the costs, we just can miss that opportunity. Also, the installation of the DIAL is not finished yet as the wind lidar took much longer than expected. The mission tomorrow will be delayed to the afternoon.

Author: Martin W.