The weather was rolling in hard over Pensacola, Fla. A sky full of U.S. Navy training aircraft was struggling to get down before the worst of it smothered their airfield. Departing cross-country flights were making a break for it, fleeing the oncoming front. Pilot-requested deviations were the order of the day as civilian trainers tunneled under and over the building cumulonimbus. Dozens of targets of all kinds-fixed-wing, helos, duals, solos, formation flights, IFR, VFR-on-top, and VFR-wove jagged trails across the radar scope through the worsening rain and wind. Unusual requests filtered through the crowded frequencies, demanding attention.
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