Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:26 pm
#995313
I took a couple of friends up the other day.
Weather was scattered at 2,200, heavy showers, warnings of the odd thunderstorm. Flew out towards the oncoming weather, giving me the option to turn around if it got very nasty.
Going out we dodged a couple of showers and got sprinkled on by one that was a bit too big to steer around - though we avoided the worst of it. My front seat pax got quite nervous about what rain on the windshield did to the visibility.
When we got to where we were going it was CAVOK, and I elected to stay and circle for a bit to give the weather we'd just come through a chance to get away from us - I didn't want to 'chase' it home and go through it again five minutes later. This didn't go down well with the front seat pax, who didn't like decisions being taken on the hop and implored me to 'stick to my plan'. I placated him/her and continued to circle.
Once I thought I'd given the heavy shower time to build up a lead on us, I turned for home. With about 20 miles to run we caught it up, and by this time it was definitely too wide to go around (in the context of the channel of airspace we were flying in) and it was a big, dark nasty cloud with the base at about 2,000ft, shedding rain like you wouldn't believe. It wasn't building or towering, and it was fairly flat and wide so I think it was cumulo-stratus.... but given it was raining I guess that makes it.... a CB
I decided to go under it, and picked the least angry-looking part - electing to go through at a decent airspeed and get out the other side quickly, because our view approaching it gave the impression that it wouldn't be very 'deep'. Fortunately I was right on this part (about the only thing I was right on) - we were through it in about 60-70 seconds.
But in those 60-70 seconds I've never been more apprehensive in an aircraft. It took just about all my strength forward on the control column to resist the updraft, and even then I could only just keep it below the base of the cloud. The ASI was well into the yellow arc and we were bouncing around like a bead of sweat in an PE teacher's buttock cleavage.
As we came out the other side and things settled down, I checked the altimeter - down to 1,500 feet - and then looked left - we were passing within half a mile of a well-known 1,300 ft obstruction without me even thinking about it.
Weather was scattered at 2,200, heavy showers, warnings of the odd thunderstorm. Flew out towards the oncoming weather, giving me the option to turn around if it got very nasty.
Going out we dodged a couple of showers and got sprinkled on by one that was a bit too big to steer around - though we avoided the worst of it. My front seat pax got quite nervous about what rain on the windshield did to the visibility.
When we got to where we were going it was CAVOK, and I elected to stay and circle for a bit to give the weather we'd just come through a chance to get away from us - I didn't want to 'chase' it home and go through it again five minutes later. This didn't go down well with the front seat pax, who didn't like decisions being taken on the hop and implored me to 'stick to my plan'. I placated him/her and continued to circle.
Once I thought I'd given the heavy shower time to build up a lead on us, I turned for home. With about 20 miles to run we caught it up, and by this time it was definitely too wide to go around (in the context of the channel of airspace we were flying in) and it was a big, dark nasty cloud with the base at about 2,000ft, shedding rain like you wouldn't believe. It wasn't building or towering, and it was fairly flat and wide so I think it was cumulo-stratus.... but given it was raining I guess that makes it.... a CB
I decided to go under it, and picked the least angry-looking part - electing to go through at a decent airspeed and get out the other side quickly, because our view approaching it gave the impression that it wouldn't be very 'deep'. Fortunately I was right on this part (about the only thing I was right on) - we were through it in about 60-70 seconds.
But in those 60-70 seconds I've never been more apprehensive in an aircraft. It took just about all my strength forward on the control column to resist the updraft, and even then I could only just keep it below the base of the cloud. The ASI was well into the yellow arc and we were bouncing around like a bead of sweat in an PE teacher's buttock cleavage.
As we came out the other side and things settled down, I checked the altimeter - down to 1,500 feet - and then looked left - we were passing within half a mile of a well-known 1,300 ft obstruction without me even thinking about it.