Airborn Storm Chasers

[Mike Hollingshead]

http://www.convectionobsession.com/

The video would look a lot more interesting with some better storms.


They need views like this: http://epod.usra.edu/archive/images/supercell.jpg
I can only imagine some of the views one could get chasing in a plane.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Well, to be fair, you can't get a little dinky prop like that within 30 miles of a supercell without having some real problems. Makes sense that they'd only tackle tiny little thundershowers from a distance.

On the other hand, HALO skydiving into a thunderstorm... that'd be pretty much the ultimate in storm chasing.

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Rode-Thunder/dp/0135482712

 

[Dan Robinson]

Cool site, but what's with the fake lightning strike in the third photo?

 

[Dave Gallaher]

Cool site, but what's with the fake lightning strike in the third photo?

It goes nicely with the fake plane superimpositions on both the banner and DVD cover.

It would be cool to see this done with a sturdier aircraft, like a retired USAF RF-4C with a full complement of cameras (stereo split verticals, right and left oblique, nose oblique, panoramic and infrared. And video...

 

[Terrence Cook]

I go flying with a friend at Purdue University about 2-3 times a year. Just last week we had the smoothest flight ever in extremely stable conditions at sunset. So it's worth noting that if you don't like being on a boat in high waves... then you do NOT want to be on a plane on any of our typical chasing days (or even general thunderstorms). If a small aircraft such as a Cessna were to approach a Supercell or any other severe storm, you would be rising and falling a few hundred feet in a couple seconds (in a very violent and bumpy manner)! This is not a good idea for any single engine plane!
(as Dave G. mentioned)

Won't knock the perspective though, that's my favorite thing about flying commercially... WHAT A VIEW!

 

[MClarkson]

it would be difficult to approach the epic storms because of large hail and extreme turbulence, which would be dangerous even for a sturdy aircraft.

nothing beats weaving in and around towering CBs at altitude though. You get some great views even from relatively ordinary tstorms.

 

[Andrew Khan]

This is extremely interesting, and although seemingly dangerous (more or less so than on land) it adds a superlative diversity to storm chasing.