Fri, May 05, 2006
Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips.
Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this
together.
Aero-Tips 05.05.06
The best advice:
don’t. Don't fly in
thunderstorms. Don't fly close to thunderstorms.
Don't fly under thunderstorms and, in almost all cases,
don't try to fly over thunderstorms.
The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) provides some do's and don'ts for thunderstorm
flying. Here's 100 years of flying wisdom condensed into a
short list:
Thunderstorm "Do's"
- Above all, remember this: never regard any thunderstorm
"lightly" even when radar observers report the echoes are of light
intensity. Avoiding thunderstorms is the best policy.
- Avoid by at least 20 miles any severe thunderstorm identified
or giving an intense radar echo. Circumnavigate the entire area if
the area has 6/10 thunderstorm coverage.
- Clear the top of a known or suspected severe thunderstorm by at
least 1,000 feet altitude for each 10 knots of wind speed at the
cloud top. This will exceed the altitude capability of most
aircraft.
- Regard as extremely hazardous any thunderstorm with
tops 35,000 feet or higher.
Thunderstorm "Don'ts"
- Don't land or takeoff in the face of an approaching
thunderstorm. A sudden gust front of low level turbulence could
cause loss of control.
- Don't attempt to fly under a thunderstorm even if you can see
through to the other side. Turbulence, wind shear and hail under or
near the storm could be disastrous.
- Don't fly under the anvil of a large cumulonimbus.
- Don't fly without on-board radar into a cloud mass containing
scattered embedded thunderstorms.
- Don't trust visual appearance to be a reliable indicator of the
turbulence inside a thunderstorm.
Aero-tip of the day: Thunderstorm season is in
full swing across much of the planet. Adhere to the "do's" and
"don'ts" of thunderstorm flying.
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