VFR "picking his way thru" heavy cells with XM Radio weather

Just had a simliar experience today flying into PDX (portland, OR).

The onboard radar demonstrated some clear spots through heavy precip (no
electrical activity on Stormscope), while the Nexrad (which is delayed)
showed no path through.

Nexrad is great for the far away strategic planning, but is poor at tactical
planning up close, due to the delay. For this, onboard radar is the only way
to go.

Either way, trying this at night makes it even a lot harder.
"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 12:21:35 -0400, "Peter R."
wrote in :

[Story of cluelessly inept pilot narrowly escaping disaster snipped]

Did you happen to note the aircraft's N number?

Someone should relate this incident to the appropriate FSDO office
before the tapes are wiped, so that the pilot can benefit from some
badly needed remedial WX training before his bumbling casts yet more
negative public opinion on GA, and saddens his friends and family.

On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:07:12 -0500, "Viperdoc"
wrote in
:

Just had a simliar experience today flying into PDX (portland, OR).

The onboard radar demonstrated some clear spots through heavy precip (no
electrical activity on Stormscope)


So your experience wasn't anything at all like that in the OP; there
was no CB.

I was taught, and experience has confirmed, that it's prudent to skirt
a cell by 20 miles to avoid hail damage, especially on the downwind
side.

The airman in the OP was clearly not exercising good judgment, and his
final comment about diverting toward the direction of advancing line
of CBs underscores his cluelessness.

I did not state that my experience was the same, or even similar. Rather, I
was trying to make the point that Nexrad is not a good tool for penetrating
a line of CB's, due to the time delay in receiving the information.