Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:07 am
#1517409
Having read the thread with the excellent video about climbing into cloud, it made me wonder what you SHOULD do if you find yourself in cloud during the climb out.
We're taught to call mayday and do a 180, but how safe is that when you're effectively turning back over an active runway, with possibly someone else now trundling down the runway since you've departed the ground?
Should you carry on to safe (circuit?) height on departure heading before you do a 180?
Should you stick to the drills and "fly blind" into a circuit pattern whilst telling ATC about your change in plans?
Should you descend again in the hope of getting back below the cloud whilst telling ATC about your change in plans?
One final question: Should you tell ATC if you do encounter a significantly lower cloudbase than promulgated?
I've done a solo circuit where I stopped 100 feet below circuit height* to avoid flying in to cloud. That was safer than the alternative, but I didn't tell ATC - should I have done?
* given the accuracy of a 1970's altimeter and the medium through which we fly.
We're taught to call mayday and do a 180, but how safe is that when you're effectively turning back over an active runway, with possibly someone else now trundling down the runway since you've departed the ground?
Should you carry on to safe (circuit?) height on departure heading before you do a 180?
Should you stick to the drills and "fly blind" into a circuit pattern whilst telling ATC about your change in plans?
Should you descend again in the hope of getting back below the cloud whilst telling ATC about your change in plans?
One final question: Should you tell ATC if you do encounter a significantly lower cloudbase than promulgated?
I've done a solo circuit where I stopped 100 feet below circuit height* to avoid flying in to cloud. That was safer than the alternative, but I didn't tell ATC - should I have done?
* given the accuracy of a 1970's altimeter and the medium through which we fly.