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#11
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One week ago today, returning from El Paso to Tucson at 12,000 feet I
had at times a greater than 100 kt headwind. I saw a low of a 27 kt ground speed in my Mooney ! That leg of the flight averaged a 65 kt ground speed (80 kt head wind). Didja consider dropping down some to see if got any better? You don't fly much in the west, do you grin ? 12,000 was the MEA on that route (westbound). I couldn't drop down any without canceling IFR and going VFR, and I got about 0.5 of actual during the flight so IFR was realistically required. KR |
#12
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the wind that produces "lennies" has gone laminar.. it's a smooth flow well
above the ridge tops.. the turbulent air is down low.. normally on the downwind side.. the rotor.. the "wave" that forms above is smooth.. sine wave type.. and the upward part of the sine wave is where the lift is.. our in front of the lennie.. The ones we were watching today were about 25nm away.. normally we can tow over to the lower part of the Spring Mountain Range, and get into lower ridge lift and work up into the lenticular flow on the upper peak.... but the winds that were hitting the upper (northern) end of the ridge did not come far enough south. BT "R. Hubbell" wrote in message news:Badyb.12188$ZE1.9049@fed1read04... On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 18:57:49 -0800 "BTIZ" wrote: the wind had gone "laminar" and you live in the flat lands.. we had light and variable all day on the ground.. winds at 6000ft (first altitude forecast) was 200/6 at 9000 they were 250/25 and stayed that way all the way to FL300, there were wonder "stacked lennies" on local Mt Charleston all day long.. (Mt Charleston tops out above 10K not much lift in the local area.. some very weak thermals down low.. not really workable.. the lennies were to far away to be towed to.. and the local 8000ft ridge was not producing ridge lift.. Why would you want a tow to where lenticulars clouds have formed? I thought lenticulars are a sign of laminar flow, not turbulent flow. Or are the lenticulars just the sign post to tell you that there is lots of wind and there should be some lift near where there are lenticular clouds? We get lenticulars here all the time, sometimes they march right out to the Channel Islands. It's a fabulous sight to see. Although it'll mean a bumpy ride for sure. R. Hubbell BT "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Njcyb.362928$Fm2.362681@attbi_s04... We flew to Rantoul, IL today -- home of the Chanute Air Museum, on the site of the former Chanute Air Force Base. The wind was predicted to be howling -- winds aloft were calling for 54 knots at 6000 feet! -- but the sun was shining, and we were enjoying our first Saturday off since last Oshkosh. So off to Rantoul we went. Our local AWOS was calling the wind 180 at 13, gusts to 21 -- strong, but right down one of our three runways. Takeoff was a non-event, and the cool temperatures meant we were soon climbing out at 1200+ fpm, even with 84 gallons and four aboard. As we passed through 500 feet AGL, we experienced some moderate turbulence, followed by some really "hinky" air -- you know, the kind that lifts first one wing sharply, then the other? It's an almost uncontrolled feeling, where you really just kind of keep things pointed in the right direction as you climb through it. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Our ground speed, which had been an anemic 90 knots or so climbing out in a shallow "cruise climb", suddenly accelerated sharply. Within seconds, we were doing 130 knots climbing on the SAME HEADING that had given us a headwind just moments earlier! Interestingly, the air instantly became silky-smooth, with hand's off flight producing an absolutely rock-solid heading. As we leveled off at 5500 feet, our ground speed rapidly climbed through 170 knots, meaning that we had a solid 30 knot tailwind, heading South. As we passed Muscatine, the smoke from the power plant clearly showed a wind out of the South, yet at 5500 feet we were riding a strong tailwind from the North. On the way home, Mary stayed down below 3000 feet, where the headwind (it was no longer out of the South down low, dang it) was considerably less. We still dragged home at 117 knots, meaning we were bucking a 25 knot headwind. The one time ATC asked us to climb to 3500 for radar coverage, we instantly lost 25 knots in ground speed! Again, the air was smooth as glass, however. It's hard to envision an air flow that could cause such severe wind shear, yet not also cause moderate to severe turbulence. Never seen anything quite like it. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#13
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Njcyb.362928$Fm2.362681@attbi_s04... As we passed through 500 feet AGL, we experienced some moderate turbulence, followed by some really "hinky" air -- you know, the kind that lifts first one wing sharply, then the other? It's an almost uncontrolled feeling, where you really just kind of keep things pointed in the right direction as you climb through it. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Our ground speed, which had been an anemic 90 knots or so climbing out in a shallow "cruise climb", suddenly accelerated sharply. Within seconds, we were doing 130 knots climbing on the SAME HEADING that had given us a headwind just moments earlier! Nearly the same experience a couple years ago. I timed a ground speed of 155 knots while indicating 85 -- in a Cessna 150. When I called the tower they reported "winds light and variable" and cleared me straight in from my position and heading. I hit the turbulence at about 1,400 AGL and SURPRISE! before I could react, the airplane zoomed back up through the lumpy air. It took three tries to punch down through the shear. I landed in calm air and by the the time I had the airplance tied down the surface winds were 30+ and gusting. |
#14
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We had something like this back in September in No. California.
Several of us flew from the Sacramento area to Oceano, a little over 200 nm. We had a 25-30kt headwind all the way down...but like Jay, smooth as glass, even crossing the 1000-2000 foot hills from the Central Valley to the coast. Very strange; we were all braced for moderate turbulence over the Coast Range. Of course, the very next day on the return trip we had *another* headwind, but a more normal few knots. |
#15
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Wasn't that fun? I went up last night and did 4 instrument approaches in
the Archer. Outbound for the procedure turn at CWA I slowed up to 90 indicated and the ground speed showed 58. On the turn inbound for the ILS 08 it shot up to 134. We slid down the slope with about a 14 degree wind correction and a reduced power setting of only 1500 rpms to maintain a 650 ft per minute decent. The further down the slope we got the less the wind was so we had to keep increasing power, decreasing rate of descent and taking out the crab. Surface winds were only about 6 knot but winds at 3000 were 240 @ 45. I suprised myself by keeping up with the changing wind and nailing the approach right down to minimums. Winds aloft for today (Sunday) are even higher, but surface winds are only about 9 right now. Jim |
#16
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Ken Reed wrote in message ...
The wind was predicted to be howling -- winds aloft were calling for 54 knots at 6000 feet! One week ago today, returning from El Paso to Tucson at 12,000 feet I had at times a greater than 100 kt headwind. I saw a low of a 27 kt ground speed in my Mooney ! That leg of the flight averaged a 65 kt ground speed (80 kt head wind). Ouch! That's brutal! Nothing worse than flying and watching the semis pass you on the interstate below. -Nathan |
#17
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Winds aloft for today (Sunday)
are even higher, but surface winds are only about 9 right now. Yep -- just got back from Janesville, WI (JVL) a couple of hours ago. We were doing a solid 95 knots all the way home. (That's a 45 knot headwind!) Luckily, it was smooth. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#18
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Ouch! That's brutal! Nothing worse than flying and watching the
semis pass you on the interstate below. -Nathan You should try flying something small in the Northern Territory in Australia where there are no speed limits on the trucks and road trains away from the towns and schools! You can't keep up to them with a tailwind! Peter |
#19
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Same kind of thing in Missouri. Coming into St Louis area last night,
0 tailwind at 3500 and 30 knots at 2000. -- Gene Seibel Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html Because I fly, I envy no one. We flew to Rantoul, IL today -- home of the Chanute Air Museum, on the site of the former Chanute Air Force Base. The wind was predicted to be howling -- winds aloft were calling for 54 knots at 6000 feet! -- but the sun was shining, and we were enjoying our first Saturday off since last Oshkosh. So off to Rantoul we went. Our local AWOS was calling the wind 180 at 13, gusts to 21 -- strong, but right down one of our three runways. Takeoff was a non-event, and the cool temperatures meant we were soon climbing out at 1200+ fpm, even with 84 gallons and four aboard. As we passed through 500 feet AGL, we experienced some moderate turbulence, followed by some really "hinky" air -- you know, the kind that lifts first one wing sharply, then the other? It's an almost uncontrolled feeling, where you really just kind of keep things pointed in the right direction as you climb through it. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Our ground speed, which had been an anemic 90 knots or so climbing out in a shallow "cruise climb", suddenly accelerated sharply. Within seconds, we were doing 130 knots climbing on the SAME HEADING that had given us a headwind just moments earlier! Interestingly, the air instantly became silky-smooth, with hand's off flight producing an absolutely rock-solid heading. As we leveled off at 5500 feet, our ground speed rapidly climbed through 170 knots, meaning that we had a solid 30 knot tailwind, heading South. As we passed Muscatine, the smoke from the power plant clearly showed a wind out of the South, yet at 5500 feet we were riding a strong tailwind from the North. On the way home, Mary stayed down below 3000 feet, where the headwind (it was no longer out of the South down low, dang it) was considerably less. We still dragged home at 117 knots, meaning we were bucking a 25 knot headwind. The one time ATC asked us to climb to 3500 for radar coverage, we instantly lost 25 knots in ground speed! Again, the air was smooth as glass, however. It's hard to envision an air flow that could cause such severe wind shear, yet not also cause moderate to severe turbulence. Never seen anything quite like it. |
#20
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Njcyb.362928$Fm2.362681@attbi_s04... We flew to Rantoul, IL today -- home of the Chanute Air Museum, on the site of the former Chanute Air Force Base. The wind was predicted to be howling -- winds aloft were calling for 54 knots at 6000 feet! -- but the sun was shining, and we were enjoying our first Saturday off since last Oshkosh. So off to Rantoul we went. Saw 58 kts groundspeed going west, 142 east. -- Frank....H |
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