The German center for air and space travel (DLR) accomplished a successful measuring flight on 19 April 2010 over Germany. After a flight time of more than three hours the Falcon returned to its base 20:45. The route went from Oberpfaffenhofen to Leipzig, then over Hamburg for Bilthoven (the Netherlands) and via Stuttgart to Oberpfaffenhofen. On the first leg the Falcon descended down to about two kilometers altitude and then climbed back to cruise level. During the remaining flight measurements were taken at altitudes between two and twelve kilometers. All measuring systems on board functioned perfectly. The LIDAR showed ash cloud structures in vertically separated layers. These layers were present at various altitudes en route. The aerosol measurements showed that the volcanic ash clouds encounterd had aged. A brownish cloud colouring was seen temporarily during the flight. These measurements permit a comparison with ground-based measurements (Actualization 19 April 2010, 22,00 o'clock)
DLR Portal - DLR-Forschungsflugzeug "Falcon 20E" zum Messflug gestartet