The Scariest Thing I've Ever Seen

"Jay Honeck" wrote

When he flew in, visibility was measured in yards, and wildly
variable. He had no business flying in that, period.

But, he made it. This time.

I wonder if it was NW Pilot? ;-o
--
Jim in NC

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:55:53 -0500, "Happy Dog"
wrote in
: :

For example, most
pilots who fly in the north are comfortable descending into blowing snow for
a look at familiar terrain. "Comfortable" because clear air is always close
by above.

Above the clouds?

Jay Honeck wrote:
Doesn't really matter if there was wind or not. The aircraft
is moving at 80 knots or something like that....ever flown in
snow? It appears to be coming straight at you.

Boy, is that true. I've flown into snow showers a few times, and have
always been struck by the "time tunnel" effect when looking straight ahead.
Visibility down is usually okay, but ahead really goes downhill, fast. It's
like driving your car in a snowstorm at night -- the snow seems to be coming
right at your face.


One other little phenomena which will give you the heebie-jeebies when flying in
snow: the howl of the radios.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Ron Natalie wrote:

ever flown in
snow? It appears to be coming straight at you.

That's because it pretty much is coming straight at you.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message

For example, most
pilots who fly in the north are comfortable descending into blowing snow
for
a look at familiar terrain. "Comfortable" because clear air is always
close
by above.

Above the clouds?

Often there are no clouds. I was referring to drifting snow which can
obscure the ground in a blink. It's unpredictable stuff and looks
foreboding from above but the visibility often is not so bad when you get
down into it. Not always though. Things can go all white in a hurry so
it's comforting to know that there's clear air nearby.

moo

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote

One other little phenomena which will give you the heebie-jeebies when
flying in
snow: the howl of the radios.

Would static wicks help that? I wonder if a STC is available (to install
them) for what you fly?
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote:

One other little phenomena which will give you the heebie-jeebies
when
flying in
snow: the howl of the radios.

Would static wicks help that?

Maybe. My airplane has wicks. The only time I ever flew in snow, I
heard nothing unusual from the radios.

--
Dan

"The future has actually been here for a while, it's just not readily
available to everyone."
- some guy at MIT

Morgans wrote:
"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote

One other little phenomena which will give you the heebie-jeebies when flying in
snow: the howl of the radios.

Would static wicks help that? I wonder if a STC is available (to install
them) for what you fly?

My avionics tech told me that my Maule didn't need wicks -- with a cruise speed
of 103 knots, there wouldn't be enough static to worry about. The one time I
flew through snow, the radio behaved normally.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

George Patterson wrote:
My avionics tech told me that my Maule didn't need wicks -- with a cruise
speed of 103 knots, there wouldn't be enough static to worry about. The one
time I flew through snow, the radio behaved normally.


I was flying through snow in a C-210... which I think *had* static wicks. I
think it was really dry snow though.

As a funny aside, I had been hanging around the Rock Hill, SC airport doing this
and that on a balmy March day in cutoffs, t-shirt and flip-flops when I was
asked if I wanted to come along on the trip up to Syracuse, NY. As we flew
further north, the weather changed pretty dramatically and that's when I
encountered the snow and the howling radios. You should have seen the looks I
got when I hopped out of the Centurion in New York and made a mad dash for the
terminal amongst all the ice and snow. I was a frozen poopsicle by the time I
got inside.

"Hi! I'm from South Carolina!"




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 03:05:36 GMT, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
wrote:

"Hi! I'm from South Carolina!"


Good story, thanks for the laugh.

z