T-28 Aircraft and CCOPE

This historic photo from the UCAR Communications photo collection depicts the T-28. The T-28, once used as a military aircraft, is armor plated, which enabled it to fly deep into the hail-bearing regions of thunderstorms and record a wide variety of atmospheric information. The plane was used in the Cooperative Convective Precipitation Experiment, or CCOPE, a major field research experiment to study the processes that create convective clouds, rain, hail and high winds over the High Plains of the United States.  The NCAR Archives recently processed the CCOPE Records and these materials are available for research.