On 9-Jul-2006, Mike Spera wrote:

In IMC, there is no way I can even see the red blob in my path to even ask
for a heading change. If
ATC is not busy, they may tell me, maybe not.


Most of my flying is in the Pacific Northwest where thunderstorms are rare.
(Icing is far and away the biggest weather limitation to IFR flight.) But
on a flight over the Continental Divide in Montana last summer, while in
IMC, the controller advised me of a new and urgent SIGMET for an area of
scattered, embedded thunderstorms that had popped up, unforcasted, right
along my flight path. He then did a masterful job of vectoring me through
them. I hit some rain, but no real turbulence. Still, it would have been a
lot less nerve wracking if I had been able to see where I was going in
relation to the storms. Also, if this had been in busy airspace I doubt
that the controller would have had time to do this vectoring for more than a
couple of planes at most.

Whether by vectors or in-cockpit display, Nexrad can't be used for picking
your way though a line of weather, but it will work for steering safely
between and around scattered storms.

If I flew frequently in thunderstorm country I would have already bought a
396 (or some other Nexrad display system). As it is, it's high on my wish
list.

-Elliott Drucker