Does anyone know how high Tornado's are? From what altitude do they typicaly drop? I would imagine it to be low, and making the idea of a plane flying through one even more dicey - even if it could withstand the violence, would they be slammed into the ground by a violent downdraft?

Didn't some school do T-storm research using beefed-up T-28's? If I recall correctly they arour platted the leading edges and beefed-up the canopy and flew the beast through intense T-Storms and hail.