Episode Notes:

Patrick talks with two veterans of the Air Force's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better known as the Hurricane Hunters. Jon Talbot spent 27 years as an aerial reconnaissance weather officer, and Jeff Ragusa flew the WC-130J as a pilot and the squadron's chief pilot. In the first part of this two-part episode, they trace how each of them fell into one of the Air Force's most unusual jobs and explain why crews still fly into hurricanes when satellites and forecast models keep getting better.

Image: James B. Pritchett via Wikimedia Commons