single pilot ifr trip tonight

Andrew Gideon wrote:
Snowbird wrote:


Could you expand a bit upon this? What sort of surprises do you
feel sferics allow and in what circs?

What would you prefer for GA wx avoidance?


A strikefinder, as I understand it, tells where lightning is. I prefer to
know where it's going to be.

I don't know of any clairvoyant avionics at present. :-) Lightning is
lonely and tends to stay with friends. So, if you see one strike,
you'll likely see others very near by.


As far as surprises: the first strike has to be somewhere. There's nothing
but "big sky" which says that it'll be 200 miles out (the limit of the
strikefinder in a plane I fly) instead of 200 feet out.

True, but using your eyes and center radar can give you a clue where the
activity is likely to begin. No guarantees though.


What would I prefer? I don't really know what's available. RADAR would be
nice.

I'd prefer both sferics and radar, but given the need for a pod on a
single and the cost, I think a Strikefinder or Stormscope is an
excellent investment. I flew with a Strikefinder for many years and
found it very helpful in avoiding thunderstorms. I personally would
rather fly in heavy rain than in heavy turbulence, and lightning tends
to correlate well with turbulence.


Matt

Matthew S. Whiting wrote:

I don't know of any clairvoyant avionics at present. :-)

Huh. Damned FAA.

[...]
As far as surprises: the first strike has to be somewhere. There's
nothing but "big sky" which says that it'll be 200 miles out (the limit
of the strikefinder in a plane I fly) instead of 200 feet out.

True, but using your eyes and center radar can give you a clue where the
activity is likely to begin. No guarantees though.

In IMC, how useful are eyes? This is not a rhetorical question, BTW. *Is*
there something for which we should be looking?


What would I prefer? I don't really know what's available. RADAR would
be nice.

I'd prefer both sferics and radar, but given the need for a pod on a
single and the cost, I think a Strikefinder or Stormscope is an
excellent investment.

Ah. I was actually thinking of something like NEXRAD downloads. I think
the type of RADAR you mean will be...a while in coming for me.

I flew with a Strikefinder for many years and
found it very helpful in avoiding thunderstorms. I personally would
rather fly in heavy rain than in heavy turbulence, and lightning tends
to correlate well with turbulence.

Yes, well, nowadays I associate rain with icing. But that's temporary; I'll
get over it in a few months. Of course, that too is temporary.

- Andrew