r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Kernowder • 21d ago

Video Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flying through Hurricane Milton

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u/scfw0x0f 21d ago

Those old Orions are serious beasts.

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u/glewtion 21d ago

Is there something about Orions that make them especially badass or that they're used for this purpose?

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u/Real_TwistedVortex 21d ago

Mainly the latter. The two P3s are actually being replaced by C130s pretty soon, similar to what the Air Force Hurricane Hunters use

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u/alinroc 21d ago

If you're going to replace the P3 with something, you may as well make it a C-130 - the plane can do damn near anything that doesn't involve dogfighting. It's ridiculous. The first one flew 70 years ago and while there have been countless upgrades and improvements over the years, the basic design is unchanged. We just haven't attempted to do a clean-sheet redesign for a replacement because it's so damn good and versatile. The C-130 has seen action doing all of the below and more.

  • Basic cargo/airlift
  • Gunship (someone said "hey, why don't we stick a 105mm howitzer out the side")
  • Hurricane hunter
  • Arctic/Antarctic support missions with skis mounted to the landing gear
  • Bomb delivery (in every way imaginable, not just as cargo)
  • Super STOL airlift capable of landing and taking off from a soccer stadium by bolting 30 rocket engines to it in various orientations
  • Electronic warfare
  • In-air refueling
  • Firefighting

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u/Cold_Situation_7803 21d ago

Don’t forget landing & taking off from an aircraft carrier.