Taking off in the face of an approaching Hurricane

I can't believe what I just saw!
I was outside looking east at the old ATA hanger that was
battered by Hurricane Charley, when suddenly I heard the
sound of an airplane accelerating.
Then a few seconds later I saw a Cessna (182 or larger)
attempting to climbout.
This plane was rocking, yawing pitching and everything else in
between just to stay aloft.
I was really worried that I was just about to witness a disaster
in the making.
Why this guy waited till 11:25am to leave this area is beyond me.
The ASOS at the field is on because the tower has been
evacuated ever since the winds climbed over 20kts.
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

I will probably never know who that was, but if your
the guy and your reading this..... Your Nuts!

Dave (KORL)

The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message ...
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...

Jay, I guess that makes you the crazier of the two of us.
But was your 62kts during takeoff with at a 30degree angle to the rwy?
And this guy was also banking his plane onto crosswind at only about
150-200 agl with not much room left for clearing the large hangers,
not to mention that he was flying towards the downtown area where
he has to climb to above a 20 story building in less than a minute.
And to clarify, the hurricane is not here yet.
We are just getting some of the outer bands of wind.
The Hurricane is not expected to reach us till morning.

I was out taking pictures of the planes that have been left behind.
One guy has actually placed about 4x20lbs sand bags on the tail of his
plane.
I'm not really sure that is going to help any.
The partially damaged hanger doesn't look like it can resist anymore
highspeed
winds. And other hangers in the area that survived the first hurricane with
only
the loss of their doors, now have no hanger doors to protect them.
I will try to send you pictures of before and after if I have internet
service.
Pictures of a/c damage caused by Charley are on my site at:
http://www.floridascubadiver.com/hurricane_charley.htm

FSU football player: "When they said the hurricane is coming, I thought they
were talking about the University of Miami."

Dave (KORL)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:S5m_c.101854$9d6.69565@attbi_s54...
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...

A *hurricane* is more windy, by definition. That guy wasn't flying in a
hurricane.

Also, peak gust isn't really as relevant as the gust amount. I'd say 16
knot gusts are pushing it for the edge of safety, at least in a Cessna
piston engine airplane.

I'd much rather fly in a wind of 57 knots with 62 knot peak gusts (for
example...not saying those are the conditions you referred to) than 31 knots
with 47 knots (though, of course, I'd rather not fly in either).

Also, you don't specify whether you actually departed in "62 knot peak gust"
conditions, or if you were just flying in them. There's a significant
difference between the two types of operation.

Anyway, I'd say that while the guy probably should have left earlier, in
less windy conditions, what he did sounds challenging, but not necessarily
reckless, especially if done by an experienced pilot.

Pete

CFLav8r wrote:


Why this guy waited till 11:25am to leave this area is beyond me.

That's a Cessna for ya man. Try that with a girlie man low wing
Cherokee...instant death.

I can't believe what I just saw!
I was outside looking east at the old ATA hanger that was
battered by Hurricane Charley, when suddenly I heard the
sound of an airplane accelerating.
Then a few seconds later I saw a Cessna (182 or larger)
attempting to climbout.
This plane was rocking, yawing pitching and everything else in
between just to stay aloft.
I was really worried that I was just about to witness a disaster
in the making.
Why this guy waited till 11:25am to leave this area is beyond me.
The ASOS at the field is on because the tower has been
evacuated ever since the winds climbed over 20kts.
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

I will probably never know who that was, but if your
the guy and your reading this..... Your Nuts!

Dave (KORL)


Don't be such a wuss.

"Murphy" wrote in message ...
Don't be such a wuss.

Well you know what they say...
There's old pilots and there's bold pilots....
But there's no old bold pilots.

....0p

Also, you don't specify whether you actually departed in "62 knot peak
gust"
conditions, or if you were just flying in them. There's a significant
difference between the two types of operation.

I was a student, flying with my instructor, on my first landing at a
controlled airport. We were landing at Waukesha, WI (UES) in the early
winter, having taken off in clear air with a fairly stiff wind from East
Troy, WI (57C).

While we were airborne, the wind REALLY picked up. At altitude, of course,
we felt no significant difference, but we could see by our ground track that
the winds were truly howling.

As we approached Waukesha to land, we became aware that there was literally
NO ONE else on this -- or any other -- frequency. Descending, the air
became fairly turbulent, but -- as a fairly new student -- I didn't think
much of it. (I figured this, like everything else, must be "normal"...)

Wrestling the plane around the pattern, the tower called out the wind was
340 at 40, with gusts. By now even I, in my "newbie" state, knew that this
was not the norm! As we swung onto final, I realized that the runway was
not getting closer very quickly. Coming down the glideslope, the tower
announced that they had just experienced a "peak gust of 62 knots."

Even Bob -- my crusty old CFII with 20,000 hours in every form of
aircraft -- muttered "Oh, ****" to that.

On short final it became obvious that I was not going to be able to land. I
announced to Bob (my instructor) that there was no way I could land the
plane -- at which point he announced "My airplane!" and took the controls.
With the yoke slapping back and forth from lock-to-lock, and the rudder
pedals going alternately to the floor, we slewed crazily through the air, 20
feet above the runway.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, we touched down with a
not-too-terrible thud, and ever-so-carefully taxied to the ramp. Upon
touchdown, the tower actually congratulated us for making a "good
landing" -- and as we taxied past the tower we could see that people had
actually lined up at the base of the tower, just to see us land our little
Piper Cherokee 140... I'm sure they expected to see us splatter good ol'
N5755U, but it didn't happen that day.

Okay, so *I* actually didn't land the plane, but it was a great, uh,
learning experience. (And very typical of my instructor, who believed he
could fly any plane in any conditions -- and often did. We had many
similar adventures together, and I learned an awful lot from him.

He's retired now, but they just don't make 'em like that anymore. Which may
be a good thing! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The guy called you wuss, and the best you could come up was a old worn
flying cliche?

"CFLav8r" wrote in message
om...
"Murphy" wrote in message ...
Don't be such a wuss.

Well you know what they say...
There's old pilots and there's bold pilots....
But there's no old bold pilots.

...0p

Depends on whether the winds were straight down the runway or not. What was
the crosswind component? Once you are in the air, the wind makes no
difference at all except for your groundspeed.

Perhaps he did not leave earlier because it took him that long to get to the
airport. He might have had to come in from out of state.