On July 27th, 1943 US. Army Air Forces Lt. Col. Joseph. B Duckworth from Savannah Georgia made the first deliberate flight into the eye of a Hurricane. This historic event inagurated the era of aircraft reconnaissance into tropical cyclones including Hurricanes and Tropical storms which greatly enhances understanding and forecasting of the tropical systems and hurricanes. In 1943 Joseph was commanding the instrument training facility at Bryan Army Air Field In Texas. On July 27th, all flying classes were cancelled when a sudden hurricane unexpectedly hit Coastal Texas including Galveston Texas to the southeast of Bryan Texas. Joseph decided to fly his AT-6 Texas trainer aircraft into the storm. He encountered modern turbulance but succeeded in finding the eye to the west of Houston. His mission is what started the modern day Hurricane Hunters! Very crucial and Important data are gathered as a result of the missions. Around 100 missions are now flown each year that last around 9 hours.
