Summary Results of the Lewisburg Fog Clearing Program

Abstract

Abstract Results of helicopter clearing experiments conducted at the Greenbrier Valley Airport, Lewisburg, W. Va., during the period 7–29 September 1969, are presented and discussed. Thirty-five hover experiments and 18 runway-clearing experiments were performed on 10 separate days with fog layers from 125 to 525 ft in depth. The hover experiments, which were successful in virtually all cases, yielded clearings that varied from 400 to 2800 ft in length. The largest clearings occurred with the shallowest fog during tests conducted within ∼1 hr of the natural dissipation time of the fog. The runway-clearing experiments were successful in clearing the full 6000 ft extent of the runway on two occasions, were partially successful on four occasions, and were unsuccessful on 12 occasions. Six helicopter landings were accomplished through artificially created clearings. Particular, quantitative results of the hover experiments are described. The wake penetration distance of the helicopters ranged from ∼700–1000 f...