Hurricane hunters?

Wow.

Just... wow.

What I still don't understand is how these aircraft are not overstressed,
and are able to keep control at all. I realise that this story is an extreme
example, but how about the "normal" flights? How do the planes survive?

Is it just because they are built to take the load factors?

"David Dyer-Bennet" wrote in message
...
"xerj" writes:

The site is down at the moment, but if I'm understanding it correctly, do
these guys actually penetrate hurricanes in P3s and Gulfstreams?

Do they go IMC flying into hurricane cloud???

If so, how the hell are they not constantly stalling as they are
buffetted
by the turbulence? I'm pretty sure that they'd slow down to maneuvering
speed, and I'd assume that there'd be moments when windshear would be
drastic

How the hell are these flights even technically possible??

Fascinating article on a semi-accidental penetration of Hugo in a
WP-3D (the accident was they didn't notice the storm had been
upgraded, and they probably wouldn't have chosen to make the
penetration given the actual state of the storm). With pictures.

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/hugo1.asp
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/
http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

"xerj" wrote in message
...
What I still don't understand is how these aircraft are not overstressed,
and are able to keep control at all. I realise that this story is an
extreme example, but how about the "normal" flights? How do the planes
survive?

High winds do not necessarily mean high turbulence or high wind shear.

Of course, those characteristics *could* exist. But just because the wind
is whipping around at 160 mph, that doesn't mean you can't fly into it
without overstressing an airplane (any airplane).

A hurricane involves a wide variety of meterological phenomena, including
high winds, convection, rain, etc. My understanding is that the hurricane
pilots use radar to avoid the strongest convective areas where severe
turbulence and wind shear would be present.

There probably are areas within a hurricane that would tear any airplane
apart. Those who fly into them strive to avoid those areas.

Pete

What I still don't understand is how these aircraft are not overstressed,
and are able to keep control at all. I realise that this story is an extreme
example, but how about the "normal" flights? How do the planes survive?

Is it just because they are built to take the load factors?

Perhaps you are not a pilot and hence are not aware that if the plane
is flown at "maneuvering speed," the wing will stall before the stress
is sufficient to cause it to break.

vince norris