• proudblond@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      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.

      • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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        26 days ago

        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.

    • KamikazeRusher@lemm.ee
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      26 days ago

      Seems that the C-130s won’t be ready until 2030. Looks like they’re using WP-3D Orion aircraft currently.

        • KamikazeRusher@lemm.ee
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          26 days ago

          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.

          • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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            26 days ago

            Yeah the post directly mentions the NOAA guys but the Air Force Reserve hurricane hunters are what came to mind my mistake

            • KamikazeRusher@lemm.ee
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              26 days ago

              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.