Flight to Florida -- The Cure for Winter

On Mar 31, 10:47 pm, buttman wrote:

I think you're trying too hard to be a part of the Bertie/Dudly
dip**** duo. Either that, or you just plain can't read.

I state my own opinions without consulting with either of them -- or
you, imbecile.

But of this I'm certain -- anyone who learns to fly from you is going
to need some serious retraining and/or therapy to recover.


He never not once said he relies solely on his XM weather picture to
make weather related decisions.

Then you obviously haven't read his posts.

On Mar 31, 10:58 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
That you think XM absolves you of the hard work of comprehending the
weather and being able to predict it's effect on your flight is
downright scary.

My, you are an absolutist, aren't you? What has made you believe that
simply because I own and use XM weather that I think that it "absolves me of
comprehending the weather"?


Yeah -- I'm absolutely convinced you are relying on XM to provide you
guidance that you -- as a VFR pilot -- should not and can not rely
upon.

Yes I have a 496 with XM. I use it for IFR flight.

So please tell me which XM Data display you use to ensure you maintain
VFR conditions?




(Hint: There is none.)

On Mar 31, 11:20 pm, "Mike Isaksen" wrote:

State your opinion and move along,... nobody likes a ball hog at the
dunktank.


OK, so that was funny --

When are you gonna wind up and throw?

On 2008-03-31, Jay Honeck wrote:
The secret to doing long, multi-day VFR cross country flights is to be
relaxed and flexible about your ultimate destination. Remember, we always
have three destinations flight-planned, and choose the one with the best
long-range weather prognosis on our day of departure.

Absolutely right, and you've also got to be prepared to change heading
and destination *in flight*. I've successfully flown a VFR only 85
horsepower Cessna 140 from coast to coast in the US using that
philosophy, including over the Sierra Nevadas. (Gliding knowledge came
in handy too, slope soaring vastly increased climb rate :-))

The other "secret" (although it's hardly rare) is to have XM weather. With
that incredible tool on board, we know what we're flying toward hours in
advance, and can make adjustments accordingly.

To be honest you should know that before even getting off the ground.
Most airports these days have at least a PC on an internet connection,
and I can get the 'big picture' from that.

What XM should be telling you is only the unexpected changes.

Even so, without the weather display in my 140, I could glean a lot of
information from tuning in distant AWOS/ASOS/ATIS broadcasts ahead and
to the side of my intended track. Once you've got a bit of altitude you
can hear a lot of weather broadcasts. XM is obviously a bit more
convenient, but...

For example, we left Pensacola (heading South to St. Pete) with conditions
marginal VFR and deteriorating. However, with XM weather (and a thorough
pre-flight weather briefing), we knew that flying North (away from the gulf,
which was pumping the moisture on-shore, causing the lowering
visibility/ceiling) would get us quickly into nice VFR, and then (at
Tallahassee) we could hang a right and head straight south in good (if
incredibly turbulent) VFR. From Tallahassee South, ceilings were 3500
scattered-to-broken, and the view of the gulf was fantastic.

.... you don't need XM for any of that. XM is additional information
which is nice. There's no doubt it's a great tool, but the weather
briefing already told you that, and I suspect voice weather broadcasts
would have also been good enough to fill in the gaps while in flight...

I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because I'd be
trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio briefing (IF
you could even get ahold of Flight Service)

....but I would, because I'd have filled in the gaps with ATIS, AWOS and
ASOS and HIWAS along the way and not even bothered the guy at the FSS.
It worked great for the many long cross countries I did in the C140,
and it's something I do on any cross country flight I make here, too.

Like GPS, XM weather is undoubtedly great, but it's an aid rather than a
necessity.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

On 2008-03-31, John Smith wrote:
Dan, have you tried to find the lifted-index page on any of the weather
websites recently?

Skew-T diagrams are also useful, here's a page with Skew-T plots for
the continental US:

http://weather.unisys.com/upper_air/skew/

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

On 2008-03-31, Jay Honeck wrote:
The XM -- as GPS -- should simply confirm what you already know.

I have re-read this absurd line a dozen times, and can find absolutely no
merit in any part of it. In fact, it illustrates such an ignorance of VFR
cross-country flying that I find it hard that a real pilot would post such a
thing.
....
Without XM you can look out the window, you can call Flight Service, and you
can try to extrapolate the weather predictions you received from a briefer
five hours ago -- but you cannot "know" it in any way -- EXCEPT with XM
weather on board.

Of course you can!

Don't forget remote ATIS broadcasts, AWOS, ASOS, HIWAS, and center's
broadcasts of convective SIGMETs.

It might not paint as full picture as XM, but you're gravely mistaken if
you think you're helpless without XM.

As for GPS, well, it should absolutely be the case that the GPS should
only be telling you what you already know. I've flown coast-to-coast in
the USA, with no GPS. It wasn't even hard. Once you've done enough
navigating, it feels like you have your own brain-GPS so long as you
make a habit of keeping track of time and course.

Which is what makes VFR cross-country flying much more possible (and
comfortable) nowadays than it was just a few years ago. Anyone who says
otherwise has either never flown cross-country VFR

I would agree it makes VFR cross country more comfortable, but not
really more possible. I've flown a lot of VFR cross country hours.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

"Dan" wrote ...

"Mike " wrote:
State your opinion and move along,... nobody likes a ball hog at the
dunktank.

When are you gonna wind up and throw?


I have a 3 strikes rule for usenet; I never reply beyond three times in the
same thread. After #3 somebody (maybe me) just ain't getting it.
I've used this method since my UUnet days (using unix text editors) and
recommend it. You seem to be filling up the penny jar very quickly, and we
lose a lot of people that way IMHO.

On Apr 1, 7:32 am, "Mike Isaksen" wrote:

I have a 3 strikes rule for usenet; I never reply beyond three times in the
same thread. After #3 somebody (maybe me) just ain't getting it.
I've used this method since my UUnet days (using unix text editors) and
recommend it. You seem to be filling up the penny jar very quickly, and we
lose a lot of people that way IMHO.

I have this delusion that some people are reasonable and rational --
silly me.

The XM weather issue is a big deal to me -- more and more are flying
XC with this gear without having any clue of the limitations -- and
the manufacturers/service providers are certainly not going to educate
the ignorant on the product's weaknesses.

Every pilot should consider ALL data with skepticism -- whether it's
from FSS, Center, XM, or StormScope.

Even when the screen matches the windscreen, the aviator looks beyond
to see what's next, and what's driving the next.

In IMC, changes in winds, turbulence, precipitation, and visibility
all point to changes in weather that can and should be analyzed by the
pilot to add to his/her store of weather wisdom.

VFR pilots are really deluded if they thing XM provides a guarantee of
VFR conditions ahead -- it simply does not. The weather depiction page
only applies to local observations.

Making statements such as "XM makes it easy" reveals a deep and
abiding flaw -- to wit -- the pilot lacks the ability to critically
analyze what he/she sees on the little screen.


Dan Mc

Just like everything else in your head.

Dammit, Maxwell, I appreciate you're going to bat for me -- but will you
quit responding to this Bertie dude?

Trolls are there only raise the hackles on you back. Kill files are the
perfect solution, and many of us wouldn't even know that this twit was still
in the group EXCEPT for the fact that his drivel is visible *inside* your
responses.

I know it's tempting to take a swing at such an easy target, but try sitting
on you hands whenever you see his kind of twitter. We'll all be better off.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yes I have a 496 with XM. I use it for IFR flight.

So please tell me which XM Data display you use to ensure you maintain
VFR conditions?

(Hint: There is none.)

Precisely. Thank you for making my point.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"