Interesting Weather with XM

Our flight to Lansing, MI Wednesday was a good example of how XM
satellite weather can really help the average GA pilot.

The plan was to fly due East to Valparaiso, Indiana, just east of the
bottom of Lake Michigan, and then hang a left toward Lansing. We've
made this trip a dozen or more times, and the weather around the bottom
of the lake can be "interesting" -- no matter what time of year.

When we took off, we knew there was an area of iffy weather to the
north, drifting to the east. Knowing that we had "live" weather on
board made all the difference, since we could constantly update the
situation as we went.

After some experimentation with the 496, we have found that it's
possible to view cloud tops at various discrete altitudes. Since we
had a very high scattered to broken layer (up around 10K) and a low
scattered to broken layer (down around 2K), this feature was remarkably
useful. With Mary working the XM, we were able to discern where the
"edge" of the low stuff was with remarkable precision. (And, in
reference to our post of a few days ago, the low stuff WAS being
depicted on the satellite mosaic... Maybe they heard my complaint?
:-)

I stayed on "the clear side" of the lower broken layer for 40 miles,
but this was gradually pushing us south of our intended course.
Without XM, I would have maintained this course along this "edge"
indefinitely. WITH XM, however, Mary was able to show me that this was
a "dead end" course that would take us directly into some storms ahead
in Illinois. She was able to see that all we needed to do was hang a
left, cut across the lower widely scattered layer, and within 15 miles
we'd be in clearer air on the north side of the layer.

This is not something I would ever have done, before XM, since there
would be no good way to know how far the scattered layer continued, or
if it were improving or worsening ahead. With XM, however, it proved
to be child's play, and we were able to fly all the way to Valparaiso
without incident. Once we made the hard left turn toward Lansing, the
scattered layer disappeared, and all was right with the world.

Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, our flight home from
Lansing has proved to be something that XM couldn't really help. I'm
typing this in the FBO at South Bend, Indiana, where we landed
yesterday afternoon after running into an absolute wall of crap.

Because there are so few reporting stations in NW Indiana (strangely,
they are RADIO AWOS's, but they don't appear in computerized weather
depictions, including XM), we were proceeding in the "blind"
(relatively speaking) with XM. The few reporting stations in the area
were reporting good VFR ahead -- but we were running into wildy
variable conditions, running from good VFR to just above minimums --
often within just a few miles. Just south of South Bend conditions
dropped to absolute zero, with visibility and ceilings well below
anything we're comfortable flying in, so we did a 180 and landed for
the night.

Now, the weather is terrific here, but absolute crap in Iowa, predicted
to lift within the hour. As always, we've had a great time while we
were here (found a fantastic steak house called "222" downtown, near
the quite nice Holiday Inn), but I have to admit that the IFR ticket
would have been a deal changer on this particular flight. (No ice or
storms around now, just bad visibility and ceilings to the west.
Although, in truth, Iowa City has been below even IFR minimums much of
the morning.)

Bottom line: XM is great for picking your way around popcorn storms.
It doesn't do much good when bad weather is widespread over a large
area, with no fronts to keep things moving along.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,
I've been flying along the Lansing to Valpariso leg this spring and
summer... The weather is rarely as good as 'interesting' at the right
turn of the lakeshore... It's usually just this side of scummy - and
sometimes the other side...

This is the 'all turns to the left' weekend for us and the Fat Boy will
be doing the, Saginaw - Toledo - Port Clinton - Cleveland - Lake Erie -
Windsor - Saginaw, route... The left turn at Lake Erie can be
interesting also...
Yup, ya gotta get the rating... Unless of course you enjoy staying at
other peoples' inns..

denny

Jay Honeck wrote:

Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, our flight home from
Lansing has proved to be something that XM couldn't really help. I'm
typing this in the FBO at South Bend, Indiana, where we landed
yesterday afternoon after running into an absolute wall of crap.

That Bermuda Triangle known as Northern Indiana was the vortex that
captured my V35 for three weeks on our return trip from Colorado (and The
Alexis Park Inn). Starter went on the ground at Starke County, Indiana.

Stay away from that area!

Sorry to read of your weather delay.

--
Peter

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1155313065.551853.143550
@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

fter some experimentation with the 496, we have found that it's
possible to view cloud tops at various discrete altitudes. Since we
had a very high scattered to broken layer (up around 10K) and a low
scattered to broken layer (down around 2K), this feature was remarkably
useful. With Mary working the XM, we were able to discern where the
"edge" of the low stuff was with remarkable precision. (And, in
reference to our post of a few days ago, the low stuff WAS being
depicted on the satellite mosaic... Maybe they heard my complaint?


Can you give a quick run down on how you were able to do this??

The only thing I've been able to do is zoom out enough to see the acutal
satillite picture of the clouds, but I was unable to find at what level the
tops were, other then perhaps the different shades of white/grey which I
was unable to discern the meaning of. I know there is a section marked
"echo tops" but I thought that was the top of storm cells....

--
-- ET :-)

"A common mistake people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete
fools."---- Douglas Adams

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Because there are so few reporting stations in NW Indiana (strangely,
they are RADIO AWOS's, but they don't appear in computerized weather
depictions, including XM), we were proceeding in the "blind"
(relatively speaking) with XM. The few reporting stations in the area
were reporting good VFR ahead -- but we were running into wildy
variable conditions, running from good VFR to just above minimums --
often within just a few miles. Just south of South Bend conditions
dropped to absolute zero, with visibility and ceilings well below
anything we're comfortable flying in, so we did a 180 and landed for
the night.

Just like what I had coming home from AirVenture.
Put this in your memory file for "localized weather conditions" for
future flight.
This is the kind of knowledge we have lost and continue to lose with the
flight service consolidation. Time was, the FSS briefers who had spent
years at their facility would tell you about the local conditions in
their area.

Can you give a quick run down on how you were able to do this??

The only thing I've been able to do is zoom out enough to see the acutal
satillite picture of the clouds, but I was unable to find at what level the
tops were, other then perhaps the different shades of white/grey which I
was unable to discern the meaning of. I know there is a section marked
"echo tops" but I thought that was the top of storm cells....

Yep, that's the page. We cycled through the "echo tops" and it
perfectly displayed the high stuff (by selecting the 12000? foot
range), the clear areas in between, and the low stuff (by selecting the
lowest selection -- 3000? feet?). Supposedly this should only display
reflections from precip, but it worked well to depict the clouds --
this time, anyway.

By the way -- we're back in Iowa City. Everything lifted around 11:30
AM, and we were back in the office by 3 PM. It was still pretty scuzzy
from Joliet west to Iowa City, but I never had to drop below 2000 MSL,
and visibilities ranged from 5 to 10 miles all the way -- which was a
damned-sight better than Indiana was yesterday!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

but I have to admit that the IFR ticket would have been a deal changer on
this particular flight.

He's weakening...

First a Garmin, then the i. rating.

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:

but I have to admit that the IFR ticket would have been a deal changer on
this particular flight.

He's weakening...

First a Garmin, then the i. rating.

Mary is the person who will really determine whether or not Jay
gets his instrument rating. Unless Mary was pulling my leg, she
doesn't seem at all comfortable with the idea of being in clouds.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Mary is the person who will really determine whether or not Jay
gets his instrument rating. Unless Mary was pulling my leg, she
doesn't seem at all comfortable with the idea of being in clouds.

You're right -- Mary has ZERO interest in flying herself into the
clouds.

However, she would have no problem flying IFR with me. She just doesn't
want the responsibility at this phase of her life.

In most other ways, it WILL be up to Mary when I ultimately get the IR,
since she'll have to carry the load at the hotel for several months
while I hit the books again. I doubt that's going to happen any time
soon.

It's a shame we didn't wait five more months to buy the hotel, back in
'02, and this conversation would be a moot point. I'd simply be
another non-current instrument pilot, like most of the guys at my
airport... ;-)

But it's all good. As long as we can continue to have great times
whenever we *very* occasionally have to spend the night somewhere due
to bad weather, we'll be happy campers... Hell, Mary and I can have
fun anywhere -- even South Bend, Indiana!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In most other ways, it WILL be up to Mary when I ultimately get the IR,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You're right Dan, he is weakening. 'bout time :-)

since she'll have to carry the load at the hotel for several months
while I hit the books again. I doubt that's going to happen any time
soon.

I'd bet you could knock it out in fairly short order Jay. Yep, it does
take a major time commitment and I can imagine the impact to your time
at the Inn. BTDT...just not while trying to run a business.

It's a shame we didn't wait five more months to buy the hotel, back in
'02, and this conversation would be a moot point. I'd simply be
another non-current instrument pilot, like most of the guys at my
airport... ;-)

True, it does take commitment to keep instrument currency...but...heck,
that's just another excuse to go fly, right? Still, I'd bet your
statement about "most guys at my airport" and being out of instrument
currency is fairly common. One of those sad but true things.



--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

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