Aerial Chasing?

[Skip Talbot]

I know we have some pilots on the forum. I'm currently working on my private rating, and was wondering if anyone has considered chasing via airplane. I know NOAA uses the P-3 Orion to sample bows and supercells, and C-130's for Hurricanes. I've also seen great footage from news helicopters paralleling tornadoes, and smaller planes punching waterspouts (I would love to do that!). Has anyone chased for fun in an airplane though?

Of course its a lot more dangerous. Core punching becomes a deadly manuever rather than just a costly one. Extreme shear can push you right into the ground if you are trying to stay under a base, or the updraft could suck you up into the core. Still it seems like there would be a great number of advantages. Storms moving NE at 60 mph would be easy to keep up with. Catching up to distant storms would also be easy. There would be no trees or hills to get in the way of your view. Road conditions and road options are irrelevant. It seems like aerial chasing could be very doable on days with discrete, isolated to scattered cells. I can't imagine what it would be like to fly circles around an isolated LP, or fly along side a classic dryline sup as it produces.

Anyway, check out this roadable aircraft that's in development: http://terrafugia.com/ I think it might make a great chase vehicle. You could fly to your target area and drive right off the airport onto the chase. Chase via air. Or drive to an airport midchase and fly to a different storm. What do you guys think?

 

[David Williams]

Hey Skip,
I am currently a private pilot. I've been flying for about 5 years. I agree that aerial chasing would be fantastic; however, helicopter chasing I would think is the only way to go. And, even that would have serious limitations. Unfortunately, there are many limiting factors when it comes to flying near storms. Let me just name a few that don't even have anything to do with being near a highly unpredictable storm with varying wind shears and possible microbursts (often very deadly to pilots). First off, if you don't have your IFR rating, you must deal with bothersome cloud restrictions. Specifically, the classic 32 and 1/5 would cause some problems in most storms: 3 mile visibility, 2000 feet horizontal distance from clouds, 1000 feet above clouds, and 500 feet below. Basically, you can't fly into any clouds. On most storms, that will probably become a problem. If you get cornered in a storm and have to fly by instruments (and you don't have your IFR rating) you will probably be in serious trouble. Even IFR rated pilots would have trouble flying through a supercell.

Another logistical problem would be getting the plane. If you don't own your own plane, you will most likely have to rent a plane from an FBO, which--if they knew what you were up to--would not let you take the plane for obvious insurance reasons. Naturally, you wouldn't tell them what you were up to, but instructors and workers ask a lot of questions especially if you are a regular.

Another issue is gas. It is not as convenient to fuel up in a plane as it is in a car. You would have to know a wide variety of airfields that carry fuel, and all of those would have to be on or near your flight path (or really, the storm path). Clearly, a large deviation would cause you to give up the chase because of the time consumption involved in refueling, in addition, to maintaining your required fuel reserves etc.

Finally, the chase would be highly unpredictable because of the limited amount of weather information you would have at your disposal. In very remote areas of the plains, there are fewer frequencies that would pick up the severe weather information that you would want to hear, and most of those would only provide aviation wx, not exactly what you want in a chase. In addition, you would not be able to fit or use other weather instruments that can be used on/in cars. Laptops would be a huge no-no considering that you are flying a plane and need to keep your focus outside of the plane.

All that said... it can still be done!

 

[Skip Talbot]

Yes, I would not consider aerial chasing to be feasible without an IFR rating. That is a requirement. I also do not consider flying through a supercell to ever be an option. If you are cut off from an intercept by a line of embedded sups, that will end the chase.

Owning the plane would also be a requirement, but I don't see that really as a limiting factor. Also, if you are going to own the plane you can choose one that will cater to the needs of aerial chasing. IE something that has a flight time of several hours so you aren't hampered by gas requirements, and something with a slow stall speed so you can keep pace. The roadable aircraft I suggested can run on automotive gas. So in that case you could just pull up to a gas station. Lots of STOL and light aircraft can also run on auto gas depending on their engine.

Why would data be a problem? Clearly you'd need two people while aerial chasing. One to watch the weather and do the shooting, and one to fly the plane, but I don't see why you couldn't have a laptop in the plane connected to wxworx (showing radar and active warnings). As for focus, I've found that driving requires more attention because cars can veer off a road a lot faster than a plane can veer into the ground. Near a supercell you'd need constant attention, but with trim set and regular visual checks, I don't see why you could't consult weather data while flying to the target.

What about cell data? Can you get it while in the air? It seems possible with an external antenna and low altitudes. Is it even legal?

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

The requirements of your plane begin to add up to a biplane. STOL, low stall speed, etc.
The change in altitude could find yourself flying into different horizontal shear and abrupt speed changes. It it was extreme enough, it could damage control surfaces. I'm sure it can be done; but isn't that treading where experienced pilots wouldn't tempt fate? Sure you would get great shots - or at least your passenger would. It just sounds like the risk vs gains would be great - but unforgiving.

 

[Tyler_Costantini]

Check this out... Back in the 70s they flew a plane right thought the RFD on a tornado supercell over OKC, Right between two tornadoes.
http://ams.confex.com/ams/24SLS/techprogram/paper_142136.htm

I’m really looking forward to see how they use manned and unmanned aircraft in VORTEX2.

 

[Chad Cowan]

Saw this posted at TV.net a couple days ago.. old video of planes trying to fire instrument loaded rockets into tornadoes:

 

[Skip Talbot]

The requirements of your plane begin to add up to a biplane.

I would chase in a Stearman, but I'd be worried that the tornado would catch my white scarf and suck it up just like the capes in The Incredibles.

Back in the 70s they flew a plane right thought the RFD on a tornado supercell over OKC, Right between two tornadoes.

Wow. Ballsy. They were in a King Air though and that's big iron. I wouldn't attempt that in a light plane.

Saw this posted at TV.net a couple days ago.. old video of planes trying to fire instrument loaded rockets into tornadoes

Dude, that's amazing. I'm sold.

 

[Verne Carlson]

It seems to be a viable thing to do. Check out: http://www.convectionconnection.net/ I would think that there are FAA flight plans that would allow such a thing. I imagine that owning your own aircraft would be a huge plus. I can't imagine going and renting a plane more than once to do this. Once the aircraft rental companies found out your plans you might have a hard time renting.

In the video of the rocket launches you can see and hear the pilot remarking that there is not much turbulence so as long as you stay in the 'relatively' smooth inflow you can probably have a pretty safe flight. With my RC aircraft - I've found that the flow into wall clouds is very smooth, once you get into the RFD things get dicey.

I applaud anyone who can pull this off. If I had a pilot's license and the means - I'd be trying it. For now I'll be keeping my feet on the ground and doing what I can with RC.

 

[Gene Moore]

A bit of history on this...to my knowledge the first time this was successfully done was the Dallas tornado of 1957. Flying Magazine carried a story with the title something like "Flying 800 feet from the Dallas tornado." The article had a tornado picture (likely generic) and a pretty interesting story of how it was done in a small aircraft. The pilot stated he flew completely around the tornado. I looked on the Internet search engines but didn't find a reference to the article.

With respect to the micro-meteorology what's of interest here is the inflow. It would have to be concentrated near the ground in order for a round trip around the vortex. Studies have verified this, but I'm not ready to accept this is true for all tornadoes. I've witnessed high speed curtains of precip being entrained into some tornadoes well up to cloud base, especially along the (precip) arm of the hook. Also, behind this (wet) RFD there is likely very strong subsidence in some tornadoes, another negative to circumnavigating the funnel. This would be best attempted on a flanking line tornado well out from the core.

I found a tiny "dot" on some of my images from an Iowa tornado in 2004. Thinking it was crud on the lens I zoomed in with Photoshop to smudge it out. On closer examination this speck had 4 blades, it was a helicopter, but in this case they had a great view out in the safety of the sunlight.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Saw this posted at TV.net a couple days ago.. old video of planes trying to fire instrument loaded rockets into tornadoes:

LOL @ :19 on that video...the rocket just says "F this" and goes the other way.

On topic: I have a buddy who flies small single engine planes. He took me on a few cruises using his earned free flying time and I asked him about chasing in a plane. He said hes gone thru a few updrafts and they can lift you as much as 300 feet per second [probly dramatizing but i dont know] and that it can violate some major FAA regulations. Now I don't know much about flying laws, but thats what he told me.

He also showed me a fun game they do called flour-bombing.

Awesome concept tho, if i had the means...id be "crazy" enough to try it.

 

[Bill Hark]

Don't some of the TV stations regularly chase especially in the OKC area or at least intercept tornadoes. I guess they don't forecast, go to a specific area and wait. It's more of an equivalent to a gentleman's chase or maybe one of us going trying to go after already forming storms. I have seen some nice TV helicopter footage from several events.

Fot those who have the money, experience, time and guts, I say go for it. I would love to see the footage.

Bill Hark

 

[John Farley]

I found a tiny "dot" on some of my images from an Iowa tornado in 2004. Thinking it was crud on the lens I zoomed in with Photoshop to smudge it out. On closer examination this speck had 4 blades, it was a helicopter, but in this case they had a great view out in the safety of the sunlight.

I remember some discussion at the time on WX-Chase of what may have been the event you are referring to. There was a view among some of the chasers on the storm that the helicopter - which if it was the same storm belonged to a TV station - was WAY too close for safety. They apparently did not encounter any actual problems, however.

 

[Cris Schroeder]

I guess I'm the only one so far to say, absolutely no freaking way. Sure, maybe there are ways to do it safely, but all it takes is one tiny screwup to end up dead. I read too many NTSB reports to ever even consider it.

Ever seen an aircraft after a hail encounter? Severe icing? Turbulence that exceeded the structural limits? I'll take my chances on the ground, but I give weather a wide berth in the air.

 

[Tyler_Costantini]

I don't see the big issue with it, it’s just like anything, and you have to know the limits of your equipment. I’m not saying that penetrating the hail core won’t kill you but these days you with real time radar in the cockpit, and selecting your environment correctly I really think some remarkable data could come from aerial chasing. I would love to do it, if I had more money I would be! I have access to a Cessna Skymaster and an IFR rated pilot; I’m going to ask him about it in the morning.

 

[Rob Sermon]

Sounds great. Do it in a T-6 Texan. At manuevering speed, you can fly through anything. The wing spar will bend only on impact.