| History of FAAM |
 |
 |
 |
|
For many years the UK's national meteorological service maintained Meteorological Research Flight (MRF) which performed a wide variety of measurements from aircraft. From 1972 to 2001, Meteorological Research Flight (MRF) operated a Hercules C-130 aircraft which was comprehensively equipped to make a wide variety of atmospheric observations including cloud physics, atmospheric radiation, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric chemistry and remote sensing of both the atmosphere and the surface. Much of the C-130 flying was on detachments away from the home base (originally Farnborough, then later Boscombe Down).
In order to reduce operating costs and provide a platform that better meets the the needs of the whole UK research community, the Met Office™, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the university community established the joint facility named the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) in August 2001, to share the management and operating costs of a new airborne platform. Initial funding was provided by the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) to prepare an aircraft and provide a new facility for instruments. The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) managed the contract for the preparation of the aircraft and the University of Cambridge managed the procurement of new instruments. The contract for the new aircraft, to be designated a BAe-146-301, was placed with BAE Systems in December 2000. The contract provided for at least ten years of operational flying, following the Initial Acceptance of the aircraft, originally due in July 2002.
Following the closure of the RJX production line at Woodford, BAE Systems sought to sub-contract the operational phase of the Contract. After protracted negotiations, the sub-contract was awarded to Directflight, which is familiar with specialist operations (fisheries protection) using aircraft registered for passenger transport. Directflight was acquired by Aeromega Ltd in 2003.
 Directflight operate in partnership with Avalon Aero for the provision of aircraft maintenance and engineering, and Cranfield Aerospace for the provision of accommodation, airfield facilities and engineering. Initial Acceptance was completed on 28 January 2005. The Final Acceptance Certificate was signed by the University of Manchester (formerly UMIST) on 11 February 2005. An attachment to the Final Acceptance Certificate specified a programme to complete the provision of some facilities by October 2005. As a result the current provision contract runs until January 2015.
On 29th March 2006 the BAE Systems' Contract was novated from the University of Manchester to NERC.
Subsequently the ARA has operated an average of about 450 flying hours per year, visiting most parts of the planet, obtaining data in support of a wide range of UK science. Reliability has so far been excellent.
Early in 2010 the aircraft flew its 500th science mission, with missions averaging around 4½ hours each. FAAM now employs 13 full time and 2 part time staff, but that is in addition to a similar number of supporting staff at Directflight, and hundreds of scientists at universities and the Met Office who routinely either fly on board the aircraft, or make use of data obtained from the ARA for their research. Annually, over 20 papers in high quality peer reviewed journals are published based upon ARA data. |
As can be seen from its appearance, the C-130 had been heavily modified for this role and was one of the most sophisticated 'flying laboratories' for atmospheric research in the world. The long striped probe on the nose allows sensitive instruments to make measurements, for example of turbulence, in a region outside the influence of the aircraft itself. This also gave the aircraft its nickname of 'Snoopy'. More information about the