Found it here:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD= ... =461&rfi=9
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.
The state Board of Regents gave university officials clearance last week to seek approval from the Legislature in the 2006 session to donate the plane to the Omaha air museum. There is not sufficient indoor space to house the plane at the Rapid City air museum. University officials also had checked on possible interest in placing the plane at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., but settled on the Omaha option.
The weather-data gathering effort began in 1968. Richard Schleusner, director of SDSM&T's Institute of Atmospheric Studies, sought a plane that could fly into a storm, according to Andy Detwiler, professor of atmospheric science at the school. Schleusner recruited engineer Paul McCready to come up with a plane that could survive the pressure of flying in a thunderstorm.
They picked a T-28 because it was a common training plane and parts were still available for it. "It wasn't a rare plane," Detwiler said.
The plane's wings were reinforced to survive the constant pounding of hailstones. It was also outfitted with scientific equipment to measure different molecules within a storm. There would usually be someone on the ground spotting for the plane, Detwiler said.
Although the plane was owned by the college and stored in Rapid City, it wasn't used for research in the state.
Over the years, the plane, built in 1949, has been featured on The Weather Channel and The Discovery Channel, Warner said. Because of the many projects were done outside of the state, Warner feels many people in the area don't know about the project.
It has been used in Nebraska, Canada, and even Switzerland. "They shipped it over there by boat," Detwiler said.
After the plane was ready to fly into its first storm, the only thing left was to find a pilot that would be willing to fly it.
Summers had been a pilot with the program from the beginning. He lives in Rapid City, but is retired and travels around the country often. The plane's other pilot, Tom Root, is currently a commercial pilot with Continental Airlines.
In 2000, Summers approached Warner, a former B-1 bomber pilot, about flying the plane. "I was the only one who applied," Warner joked. "It was a dream job for me."
"It is like a roller-coaster," Warner said of flying into storms. "It's real bumpy and if you don't strap in real tight you will bump your head. The core that we go into is very unforgiving."
The turbulence most airline passengers feel is nothing compared to that of what you experience flying through a storm. "It is very violent," he said. "It wouldn't be a good ride for a passenger."
Despite the turbulence, Warner said the experience of flying into a storm is almost religious. "Not too many people have had the opportunity and not too many planes are able to," he said.
When in flight, though, there isn't much time to be in awe.
The flight takes a lot of concentration and focus from the pilot. A bumpy ride is a reality but not a major concern at that time.
"Sometimes it goes by so fast," he said.
Lightning is another thing, Warner said. "It will really get your attention if it strikes the front of the plane," he said. "If it hits the back you really don't notice."
As far as accidents, there hasn't been anything serious, Warner said. But there have been some "interesting" moments for the pilots.
Root remembers the engine failing on him once while flying through a storm in Kansas, but he landed the plane safely on the runway.
Detwiler said that when the project first started, pilots landed on state Highway 44 near the airport because of engine failure.
Warner and Detwiler said they will miss the plane. Detwiler came to the college to study the data the plane gathered.
Warner said he would be the first to sign up if another plane is acquired. Detwiler said they are trying to get another plane, but because it will be a military trainer, it will probably be operated by the Navy and stored in California.
Warner said he would still observe thunderstorms, but this time from his home and aboard a privately owned airplane.
"I'm not an adrenaline junkie," he said. "I'm not there trying to play tag with a tornado."
Not anymore, anyway.
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