Are Planes taking off in Thunderstorms normal?

Bob Moore wrote in
46.128:

Morgans wrote
All good links, but do your really think that ATC released him to fly
straight into a t-storm? I don't,

Jim, it's about time that someone told you that Mxsmanic seems
to understand a hell-of-a-lot more about what really happens in
jet transport aircraft than you do.

He understands nothing. He reads a lot of crap and regurgitates it, there's
a difference.


Bertie

In article ,
"Dudley Henriques" wrote:

"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.130...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in
:


"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
. 130...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in
:


wrote in message
ps.com...
On May 5, 5:10 pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
Aircraft normally wait for thunderstorms to pass before taking
off. No aircraft is safe in a thunderstorm.

So most likely the Kenya Airways flight didn't follow procedure or
receive clearance?

Hard to say not knowing the exact situation, but in my opinion, only
a pilot with a death wish accepts a takeoff clearance in the middle
of a thunderstorm.

It doesn't neceesarily follow that he took off in the middle of a
CB...

I agree. To do that would have been against all my sense of logic
anyway. Stranger things have happened, and pilots do indeed from time
to time push weather for one reason or another but I'd hate to second
guess this poor guy at this point. It's been my experience that what
appears almost certain immediately after these things seldom carries
through the investigation.

Precisely. I've flown in that part of the world quite a lot and the CBs
have to be seen to be believed. I've been at 310 and had the tops
further away than the bottoms as often as not. The size of them is also
astonishing and seeing into a large, tight group of cells is next to
impossible, even with the best radar. It's hard work but it has to be
done or you're on the ground for the best part of six months there.

Bertie

Reminds me of an old story I heard once that was going around UAL for
awhile;

A major airline hired a new first officer right out of post graduate school
and stuck him in the right seat of a 737 with a crusty old Captain who came
up through the ranks after dropping out of high school.
On their first flight together, the Captain told the first officer to just
sit back and watch and do absolutely nothing.
The Captain took off, climbed to FL 360 as filed and leveled off. He set the
autopilot and inertial nav for waypoints and told the first officer that he
was going to take a nap. The first officer was to touch nothing.......do
nothing! Under NO circumstances, was he to disturb the Captain.
The Captain went to sleep.
The first officer sat there watching the panel. After a while he noticed on
the weather radar a HUGE storm ahead directly in the path of the airplane.
He watched with interest and gathering alarm as the storm got closer and
closer.
At about twenty miles, the storm looked absolutely frightening; the biggest
thing he had ever seen in his life. He just stared at it on the screen while
he pondered the Captain's request not to be disturbed for any reason.
Finally, fearing that if a course correction wasn't made immediately, the
storm would tear the airplane apart, he decided he couldn't wait any longer
to wake the Captain.
"Captain.......Captain" he said, "wake up sir...look at this!! It's my
sincere recommendation sir, that we circumnavigate that storm
immediately!!!!!!!!!!!"
The Captain awoke in a start and took one look at the radar screen;
"Circumnavigate my ass!!!!!!. We're goin AROUND that son-of-a-bitch!!!!!"

Dudley Henriques

Reminds me of a story from an old, retired UAl Captain friend of mine:

A friend of his was copilot in a Convair from Elko, NV to Las Vegas,
back in the 50s. Captain was similar to the above

Captain: "I want you to sit there, shut up and not touch anything unless
I tell you to!"

FO: "Yes, Sir"

After 1/2 hour into the flight (in solid IFR):

Captain: How come we're only doing 140 knots?"

FO: "Oh, do you want ne to raise the gear, SIR?"

"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.130...
Oh, and Butt munch?

Bwawhawhahwhhahwhahwhahwh!

Bertie

Glad ya liked it. Keep on munchin.

"Mike Hunt" postmaster@localhost wrote in message
. ..
Mxsmanic wrote:
Matt Whiting writes:


I also like the one about the young student flying with the old crusty WW
II veteran instructor. It was the students first flight into a busy
field and the pattern was packed with airplanes. The student was getting
pretty nervous and agitated and asked the instructor if this wasn't
dangerous with all these airplanes so close by. The instructor looked
all around, up and down and slowly said, "Don't worry, son, they aren't
shooting at us."

I guess stress is all relative.


I've read that nighttime carrier landings are actually more stressful
than
being shot at.


Especially if you are a lawyer as well as an aviator and you have night
vision problems.

It is truly said in the Naval fighter community, that there are 3 things
that comprise the ultimate in a physical sensation a Naval aviator can
experience in life; a good landing, an orgasm, and a good ****. A night
landing on a carrier is the one event that allows you to experience all
three at the same time.
Dudley Henriques

On 2007-05-05 13:48:33 -0700, said:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/886/story/55281.html

I would not depart in a thunderstorm no matter what I was flying. Hail
can travel up to 20 miles from a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are often
surrounded by violent downdrafts called microbursts that will force any
airplane down faster than it can climb. The lightning can blind pilots.
The inside of a thunderstorm is darker than night, and the air currents
throw you around like bucking bull.

I have been inside thunderstorms more than once and each time it has
nearly killed me. I stay as far away from them as I can.

Departing in a thunderstorm is especially dangerous. You are too close
to the ground and the thunderstorm can slam you right down into it. You
can't see obstacles in the darkness and you can't maneuver well enough
to avoid them easily. Hailstones will dent up the airplane, get sucked
into the engines and kill them, and break things. Lightning can strike
the airplane and even burn holes in the skin. If you get caught in the
microburst you will hit the ground before you can fly out of it.
Crewmembers can be thrown out of their chairs with such violence that
it breaks bones and knocks them unconscious. Passengers who don't have
their seatbelts fastened tightly can be badly hurt. Anything loose in
the cabin becomes a deadly missile.

I have never been slammed into the ground, but I have come very close.
I have experienced all the other bad effects I have described. A
thunderstorm frequently has all the energy of several atomic bombs. No
airplane can withstand that. It is possible to fly into a thunderstorm
and live -- I seem to attract them -- but they are still very dangerous.

All of that said, it remains to be seen whether the aircraft you are
referring to actually flew into a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm can be
many miles away but it will seem right on top of you because they are
so big. Rain is not a thunderstorm. Hail is caused by thunderstorms
but, as I have noted, the thunderstorm might be 20 miles away.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Mike Hunt writes:

Especially if you are a lawyer as well as an aviator and you have night
vision problems.

Hmm ... do you have someone specific in mind?

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Dudley Henriques writes:

It is truly said in the Naval fighter community, that there are 3 things
that comprise the ultimate in a physical sensation a Naval aviator can
experience in life; a good landing, an orgasm, and a good ****. A night
landing on a carrier is the one event that allows you to experience all
three at the same time.

I'm surprised that landings would be more esteemed than take-offs. I saw an
in-cockpit video of a pilot's first actual catapult take-off from a carrier
and he sounded pretty impressed by it.

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"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Dudley Henriques writes:

It is truly said in the Naval fighter community, that
there are 3 things
that comprise the ultimate in a physical sensation a
Naval aviator can
experience in life; a good landing, an orgasm, and a good
****. A night
landing on a carrier is the one event that allows you to
experience all
three at the same time.

I'm surprised that landings would be more esteemed than
take-offs. I saw an
in-cockpit video of a pilot's first actual catapult
take-off from a carrier
and he sounded pretty impressed by it.

So which is greater, MadMax's abject ignorance about
aviation, or his mind-boggling willingness to flaunt it so
openly in aviation froups?

I was tempted to say the former, but it's a tough call if
you think about it.

John Mazor wrote:
"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

I'm surprised that landings would be more esteemed than
take-offs. I saw an
in-cockpit video of a pilot's first actual catapult
take-off from a carrier
and he sounded pretty impressed by it.


So which is greater, MadMax's abject ignorance about
aviation, or his mind-boggling willingness to flaunt it so
openly in aviation froups?

I was tempted to say the former, but it's a tough call if
you think about it.



Apparently he thinks it is harder to take off than land on a carrier.
I've done both in a COD, and there is something to seeing the smallness
of the ship against the open ocean and watching the deck moving all over
the place as you got closer.

Mike Hunt writes:

Apparently he thinks it is harder to take off than land on a carrier.

No, he doesn't. Read more carefully.

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