Awful First Flight

[cate]

Today was my first Real Flight and I completely screwed up. On the ground the air was perfectly calm but once we were airbourne there was a lot of turbulence.

If I have one fear about flying, it is turbulence. I want the flight to feel smooth as a monorail. I want all concepts of weather to vanish for the two hours I am occupying Houston Air Space.

The plane (Cessna 172 Skyhawk) felt like a piece of popcorn in a blender. We were being bounced all over the place. The instructor was very good about it, trying to override my sudden fear of flying with physics. See, he said, the sun is coming out and warming up chunks of flat land and since hot air rises, we feel it as a bump when we fly through this column of hot, unstable air.

Thanks Newton, shut up and fly, wouldya?

I didn't say that. I wanted to but didn't. Instead I just gripped the yoke and put on my best Amelia face and told him not to take his hands away from his controls, to let me fly but make sure he could take it if we hit more turbulence.

Once we were on the ground I said, Okay let's schedule my next flight and he actually looked surprised.

Oh God. Just open a vein.

Yes really, I said, and once inside, we scheduled the next three sessions. They're scheduled for early in the day before the sun has time to heat up huge chunks of open land and create those blasted columns of air.

Meantime I am completely humiliated and want to explain to him that I'm not afraid to fly. Honest. I can fly just fine, I just hate turbulance.

I can guess his reply though, and this is why I keep my mouth shut: Hon, turbulence is an unescapable aspect of flying.

[sideslip]

Cate: Your first flight was a success. You got up, you got down, and you want to go again. That's success. I don't think any pilot likes turbulance, but it is something you have to deal with all the time. Just because the flight starts out in calm air doesn't mean it will end in calm air. In fact it rarely does. As you get more flights in, you will become more tolerant of rough air. The big worry that most new students have in turbulance is that they will lose control or the plane will come apart. Except in really sever turbulance (which you shouldn't be flying in anyway) these things won't happen. Think of turbulance like a rough road in your car. If it is real rough you just slow down a little. Same is true in an airplane. Your instructor can tell you all about this. Good luck.

[djschaut]

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

[djschaut]

By the way, two days after we landed the Mooney at Colorado Springs after that severe turbulence, a commercial 737 rolled upside-down and crashed into a park on approach to the same runway in Colorado Springs. The cause? Rotor waves (rotors) coming off the mountains. They can occur on the leeward side of mountain ranges.

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DJSchaut

[cate]

Flying is just like anything else, you must be able to perform under various different circumstances. I know that and accept it and am committed to outfoxing my turbulence jitters. After I get my private license, I definately want instrument certification so I have a long-term view of this. A FedEx pilot who happened to be hanging around the tiny municipal airport said to think of turbulence as a bumpy road. That's a good metaphor, I guess.

Your experience with turbulence over the Rocky Mtns was much worse than what I experienced. (And a 727 would have a tough time crashing on my flight route, btw, there was nothing at all below my wings but prison farm land and wide open spaces). In commercial jets, though, I don't get nervy about turbulence because those airplanes feel heavy. I know it makes no sense physically but the plane is liminally more suitable for flying than a small plane in those conditions.

Is water this way? Are there special circumstances to be aware of when flying over water? And have you flown in snow? Ice? Sleet? At what point, in those conditions, do you decide it's not safe to fly? I understand these elements are far more serious than a little turbulence, but I would still be interested in hearing any first-hand experience.

[djschaut]

Amelia,
I've never flown over large bodies of water, so can't comment on that. The snow here in the Rocky Mountain region is very dry--powder snow. As long as you are above minimums, you can fly through snow in instrument conditions. Once, flying from Sierra Vista, Arizona (near Mexico), back here to Denver, I entered snow flurries over northern New Mexico. The air was stable, the snow wasn't accumulating on the wings--it was just, well, snowing outside. If you've ever driven in blowing snow where the snow doesn't accumulate on the windshield of the car, it was like that. I just continued the instrument flight, with frequent ice inspections of the leading edges of the wings. That's what the ice light is for. I didn't get out of the snow until final approach at the airport. Now, wet snow may pose a different problem and may cause some icing.
Icing is something to avoid. I had planes certified for flight into 'known ice' conditions, and still avoided ice whenever possible. If there's anything that can ruin the airfoil effect of the wing, it's ice. It accumulates on the leading edge of the wing. Two forms are generally recognized, rime ice and clear ice. Ice forming on the wing has two negative effects--it disturbs the airflow over the wing and it adds weight to the plane (clear ice). It can occur in summer or winter if flying high in moist, cold conditions. Though it isn't snowing, the wing gets extremely cold, and moisture turns to ice gradually on the ice-cold wing. That's rime ice. Clear ice tends to happen fast when you inadvertently fly into freezing rain or ice. That's a scary proposition.
In the Mooney, flying below the cloud tops at about 9000' just north of Telluride once, it was raining and there were thunder cells ahead on the radar. I asked for a report from the commercial turbo-props on the 'tops' of the cells. One reported that the tops were from 19,000 to 20,000ft. I asked Denver Center for a clearance to FL210 to get above the weather. Everything was fine until about 19,000ft., though it continued to rain. In about 30 seconds or less, the plane was thrown up to 22,000'. At the same time, I lost all forward visibility as the plane was suddenly covered in clear ice. The windscreen was a solid sheet of ice, and clear ice suddenly appeared on the leading edges of both wings. When the ice hit, it sounded like the plane was being sandblasted or hit loose gravel--it was noisy. Then the noise stopped and I was left flying a popsicle. I never found the cloud tops. The plane was hard to maneuver and I couldn't hold a heading. The engine began to sputter (iced over ram-air portals in the cowling), and I pulled the alternate air lever. Alternate air didn't change a thing, and I noticed that I had turned 90deg north and was losing altitude. The controls were getting heavy and washy. I informed Denver Center of the problem and was able to gain some control with increased airspeed during the emergency descent. I headed for the lowest airport around--Montrose, Colorado. Fortunately, icing doesn't affect the radios much. Below FL180, I cancelled IFR and told Denver Center I should be OK once I got the plane into warmer air. At about 10,000ft, I was again out of the clouds, and the Montrose airport was in sight. As soon as the OAT rose above 32 degrees, all of the ice on the plane melted, the wings cleared, the engine stopped missing, and I leveled off. I then finished the trip to Denver by flying under the clouds through Monarch pass. So, ice can happen quickly and without notice, is a dangerous condition, and should be avoided--even if you have a plane equipped for flight into icing conditions. When you flight plan, be sure to heed pireps (pilot reports) about any ice experienced. If mild rime is encountered, and you have a plane certified for 'known ice,' you may be able to avoid it, or may not even get into it. But if the airliners are consistently reporting icing, best to use a different route or postpone the flight. Remember, it's illegal to fly into 'known ice' conditions if your plane is not certified for 'known ice.'

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DJSchaut

[sideslip]

Cate: Flying over large bodies of water is dangerous. The main danger is having to ditch and then being found. In your part of the country the water is warm and so chances are that, done properly, you will be ok ditching. The problem comes in being found. You're a small speck in a large area. In my part of the country, Wisconsin, the water is cold even in summer. Every year planes go down in Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, there are few survivors because even in summer the water temperature is less than 60 deg. F. So in about 20 minutes you can't move and you drown or hypothermia gets you. Good news is over water I have usually found the air to be less turbulent than over land. This is because alot of the turbulance at lower altitudes is caused by terrain and differential heating of the ground. Over water the surface is smooth and the heating is fairly uniform unless you have patchy clouds. Best advice on crossing large bodies of water in a small plane is if you can't get enough altitude to glide to shore then go around the water. That is what most people do here when going to Michigan.

The snow here tends to be wetter than that in Colorado. Thus, I try never to fly into or through a snow shower as there is a good chance the plane will ice up. Another thing to remember is always make sure that any frost is off the wings and stabilizers before you depart. Frost may look harmless but it can really destroy a wings lift.

As your training progresses you will learn about things like the above. The main thing to concentrate on at this stage is to learn to fly the plane and gain confidence in your abilities. Good luck.

[wxwatcher]

cate,

When it comes to turbulence, there are more than one cause. Besides thermal or convective turbulence, there is "mechanical" which is caused by winds encountering uneven terrain like the Rockies. There are also various forms and severities of turbulence associated with storm systems and frontal passage, inversion layers, and the jet stream. If you haven't gone to a ground school yet, check the aviation books section on this web page. It will take you to a selection of books related to aviation. Look for the one on Aviation Weather by Terry Lankford. He's a retired FAA Flight Service Specialist and a current pilot. Does a good job expalining the weather related side of flying.

As for the B737 accident at Colorado Springs, that wa soriginally thought to be caused by a rotor cloud, but after the USAir incident outside Pittsburg, and another near Atlantic City, the NTSB people found a problem with the rudder actuator servo. Under the right conditions, that little gizmo, which controls rudder travel in the B737, could lock up or even operate in reverse to the pilot's inputs causing an uncontrolled roll and crash. The Discovery Channel had a special, "Why Airplanes Crash," which aired about two months ago and they actually did a segment on those accidents.

Jerry

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Comments and opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

[wxwatcher]

cate,

BTW.. If you're in the Houston area, your AFSS is located at the Montgomery County Airport in Conroe, TX. If you get a chance, stop in and ask for a tour. They'll be glad to explain a lot of this stuff to you and answer just about any question you have.

Jerry

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Comments and opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

[wxwatcher]

Sideslip,

What part of Wisconsin you from? I'm originally from Sheboygan and worked at Lone Rock FSS a number of years back, before they closed it.

Jerry

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Comments and opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

[sideslip]

Jerry: I live in New Holstein just 20 west of Sheboygan. I fly out of New Holstein airport (8D1). If you are ever up this way you should stop by the airport. It is a really friendly place. Lots of tailwheel planes and a nice grass runway (along with a hardtop one, but who uses those?). You don't have to fly a tailwheel to be welcome. We do have a couple of rebels with 172's. One of the most unique planes on the field is a Sopwith Camel. Another one is a 135 hp SuperCub that came from the Italian Air Force. It still has the camo paint and Italian markings on it.

Mike.