TIP - Tornado Intercept Plane

Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth

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Would it be possible to make a TIP (Tornado Intercept Plane) like the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) like you see on Storm Chasers? Or would you end up dead, or have the FAA take your ticket?

Just for fun, What plane would you use as a TIP?
For what ever reason, a Beech 18 pops in to my mind when I think about it.
 
It would be a lot cheaper to use a run-out C-150...I think the results would be approximately the same.
 
Maybe you could do something like a heavy duty version of a hamster ball and put a video camera in it. Not sure how you'd get the ball to the tornado from a relatively safe distance, maybe some kind of small trebuchet...


Trapper John
 
Yes. It has already been done.

t28_300.jpg


http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/t28/documents/aircraft.htm
 
Bob Buck described taking a B17 through thunderstorms in North Star Over my Shoulder.
 
Yes Tornados. There was somebody with a small piston who's mission was to fire research rockets into a tornado. I've seen video but cant say where exactly. Try Utube
 
As the adage goes "there's no reason to fly through a thunderstorm during peacetime." I'd say that's doubly true for a tornado.
 
Teller1900 said:
As the adage goes "there's no reason to fly through a thunderstorm during peacetime." I'd say that's doubly true for a tornado.
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I think it's way more than double...and I'd drop the "during peacetime" part of it...I don't see SAC sending the BUFFs through a tornado even in wartime!:yikes:
 
Reed Timmer has an RC plane with drop pods. Maybe somthing along those lines.
 
I would think the goal would be the smallest plane possible, in order to minimize variations of air flow. At some small scale, the winds are not so turbulent, right?
 
Why in the world would you even contemplate this? :rolleyes:

Some aircraft can successfully penetrate even hurricanes, but for an airplane, a hurricane is pretty wimpy next to a tornado. Tornado winds have been recorded at over 300 mph, and they're not blowing steady and straight. The shear as you enter would be much, much worse than with a hurricane, and then... well, then you'd be in a tornado. Along with all the dirt, debris, and the lightning. :yikes:


The only requirement I would have for such an undertaking, other than first becoming completely frikkin' insane, would be to have lots of speed- well over 300 mph, with a Vne much higher than that. Supersonic, maybe. But it wouldn't be very useful for research purposes... I wouldn't be in there very long. :D
 
Richard said:
I would think the goal would be the smallest plane possible, in order to minimize variations of air flow. At some small scale, the winds are not so turbulent, right?
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It'd need to be big enough to hold armor plating against hits from the cow & the barn that just got sucked up a la Twister.

The real question is propulsion.

Assuming a real-world twister picks up >1000 pcs debris larger then baseball a jet would get FODed into oblivion, and a prop would snap or warp into uselessness after several hits. Maybe a retractable prop or jet and just glide in the twister?
 
Maybe I should have said flying in to a Tornado was not the idea. It's flying close enough to it to drop probes in it. Flying in to a Tornado (Or heck, even a strong T-Storm) would bring down most any plane.
 
Snaggletooth said:
Maybe I should have said flying in to a Tornado was not the idea. It's flying close enough to it to drop probes in it. Flying in to a Tornado (Or heck, even a strong T-Storm) would bring down most any plane.
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And here I am thinking of an up-armored A-10 with research pods in each station & HE rounds to preemptively shred large debris.:yesnod:
 
Snaggletooth said:
Maybe I should have said flying in to a Tornado was not the idea. It's flying close enough to it to drop probes in it. Flying in to a Tornado (Or heck, even a strong T-Storm) would bring down most any plane.
Click to expand...
It's easier and probably more reliable to put ground-based sensors in the path of a tornado.
And I'd definitely rather be in some armored ground vehicle than aloft in any plane when there's a twister nearby. My gut feeling is: if I can see a tornado, I'm probably too close to it. :D
 
Somewhere there is video of small wing mounted rockets being fired at a tornado by a small single engine piston plane.

Airplane of helicopter would be MUCH easier to get near a tornado than any ground based vehicle and there have been some amazing videos of tornados shot from choppers.

I've been thinking about a new extreme sport called Tornado Diving where people with helmets and body armor simply RUN straight into tornados to intentionally get sucked up. Once well on the way to OZ they pull the ripcord and parachute to a safe landing.
 
Years ago, a C210 broke-up in flight during a storm. Video from a camera in the cockpit revealed that the pilot had been chasing tornadoes in order to capture video of them.

I do not know if it was determined if he flew into the tornado, exceeded maneuvering G limits, or what..., but I can say with certainty that a C210 is not the right platform for this activity :-)



Snaggletooth said:
Would it be possible to make a TIP (Tornado Intercept Plane) like the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) like you see on Storm Chasers? Or would you end up dead, or have the FAA take your ticket?

Just for fun, What plane would you use as a TIP?
For what ever reason, a Beech 18 pops in to my mind when I think about it.
Click to expand...
 
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