In today's world, most aircraft are routed around or over thunderstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, and other violent weather phenomena on a regular basis. Imagine being on an airplane that regularly gets routed through bad weather; and not only that, the pilot and passengers all want to find and fly through the worst flying conditions imaginable. That is the type of flying that NOAA's and its ancestor agencies' large multi-engine aircraft have engaged in since the late 1950's. The passengers on these aircraft are a special breed of scientist who are willing to risk their lives to better understand and predict violent weather.