"Pan turbulence"

Some time back I saw a magazine article about something mysterious
called "pan turbulence" that bit airliners in clear air, often
somewhere in the middle of the USA.

Could this have been plain old rotor by any chance?

I was reminded to ask this by the message about the "Rodeo In The Sky"
TV program.
--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :

In article ,
ess says...
Some time back I saw a magazine article about something mysterious
called "pan turbulence" that bit airliners in clear air, often
somewhere in the middle of the USA.

Could this have been plain old rotor by any chance?

I've not heard of pan, but only of CAT (clear air turbulence), which I
think is often caused by wind shear, particularly near the jet stream.
--
-------
Eric Greenwell USA

On Thu, 2 Oct 2003 06:51:43 -0700, Eric Greenwell
wrote:

In article ,
says...
Some time back I saw a magazine article about something mysterious
called "pan turbulence" that bit airliners in clear air, often
somewhere in the middle of the USA.

Could this have been plain old rotor by any chance?

I've not heard of pan, but only of CAT (clear air turbulence), which I
think is often caused by wind shear, particularly near the jet stream.

I'd wondered what CAT was too, thanks for the clarification. However,
this was not CAT: it was definitely referred to as 'pan' or 'pancake'
turbulence and, as I now recall some mention of mountains in the area,
I bet it was really rotor. I've never seen this term used before or
since: in the context of the article pancake turbulence was a totally
new, scary thing.

Comments?

--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :