Sound from a Light Aircraft for Underwater Acoustics Experiments?

A series of ocean-acoustics experiments using a single-engine, light aircraft as the source of sound has been performed about 1.5 km off the coast of La Jolla, California. A microphone monitored the sound of the aircraft above the surface and a vertical array of hydrophones received the acoustic signals in the ocean. Some preliminary findings from these experiments are reported and the prospects for light-aircraft as sound sources in ocean-acoustic inversion techniques are discussed.