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Hurricane Hunter Planes Leaving Tampa, Heading To Lakeland

The WP-3D Orion turboprop aircraft is fitted with high-tech sensors placed on the plane's underbelly.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The WP-3D Orion turboprop aircraft is fitted with high-tech sensors placed on the plane's underbelly.

NOAA's fleet of Hurricane Hunter aircraft  is leaving Tampa, but is staying in the Bay area. A 10-year lease was awarded to the City of Lakeland to house the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aircraft Operations Center at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport starting in the spring of 2017. 

 The Center serves as the main base for a fleet of nine specialized environmental data-gathering aircraft, and the nearly 100 staff members who work with them. Under the lease terms, the City of Lakeland will provide an aircraft hangar and office space, facilities for aircraft repairs and component storage, and a runway that is at least 8 thousand feet long. Since 1993, the Center had been operating out of space at MacDill Air Force Base in South Tampa.  

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WUSF Staff