There is no flying without wings, or so says E. Cobham Brewer in the 1895 edition of the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. With the then-imminent coming of powered flight, the phrase was a new take on an even older proverb: nothing can be done without the proper means.

"If there is something that can be done with a P-3, we have probably done it," says Col. Christian Schønfeldt, Commander of 133 Air Wing, the Royal Norwegian Air Force Maritime Patrol unit at Andøya Air Station. "we count everything from seals and whales to sea-launched ballistic missiles."

The morning meeting started out like most. There were the usual administrative announcements and personnel concerns. Being a flying operation, the maintenance chief provided the aircraft status report.

Aomori Province on the northern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan, has a reputation for great apples and cold weather. The apples are sweet and crisp. The weather can be downright unpleasant, even in early March. The wind blows hard and relentlessly. Snow falls on cloudless days.