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Amelia,
Turbulence is a fact of life, and sometimes doesn't give you a warning. Flying my Mooney 231, I was beginning my descent from the Rocky Mountains just SW of Pueblo into the front range area. There's always turbulence during the descent, whether you're in a commercial jet or small plane. Until we hit the turbulence, the air was perfectly calm. It was a clear day. We were descending into Colorado Springs. At about 11,500ft, my passenger and I were enjoying a relaxing conversation during the descent, which was at about 500f/min. Suddenly, we hit a pocket of turbulence like I've never felt. The whole plane shook up and down like the Jolly Green Giant was shaking it. We were strapped in tight, but our heads hit the ceiling (not much room in Mooneys). Our briefcases and papers on the back seat were all over the plane. It was shaking so much, I couldn't hold onto the controls and my vision was blurry. I gradually reached for the blurry speed brake switch and managed to engage them. The plane slowed some, and I pulled the yoke back to reduce speed. I put the gear down and finally got the bird down to maximum structural cruising speed for turbulence. We were out of it as fast as we entered it, which is typical for turbulence around here. We landed in Colorado Springs, exasperated. I dropped off my passenger and walked the plane. We had structural damage. The spinner had cracked for about 4". The horizontal stabilizer in back was bent down on both sides about 3/4". Now, that's turbulence. When I got my instrument rating in Denver. I used the professional instrument courses program of intense, ten-day study. It was a week when the temperatures here were over 100 degrees the entire week. There wasn't a day went by that we weren't in turbulence--for hood work, precision approaches, everything. Sweating, too. But, that's flying, and the better you can fly in adverse conditions, the better the pilot you'll be.
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DJSchaut
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DJSchaut
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