The original post has been updated for Hurricane Ian.
It was almost 80 years ago that an Air Force pilot flew an aircraft into a storm in order to win a wager. Air Force pilots have performed flights into hurricanes as a critical part of tracking, understanding and predicting storms since 1943, despite the fact that that 1943 "mission" didn't have an objective.
The general public was given the chance to see two of the aircraft that fly into hurricanes on a tour of the East Coast.
As Hurricane Ian makes its way towards the west coast of Florida, we thought it would be a good time to revisit what we know about these aircraft.
There are two groups of people hunting for hurricanes. The Air Force is in charge of the majority of the missions, while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is in charge of some. Both are important parts of the mission to understand hurricanes.
I grew up in a house near the water of the bay. We depended on the crews that risked their lives to fly into hurricanes to get accurate forecasts. There was no way that I was going to miss this chance to say thank you to the crews that use these aircraft.
Take a look at each aircraft and learn more about their missions.
The Air Force's hurricane hunters are part of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The squadron frequently deploys to the Western Hemisphere in order to scout hurricanes.
There is a fleet of 10 aircraft. The C-130 Hercules has a few modifications to allow crews to perform their weather-specific missions. The "W" stands for weather missions in the U.S. military-aircraft terminology. The squadron's nickname is "Hurricane Hunters" and one of the aircraft was part of the tour.
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You can see a weather-specific modification at the belly of the aircraft. The delivery tube is a few feet from the plane.
The Air Force uses that tube to drop sensor into the storm to measure its pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed.
A five person crew is in charge of each flight. The C-130 crew is made up of a pilot, co-pilot, loadmaster, and a combat systems officer.
The five person crew is needed for the mission, but there are many other people who can ride along. The seats are not designed for comfort. It can take a long time.
The squadron doesn't decide when to fly into a storm. The crew explained that the storm needs to be interesting enough to be studied. Some of the squadron's 20 flight crew members will deploy to a base when that decision is made.
Approximately 70 personnel and three aircraft will travel to Atlantic storms. Hawaii storms can take more resources, so the squadron will usually send a fourth aircraft, sometimes just to haul the personnel and equipment needed for the deployment. The C-130 is a cargo plane with a cargo ramp.
The National Hurricane Center contracts the squadron to fly from up to three locations with at least three aircraft. The maintenance crew needs to make sure that all the aircraft in the fleet are ready to go. It is a difficult task.
The engines and other systems are modern but the C-130 was designed in the 50's. The most recent version of the plane is the C-130J.
The crew members said that they only do missions in storms. The strength and direction of the storm can be measured by ground-based weather stations.
Three or four hours can be spent flying through the storm, with missions ranging from eight to 12 hours. The crew will deploy dropsondes at critical parts of the storm while continuously measuring the storm's strength at flight level via weather instruments attached to the outside of the aircraft.
A kid asked the obvious question: Where does the crew go to the bathroom after 12 hours on an aircraft. The one on board has everything you need in a bathroom, except for the walls, according to a crew member. There is a curtain around the toilet seat that can be used for presentations.
The Air Force has a fleet of 10 planes. The Navy used to patrol the seas, hunt for submarines and listen to other countries with the heavily modified variant of the P3.
The four Allison T56-14 turboprops that power each aircraft are powerful enough to allow the aircraft to fly with just two operational.
One of them is called "Kermit the Frog" and the other is called "Miss Piggy." Both of them were given the nickname "Kermit the Frog" and "Miss Piggy." The plane was on display.
Each plane has a mascot hanging from the cockpit. The crew wanted these to stay up and act as aurbulence indicator.
There are at least 18 seats that are filled for a typical research flight on both planes. There was a seat diagram on the wall.
Behind the cockpit is the flight director's station. The mission's objectives are balanced with keeping the aircraft and crew safe in this location.
The dropsonde delivery tube is similar to the one on theWC-130.
In addition to standard wind-speed measurement tools, the NOAA aircraft have advanced tools mounted on the wing for measuring all different aspects of the storms
The WP 3D Orion is more focused on onboard research. There are many research stations in the aircraft.
There is a lot of power on the board. The plane has some serious server rack installations.
Everything needs to be bolted down when turbulence starts.
There is a large circuit breaker panel with all of the electronics.
These aircraft fly through the storm to look at it. Losing three of four engines to fires in a matter of minutes seems to be one of the scariest experiences the crews have had. Sometimes only a few hundred feet from the ocean, the crew has pulled off miracles to save the plane. Multiple members retired from flying into hurricanes when they returned to terra firma, according to the crew.
Safety is a top priority. In the event of an onboard fire, each station has instructions for what to do.
During our tour the crew opened the overwing exit hatch to cool off the inside of the aircraft.
There are logos on the outside of the plane for all of the hurricanes that Kermit has flown into, including the 1992 Hurricane Andrew that devastated South Florida.
Two of the hurricanes logos are different from the rest. The storms that originate north of the equator are referred to as Southern Hemisphere storms. New wings have allowed Kermit to fly for another 15 to 20 years.
The strongest hurricanes are not necessarily the worst to fly through. Commercial airliners fly through jet streams more quickly than hurricanes.
Hurricanes are wary of storms that fall apart or have dry air. The storms can cause problems for the aircraft. There were times when the aircraft dropped more than 6,000 feet because of a strong downdraft. There is still plenty of time to recover after flying at 40,000 feet. The drop is more dangerous due to the fact that the hunters only fly at 10,000 feet.
If you missed out on the chance to tour these aircraft during previous events, you should be able to again in the future. Follow the National Hurricane Center, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, and the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center for more information on upcoming displays.
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