Lead Sled
Sitt'n on the throne...
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
- Posts
- 2,066
When it comes to flying techniques, like I said in my first post, get your hands on Robert Buck's book "Weather Flying". It and "Instrument Flying" by Richard Taylor are, in my opinion, 2 must reads for people starting out.
You've read the book, now what? There was a time when things like weather flying, radar usage, etc. were passed down from senior, gray haired captain to "green" inexperienced copilots. Nowadays, many of us don't have that opportunity - we get our ratings and suddenly find ourselves in the left seat of a light airplane looking out the window at a thunder storm. The first rule of flying in thunderstorms is NEVER FLY IN THUNDERSTORMS. It's suicidal. You may get lucky a few times, but sooner or later, it will get you.
Always have a "Plan B" and a "Plan C". There's an old saying in aviation that says accidents occur when the pilot runs out of altitude, airspeed, and ideas at the same time. Always have a realistic, legitimate and viable backup plan and always have a realistic, legitimate and viable backup plan to your backup plan. (It sounds redundant, but it's not.) On a clear day, your backup plans might be simply, "We'll go to this airport and land and if that won't work we can go to that airport and land." On those days when the weather or fuel are real issues your backup plans become very critical. What will you do if the visibility or ceiling falls below your personal minimums? Where will you go? What airports are nearby? The 2nd backup plan (Plan C) is used to get you safely on the ground when your original plans have gone "south". It keeps you from getting in the dangerous position of having to make up the rules as you go. That's the way many pilots have gotten themselves into serious trouble. Always have two workable and realistic alternative plans. When things get tough, the peace of mind they provide is priceless.
Remember, when it comes to T-Storms the word is AVOIDENCE. Radar and spherics detectors (Stormscopes, et al) are used to AVOID them NOT for penetration. Even it you have all of the latest whistles and bells; nothing replaces the need to look out the window. As far as I'm concerned, the best way to avoid them is visually - either down low, below the clouds, or up high. Flying IMC in areas of convective activity without a Stormscope and/or Radar is going to, at some point, make for a very interesting afternoon. By the way, don't believe it when you hear guys say that those little "popcorn cu's" can't bite - they sure can. It's just that in some parts of the country they are often pretty benign. In other parts of the country you can loosen your dental fillings in them. The best way that I know of to insure a good ride is to maximuze your time at altitude and above cloud base and to use a Stormscope to avoid the areas of electrical discharge that are associated with significant convective activity.
I'm fortunate to fly aircraft that are typically equipped with both color weather radar and Stormscopes. It does make things a little easier (Provided you know how to properly use and interpret the weather radar - many guys don't.) If you're flying aircraft with both types of equipment you typically use the Stormscope to decide what you're going to deviate around and you use the radar for the actual deviation, its resolution is much better. Having both systems is by far the best and it also provides you with some redundancy. The absolute best combination is a Stormscope matched with one of the Vertical Profile radars. It makes interpreting what you're seeing on the display silly simple.
But, like I said in my first post, go get and read the book Weather Flying then we can talk some more.
Lead Sled
You've read the book, now what? There was a time when things like weather flying, radar usage, etc. were passed down from senior, gray haired captain to "green" inexperienced copilots. Nowadays, many of us don't have that opportunity - we get our ratings and suddenly find ourselves in the left seat of a light airplane looking out the window at a thunder storm. The first rule of flying in thunderstorms is NEVER FLY IN THUNDERSTORMS. It's suicidal. You may get lucky a few times, but sooner or later, it will get you.
Always have a "Plan B" and a "Plan C". There's an old saying in aviation that says accidents occur when the pilot runs out of altitude, airspeed, and ideas at the same time. Always have a realistic, legitimate and viable backup plan and always have a realistic, legitimate and viable backup plan to your backup plan. (It sounds redundant, but it's not.) On a clear day, your backup plans might be simply, "We'll go to this airport and land and if that won't work we can go to that airport and land." On those days when the weather or fuel are real issues your backup plans become very critical. What will you do if the visibility or ceiling falls below your personal minimums? Where will you go? What airports are nearby? The 2nd backup plan (Plan C) is used to get you safely on the ground when your original plans have gone "south". It keeps you from getting in the dangerous position of having to make up the rules as you go. That's the way many pilots have gotten themselves into serious trouble. Always have two workable and realistic alternative plans. When things get tough, the peace of mind they provide is priceless.
Remember, when it comes to T-Storms the word is AVOIDENCE. Radar and spherics detectors (Stormscopes, et al) are used to AVOID them NOT for penetration. Even it you have all of the latest whistles and bells; nothing replaces the need to look out the window. As far as I'm concerned, the best way to avoid them is visually - either down low, below the clouds, or up high. Flying IMC in areas of convective activity without a Stormscope and/or Radar is going to, at some point, make for a very interesting afternoon. By the way, don't believe it when you hear guys say that those little "popcorn cu's" can't bite - they sure can. It's just that in some parts of the country they are often pretty benign. In other parts of the country you can loosen your dental fillings in them. The best way that I know of to insure a good ride is to maximuze your time at altitude and above cloud base and to use a Stormscope to avoid the areas of electrical discharge that are associated with significant convective activity.
I'm fortunate to fly aircraft that are typically equipped with both color weather radar and Stormscopes. It does make things a little easier (Provided you know how to properly use and interpret the weather radar - many guys don't.) If you're flying aircraft with both types of equipment you typically use the Stormscope to decide what you're going to deviate around and you use the radar for the actual deviation, its resolution is much better. Having both systems is by far the best and it also provides you with some redundancy. The absolute best combination is a Stormscope matched with one of the Vertical Profile radars. It makes interpreting what you're seeing on the display silly simple.
But, like I said in my first post, go get and read the book Weather Flying then we can talk some more.
Lead Sled
