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I had to google what “387th Penny” meant. Apparently “penny” is short for “penetration flight”. So this was his 387th flight into a hurricane
o7
They’re flying into the eye of a cat5 hurricane???
Bloody hell. And I’m afraid of air turbulences…
C-130s really do it all (the linked vid is of a different hurricane but they’ve been doing similar flights with Milton)
WOW. I live relatively near an active base and occasionally these beasts will fly overhead. I had no idea they were capable of literally flying through hurricanes; that is extra badass. I’m not really an aircraft enthusiast or anything but it still gives me a bit of a thrill to hear them thundering overhead.
It’s pretty crazy to think about, but regular passenger jumbo jets experience hurricane force winds constantly. What actually puts a lot of stress on an aircraft fuselage is sudden shifts in wind speed, especially if the forces are vertical and cause the plane to rise or fall rapidly.
So, most modern planes could fly through a hurricane as long as they travel with the direction of wind and avoid major pockets of turbulence. The C130s are extra strong, because they are built to handle the stress of transporting very large payloads. The hurricane hunters use these, and other aircraft like them, while they are pretty much empty, so they have a lot of extra stress tolerance to work with.
and are designed to be shot at
Seems that the C-130s won’t be ready until 2030. Looks like they’re using WP-3D Orion aircraft currently.
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae0116
Orions are badass in their own right
Well shit, I read the Wikipedia link and some articles from the comment about the NOAA Hurricane Hunters and assumed you were referring to them.
The C-130J you linked from the ADS-B recorder seems to be military. Guess they’ve been using them for a while for storm reconnaissance.
Yeah the post directly mentions the NOAA guys but the Air Force Reserve hurricane hunters are what came to mind my mistake
Oh I didn’t know the Air Force Reserves did that! Though that makes a lot of sense given how it’s surveilling in proximity to the States. Good use of aircraft and brainpower in that pursuit.
Not to diminish the skill and planning but the eye is the easier part to fly in.
It’s also surrounded by all of the not-easy parts
Wow, intense!!
Staffed with 18 to 20 crew members, including pilots and scientists, a normal hurricane reconnaissance or research mission can last from 9–10 hours, while a surveillance (“fix” mission) mission will typically last 8 hours,
This is metal af honestly. I love that they were able to do this.
To be frank, I think its too fucking metal, what a ridiculously gnarly job, plus the honor of doing it again to honor someone who did the mostest gnarly job.
You fools! It wants live sacrifices! You have only emboldened it.
Jokes aside that is absolutely metal and a great way to honor him.
o7
