JJRags

What I meant to say was... I bought a new set. You owe me $1,000!

Bring them BACK! After storm season, I might have more time to play. :-)

Think about the wind's effect on the plane like a current on a boat. The current doesn't hurt the boat. It just changes its course. It's the waves that make the boat ride uncomfortable and possibly damage it. We call the waves in the air "turbulence". It's that up and down movement that can bother the plane and crew. We know it is coming, so we maintain a speed that can withstand it. The C-130 is a very rugged plane and was designed to handle quite a bit of abuse in combat situations, so the turbulence is not as bad for it (at the right speed) as you might think. The fact that the C-130 is a turboprop plane helps too. The water encountered in a hurricane would be bad for the intake of a turbofan or turbojet engine.

The transition through the eye wall of some storms can be very bumpy. It can consist of a ring of thunderstorms that we must penetrate to get into the eye. In a major hurricane, we will do that from 10,000 feet. The top of the storm might be as high as 60,000 feet. We are wearing noise canceling headsets, so, to be honest, I've never really noticed the sound difference. That's an interesting question though. I'll pay attention next time.

Well... the mission is for gathering data. We fly the plane as straight and level as we can (considering the turbulence) while the airborne meteorologist gathers data and sends it to the National Hurricane Center. Ask specific questions and I'll try to answer them.

The best part of the mission is the excitement of flying through the eye wall. It can be quite bumpy although not all are. I flew Hurricane Nicole today. It wasn't very bumpy.

The weirdest thing I've ever seen in a hurricane was a flock of birds "trapped" in the eye in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. They flew right into the plane (not a happy ending for them). I think they were probably exhausted and willing to try anything.

I've had some moments when the plane was being kicked around pretty good by turbulence. For the typical "control freak" pilot, that is a bit unnerving. Thankfully, those moments don't last long.

We have only lost one C-130 on a storm mission. It was back in the 70s when we weren't able to maintain constant contact with our ground support, so we aren't really sure what happened. There was very little of the plane recovered. It might not have had anything to do with the weather. We just don't know.