flying near tornadoes

[Bob_Church 7]

This story reminds me of my first and so far only balloon jump in 1982. No, we didn't take the balloon near a tornado, but the pilot/owner, John Firor, had actually flown a sailplane very near one once. For Science, just like these folks. I'll type up the jump down in the History and Trivia section, but I thought people might like this story.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/noaa-scientists-chasing-studying-tornadoes-from-the-sky/

[BillyVance 34]

I was with a bunch of friends at Gold Coast Skydivers at Moss Point, MS climbing to altitude in the plane with isolated thunderheads passing by north and south of us. Then someone squealed in the plane pointing at the window. We all looked out the windows on that side. Directly south of us over Pascagoula, was a thunderhead with a clearly visible funnel cloud poking out the southwestern corner of it. Too cool. Don't think it touched down. Oh and we jumped too.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Bob_Church 7]

BillyVance

I was with a bunch of friends at Gold Coast Skydivers at Moss Point, MS climbing to altitude in the plane with isolated thunderheads passing by north and south of us. Then someone squealed in the plane pointing at the window. We all looked out the windows on that side. Directly south of us over Pascagoula, was a thunderhead with a clearly visible funnel cloud poking out the southwestern corner of it. Too cool. Don't think it touched down. Oh and we jumped too.

That would have scared me to the point of just jumping out of the plane right then to get away from it. I didn't say it would be a smart move, just one of those primal fear things that usually earns you a Darwin award. I was sitting on the floor of a D-18 once and looking out the space where the cargo door would have been I could see a thin cloud, sort of like a contrail, very high and it looked solid against the blue sky. As cold as it was I started sweating and wanted to jump right then. I kept it to myself though. It's just a strange phobia I've always had. When I was a kid I'd have nightmares about standing at the base of a cliff or tower, not on top of it.

[muff528 3]

I seem to remember jumping in clear skies at a coastal DZ while watching multiple, well-formed water spouts dancing below a storm just offshore. Actually a somewhat common weather pattern on the east coast.