Best Storm Stories

Bruce Laxalt told me about getting caught under a big towering cumulus. He kept flying faster and faster, but the lift was too strong and just before he went IFR, he pulled the spoilers out! The wings of his ASW-20B bowed like a banana, but stayed on and he didn't go into the clouds. Once clear of the cloud, he tried to close his spoilers, but they wouldn't close! The spoilers had bent back because he deployed them above maneuvering speed. Luckily, Lee Vining Airport was very close and he landed without incident.

Another friend was doing the same thing, but he did get sucked into the CB. He turned loose of the controls and prayed! After about 5 minutes, he flew out the side of the cloud, but the ship didn't feel right. An inch of ice had formed on the wings. The ice not only added considerable weight, but it destroyed the airfoil and he was dropping like a smooth stone! It looked like he was going to land in the sagebrush, but the warmer temperature at lower altitude allowed the ice to melt off and he made it to Hawthorne Airport.

I was flying a Cessna 340 out of North Las Vegas during a winter storm, filed IFR for San Diego (KSEE). The controllers were very busy and I was given an initial altitude that put me 1,500 into the clouds. I noticed my weather radar (older black and white one) was painting all white ahead (big cell with lots of moisture). I kept trying to call control for a heading change, but they would not respond. I just knew the cell would be full of ice, hail, and hell so I repeatedly to pushed the ident button on my transponder and started to turn away from the cell. Soon control came on and said, "62C I see you are turning away from that level 4 cell", I thought yeah, thanks for the help and obviously you were going to let my flying into that!. I immediately asked for 2,000 ft lower and told them If I could get that I would cancel IFR, request immediately granted.

I have, a weather story, not really a storm story. Glider pilots really are the best (next to helicopter pilots ! I was flying a Cessna 340 out of South Tahoe. Was awoken early on a Sunday morning by the sounds of aircraft taking off. Usually I could not hear the airport but it was early and almost no background noise. I wondered why so many were leaving early on a spring Sunday morning. Checked weather and found an air mass was moving from east to west across the Sierras setting up wave and a rotor close to the South Lake airport. Decided it was time to load the dogs and wife and get an early start for home. Take off direction was east (toward the mountains). While listening to the radio, it was obvious many of these pilots should not be flying in the mountains, or even flying). I heard one "pilot" screaming on the radio his auto-pilot would not stay on because it was too rough. Many would take off and wanted to fly toward the mountains until they got to 1,000 ft before turning downwind (not a good idea if you are flying into rotor or the down part of the wave). As we are taught flying gliders, have a plan before you depart. I had planned to get as much speed as possible, suck the gear up as soon as I had a positive rate and as soon as the rate of climb started to diminish, turn down wind (at any altitude). Plan worked great. Usually in a 340 as soon as you leave the ground you turn on the yaw damper, it was so rough I made two attempts, could not get my finger on the toggle, so I went back to flying. My climb rate started to deminish when I had about 300 ft, turned downwind, over the lake I hit the up part of the wave, turned parallel to the mountains, climbed in the laminar air to 17,500 while thanking my glider instructors. Had a beautiful flight home, little rough on the take off and initial turn downwind, but really uneventful. I think, all power pilots should be required to take mountain flying classes and spin training. Nothing beats real world training! The other lesson Learned early in my flight training. I want to learn from the guy with grey hair, not a young guy. Experience, beats youth.

Best storm story:
The forecast was terrible and when I got to the gliderport it really looked bad so I went home.

On Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 1:58:46 PM UTC-8, Tom (2NO) wrote:
Best storm story:
The forecast was terrible and when I got to the gliderport it really looked bad so I went home.

Actually, one year I had much time to go gliding and I made it a point to launch whatever the weather. I learned a lot about flying. I even had one rainy day with lots of lift (not sure how that happened) and enough rain to be running through the rotor side wall vent. Had another great flight were I rode the front of a T-Storm for 150 miles. We fly on the power of weather, not all "bad" weather is bad.

OK...

Enjoying the smooth lift under the leading edge of a thunderstorm along
the ramparts of the Rockies until the static of lightening came across
the radio. I decided that sitting in the center of a carbon lightning
rod was not the best place to be so I headed back to Black Forest.
While enroute, I saw the dust front from the downburst which had begun
so I sped up to get home before the storm.

Too high and fast, I overflew the airport and turned back for a right
base entry but the gust was upon the airport. I kept speeding up until
reaching the top of the white arc (84 KIAS, IIRC for the LS-6a), maximum
airspeed with gear and flaps extended. My ground speed was extremely
low but I had no GPS to get an exact number and, due to the high wind, I
elected to land across the 36 foot wide runway. I touched down on the
runway, crossed it, the grass, the gravel taxiway, the grass, and rolled
to a stop 10 feet outside the gaping hangar door where a dozen or so
members were standing out of the rain and watching.

I flew the glider on the ground until the wind and rain let up and got
out to get help moving the ship into the hangar to wait for the storm to
end. Someone said that he didn't think I'd make it to the airport
because I was flying so slowly on base. Eighty-four knots! Yup, slow...

On 3/9/2015 8:40 PM, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 1:58:46 PM UTC-8, Tom (2NO) wrote:
Best storm story:
The forecast was terrible and when I got to the gliderport it really looked bad so I went home.
Actually, one year I had much time to go gliding and I made it a point to launch whatever the weather. I learned a lot about flying. I even had one rainy day with lots of lift (not sure how that happened) and enough rain to be running through the rotor side wall vent. Had another great flight were I rode the front of a T-Storm for 150 miles. We fly on the power of weather, not all "bad" weather is bad.

--
Dan Marotta

On Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 4:58:46 PM UTC-5, Tom (2NO) wrote:
Best storm story:
The forecast was terrible and when I got to the gliderport it really looked bad so I went home.

you're awesome.

This is not a storm story :-)

Once at my home airfield (Hammer) in Denmark we had a very strong increase in the wind at about 150 meters - 500 feet. We still had an old Ka-8B and a Bergfalke (still flying) back then, so we figured out that when we took a winch launch, it was possible to fly so slowly that we went backwards. So we managed to fly a whole flight without turning. A winch launch, slow down, fly backwards until you were behind the airfield and then speed up and go down to land.

The funny thing was that when you were standing at the start point at the airfield, there were not much wind. So we stood there in almost calm and looked up at our Bergfalke and Ka-8B flying backward over our heads. Very strange view.

Best regards Mads, Denmark.

I had a windshear close encounter. As I taxied a Cessna 340 (big twin) out to the active at North Las Vegas, ATIS made slight mention of possible windshear. When I departed, I pulled the gear up early and stayed in ground effect as long as I could to build speed. pulled up and immediately lost 30 knots! If I had not paid attention to just a mention of possible windshear nor had I formulated a plan before hand I could have been in deep trouble. My home glider port in Southern Cal is known have a wind gradient due to trees on the approach end, I always come in with 10 knots more airspeed and bleed it off after the trees. Plan ahead, think ahead and stay safe.


On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 12:32:56 PM UTC-7, Mads wrote:
This is not a storm story :-)

Once at my home airfield (Hammer) in Denmark we had a very strong increase in the wind at about 150 meters - 500 feet. We still had an old Ka-8B and a Bergfalke (still flying) back then, so we figured out that when we took a winch launch, it was possible to fly so slowly that we went backwards. So we managed to fly a whole flight without turning. A winch launch, slow down, fly backwards until you were behind the airfield and then speed up and go down to land.

The funny thing was that when you were standing at the start point at the airfield, there were not much wind. So we stood there in almost calm and looked up at our Bergfalke and Ka-8B flying backward over our heads. Very strange view.

Best regards Mads, Denmark.