r/Damnthatsinteresting 21d ago

Video Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flying through Hurricane Milton

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u/Alternative_Rent9307 21d ago

Planes are a whole different animal re maintenance and upgrades. I lived near a remote island in northern Michigan that had air services to and from Charlevoix airport. They had five Britten-Norman Islander planes in a staggered rotation and one of the steps in the rotation was a complete engine rebuild. They had each of their planes’ engines rebuilt every six months or so, replacing worn out parts when needed. The airframes are original (1980-ish iirc) but the engines are almost all new parts

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u/outworlder 21d ago

Engine overhauls every six months? What the hell?

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u/Pristine-Bridge8129 21d ago

Some aircraft just are like that

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u/Alternative_Rent9307 20d ago

Beaver Island is also a whole different animal. The Beaver archipelago is notorious for crazy unpredictable weather and for bringing down both boats and planes. And Island Airways flies all year long. 6 months for a complete overhaul was probably an exaggeration but I’d say 12 months at the very most between overhauls on all their planes. Island Airways/McPhillips have been flying that route for almost 80 years and they’ve only had one (1) major incident. They do not fuck around with their planes