[Red Boots]

As Nauti Nurse noted, do you think a private company would arrange to fly aircraft into a Cat 5 hurricane for critical forecast info?

Of course they could. Private enterprise can do anything government can do, only cheaper, and often better.It's the same people working in both areas. Being part of a government run business doesn't make them smarter, or more able to come up with good ideas, just less efficient, and on the taxpayers dole.

Freed from constraints, they might come up with way better and even more accurate solutions.

As for it being chump change in the Federal budget, lots of chump change adds up to big money.

[dirtboy]

Of course they could. Private enterprise can do anything government can do, only cheaper, and often better.It's the same people working in both areas. Being part of a government run business doesn't make them smarter, or more able to come up with good ideas, just less efficient, and on the taxpayers dole.

Sorry, but I don't see it happening. I don't see a business model where a company will fly into a hurricane to get data. How would they make a profit from that? Can they charge coastal residents for hurricane forecasts? Or do you have them function as subcontractors for the government?

[NautiNurse]

How many aircraft can safely fly into the eye of a hurricane simultaneously? Who would oversee air traffic control, and what should we do when two aircraft from competing companies produce significantly different data on storm direction and speed?

Should state and local governments contract with one or two or five companies to assess and enact emergency operations plans?

I see my taxes going from one pocket to another.