Big scare story

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:28:17 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

When he regained control we were at 1500 ft.

Whoa! A "clear air tornado"?

They really aren't a tornado, but for the unwary they might as well
be.

They are often referred to as Dust Devils, or Whirl Winds and are
formed by hot air rising from the surface. Finding severe turbulence
near the top of one (what goes up, must come down) is common.

A true funnel cloud (tornado when the funnel reaches the ground) will
have some very strong winds rushing in near the bottom and sides. The
down rush, falling air, or micro burst will occur near the front of a
storm usually quite some distance from the funnel.

The formation mechanism of the tornado is much more complex as well. I
got caught out in an F-1 as did the neighbors to the south of me. It's
a strange feeling to go through those strong winds to find it suddenly
calm and see the tops coming out of the trees spiraling up into the
clouds. At the same time the neighbor who had been running across
their yard stopped like he had run into a wall.

Even a small tornado or funnel cloud is far more violent than the Dust
Devil, but aircraft really don't want to tangle with either.

Quite a story. (If it was April 1st, I wouldn't have believed it!)

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 06:30:39 GMT, "Dallas"
wrote:


"Gig 601XL Builder"
Whoa! A "clear air tornado"?
Surprised the hell out of me as well. I did some research own it years ago
and it seems to be related to a better known clear air micro burst.


Just a guess here, but tornados take on the color of the ground they are
crossing over... black topsoil - black tornado, yellow dirt - yellow
tornado, water - white tornado. My guess would be a clear one wouldn't be
on the ground?

There is a clear air vortex, but they are still associated with a
storm.

A tornado on water is a "water spout" and they are dark. Usually the
appear black or blue black just like any other funnel cloud associated
with tornados a;though they may be surrounded by white spray at the
bottom.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


Dallas

Right here, Jay!

As I recall it, the upshot of our NORDO donnybrook was that I agreed
that if one has a radio and can use it, it would be stupid not to. And
you agreed that if one can't use a radio, one ought to use one's eyes
religiously. Correct?

Bingo, Henry! Glad to see you're back on the 'groups...

Or have you just been posting under a nom de guerre of late?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

When a GMC Jimmy shot out in front of me, I only left about 12 feet of
skid marks. As his roof line disappeared over the top of my windshield
I had a sad feeling and asked if this is all there was going to be,
followed by, Oh, ****, I'll bet this is gonna hurt!. There was a loud
bang (the air bags) then nothing. The next thing was the feeling of
the car spinning and coming to a stop. I couldn't see a thing due to
the dust from the air bags. I wasn't hurt, but I don't think a 6-pack
on an empty stomach could make me that punchy.
I wasn't even sore the next day.

Ah, modern technology.

In 1975 I had the misfortune of being an un-belted front-seat passenger in a
'72 Dodge Dart (all sharp metal dashboard and pointy things inside) that
went from 40 to zero in about 10 feet. (The oak tree did NOT move.)

No air bag to save me -- just a really hard head. I busted the windshield
with it, hit my neck on the sharp metal-and-plastic dashboard, and -- other
than not being able to swallow for a while, and bleeding like a stuck pig --
I walked away unscathed.

I figure I've been on borrowed time since then.

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

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 15:17:21 -0800, Sylvain wrote:

Roger wrote:
Fueling a rented 172 and putting 40 gallons into the two 21-gallon tanks.

Why would that scare you, unless it was *after* you flew the plane.
Me? I'm paranoid about fuel.

that would scare me too; I hate the idea of sharing an
aircraft with somehow who would be so careless; what other
stupid thing the same bozo did to the aircraft?

When renting aircraft you never know what the previous pilot may have
done. Most people are far less careful with rental equipment than
they are the things they own.

However, you really need to separate out fuel from other things. There
is a mind set out there which is un-nervingly common that fuel is
related to distance rather than time. Something that is quite
different than the carelessness we normally think of.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

--Sylvain

Mine scare was fairly tame compared to those posted. Night VOR in IMC
approach to an uncontolled airport in a Mooney Ranger, pulled on the
carb heat and the cable kept coming out of the panel. Later we found
the cable had broken right near the carb.

FWIW, leaning can keep (or at least in this case, kept) enough engine
power to fly the miss, fly 50 miles to an airport with an ILS, and
make a succesful approach. I figured out leaning worked after pulling
and pushing on every other knob in the cockpit. Landing lights didn't
help, cowl flaps, pitch, gear up (manual gear retraction in those
airplanes). I do wonder about blood pressure readings at a time like
that,

Picking up a bunch of ice was a close second, but that was the result
of a stupid decision. Ice = turn around, even if the airport is only 20
miles away.

Being in a thunderstorm in an M20J was attention getting as well.

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 02:06:47 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

When a GMC Jimmy shot out in front of me, I only left about 12 feet of
skid marks. As his roof line disappeared over the top of my windshield
I had a sad feeling and asked if this is all there was going to be,
followed by, Oh, ****, I'll bet this is gonna hurt!. There was a loud
bang (the air bags) then nothing. The next thing was the feeling of
the car spinning and coming to a stop. I couldn't see a thing due to
the dust from the air bags. I wasn't hurt, but I don't think a 6-pack
on an empty stomach could make me that punchy.
I wasn't even sore the next day.

Ah, modern technology.

You bet! That powder from the air bags sure does burn, but T-boning
that Jimmy at highway speed sure made a believer out of me. What I
can't figure out, is how I made it through two solid lanes of oncoming
traffic. I know I was looking and I couldn't find a spot to go left
although good as it was I don't think that TransAm could have turned
that quick.

It put the firewall right back against the bottom of the dash and the
right front wheel was back into the firewall which was back into the
dash.

I am glad I don't wrap my thumbs around the steering wheel. I had
wrapped it right up against the steering column on both sides and
although not sore the insides of both forearms had a series of little
purple spots from skidding over the wheel.

We got the kid out of the SUV and onto the lawn in front of the bank.
The suv was parked in the left turn lane pointed east (5 lane highway
including the left turn lane). Right after we got him out two more
cars hit it. One spun CW and the other CCW. One poor lone car coming
east went right between them without a scratch. The one ended up
backwards in the parking lot driveway where the SUV had emerged. The
other... He took quite a ride. That parking lot is about 10 to 12
feet below the highway. He shot straight out over the parking lot
from the junction of the drive and highway at probably 60 MPH or
faster. I don't know what his suspension was like afterwards. It
certainly had to have been a cleaner when he left that parking lot
compared to when he landed.


In 1975 I had the misfortune of being an un-belted front-seat passenger in a
'72 Dodge Dart (all sharp metal dashboard and pointy things inside) that
went from 40 to zero in about 10 feet. (The oak tree did NOT move.)

Those Oak trees sure are stubborn, but then again Oak is a hard wood.

I had one of the Dodge Shelby's It was the worst car to work on I ever
owned. Everything in the engine compartment was sharp, or long and
pointed.


No air bag to save me -- just a really hard head. I busted the windshield

The impact blew the windshield right out of the TA.

with it, hit my neck on the sharp metal-and-plastic dashboard, and -- other
than not being able to swallow for a while, and bleeding like a stuck pig --
I walked away unscathed.

You must have healed up rather well.


I figure I've been on borrowed time since then.

Or living in an alternate reality. Some times I wonder.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

:-)

In article ,
Roger wrote:

Or living in an alternate reality. Some times I wonder.


I've never hit something hard, but have had lots of near misses... one
of them I remember. I was driving a Mazda MX-6 at around 80mph in a 55 or
less highway (one lane going each direction). It was late at a full
moon night when I saw a dark stop on the road. I narrowly missed a huge cow,
passing inches from a Bus coming in the other direction...


--
Eduardo K. | To put a pipe in byte mode,
http://www.carfun.cl | type PIPE_TYPE_BYTE.
http://e.nn.cl | (from the Visual C++ help file.)

In article ,
Eduardo K. wrote:
In article ,
Roger wrote:

Or living in an alternate reality. Some times I wonder.


I've never hit something hard, but have had lots of near misses... one
of them I remember. I was driving a Mazda MX-6 at around 80mph in a 55 or
less highway (one lane going each direction). It was late at a full
moon night when I saw a dark stop on the road. I narrowly missed a huge cow,
passing inches from a Bus coming in the other direction...


dark spot... I meant


--
Eduardo K. | To put a pipe in byte mode,
http://www.carfun.cl | type PIPE_TYPE_BYTE.
http://e.nn.cl | (from the Visual C++ help file.)