SDSM&T donating weather plane to museum

[Eric Friedebach]

Black Hills Pioneer, Adam Torres, December 22, 2005

RAPID CITY - Not too many people have flown a plane through the middle of a powerful thunderstorm - intentionally, that is.

Tom Warner knows what it's like. Warner says he isn't a thrill seeker - he's just a pilot and weather enthusiast.

In 2000 he was approached by Charlie Summer, pilot of the T-28 airplane owned by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Summer was looking for someone to fly the plane into thunderstorms. It has led to a lot of aerial adventure for the Rapid City man.

The plane was used from 1972 to 2003 to gather scientific readings regarding how a thunderstorm forms hail. SDSM&T plans to donate it to the Strategic Air Command Museum in Omaha, Neb.

Complete Article

The article also notes that it was featured on the Discovery Channel. Does anyone have some details on this? I would love to track that episode down.

Here are some more details on the aircraft and some pictures of what hail and lightning can do to a 50 year old aircraft.

 

[Nic Wilson]

The T-28 will be a great addition to an already fantastic museum. If you haven't visited the SAC museum yet, I definitely recommend it if you are in the Lincoln/Omaha area on a slow chase day. The museum can be reached from the Ashland exit 426 off of I-80. More information can be found at the museum's website below.

http://www.strategicairandspace.com/

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

The SR-71 is worth the price of admission to the museum alone:

I second the reccomendation; as far as aeronautics goes, it's the next best thing to visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.