scooter boy
23rd Aug 2006, 10:03
Last week I flew from Plymouth to Palma de Mallorca and back IFR in airways between FL090 and 130.
My aircraft has a service ceiling of FL200 (which I have never flown at - I usually choose 090 to 110 in order to minimise the need for oxygen) and if possible I try to dodge CBs by requesting 20 degrees left or right or clear the tops by requesting a level change.
However in both directions last week I ended up needing to penetrate very broad walls of cumulus cloud (too wide to route around) which were going from ground level up to well above my svc ceiling (too high to climb over). They were an unpleasant experience to say the least and I picked up significant ice and turbulence (I have TKS de-icing and my mooney is certified for flight into known icing conditions). Neither of these "fronts" had been predicted on the weather forecast and the en route controllers I spoke to did not have met radar available. The heavier high altitude traffic was all routing around it by requesting steers one way or the other - presumably by either being high enough to see the Wx more clearly or by virtue of onboard Wx radar. I had no idea about the intensity of the weather other than how much rain was hitting the windscreen and how bumpy it was.
The reason for this post is that my stormscope showed me little useful data in that all I got was an even spread of mild activity all around the aircraft and the outer limits of this activity were very exaggerated when I was within the CB - (it looked as though the Wx was going as far as my destination which it actually was not). Admittedly I wouldn't be here posting this message if I had encountered severe activity but it was bouncy enough for me to be unable to press the buttons on the panel without a few tries and holding straight and level without the autopilot would have been very tough - in fact new underpants were very nearly the order of the day.
Previously in other situations when crossing fronts the stormscope has been awash with lightning bolts in comparatively very mild weather with little convective activity (in both strike and cell modes).
I find the weather data presented to me in the cockpit from the stormscope is never anything like the images that the manufacturers show which usually demonstrate discrete cells of activity that one can keep clear of. All it seems to show is some electrical activity somewhere out there.
What are other people using? What else could I have done to find out the extent of the rough stuff and which course to request to get through it asap? I listen to the volmets so I knew the destinations were OK and that local airports were landable - is met radar available to european controllers?
My G1000 is able to accept data liked weather and I would have really like the ability to look at a superimposed weather radar image on both flights.
Does anyone know if this is in the pipeline in Europe?
:ouch:
My aircraft has a service ceiling of FL200 (which I have never flown at - I usually choose 090 to 110 in order to minimise the need for oxygen) and if possible I try to dodge CBs by requesting 20 degrees left or right or clear the tops by requesting a level change.
However in both directions last week I ended up needing to penetrate very broad walls of cumulus cloud (too wide to route around) which were going from ground level up to well above my svc ceiling (too high to climb over). They were an unpleasant experience to say the least and I picked up significant ice and turbulence (I have TKS de-icing and my mooney is certified for flight into known icing conditions). Neither of these "fronts" had been predicted on the weather forecast and the en route controllers I spoke to did not have met radar available. The heavier high altitude traffic was all routing around it by requesting steers one way or the other - presumably by either being high enough to see the Wx more clearly or by virtue of onboard Wx radar. I had no idea about the intensity of the weather other than how much rain was hitting the windscreen and how bumpy it was.
The reason for this post is that my stormscope showed me little useful data in that all I got was an even spread of mild activity all around the aircraft and the outer limits of this activity were very exaggerated when I was within the CB - (it looked as though the Wx was going as far as my destination which it actually was not). Admittedly I wouldn't be here posting this message if I had encountered severe activity but it was bouncy enough for me to be unable to press the buttons on the panel without a few tries and holding straight and level without the autopilot would have been very tough - in fact new underpants were very nearly the order of the day.
Previously in other situations when crossing fronts the stormscope has been awash with lightning bolts in comparatively very mild weather with little convective activity (in both strike and cell modes).
I find the weather data presented to me in the cockpit from the stormscope is never anything like the images that the manufacturers show which usually demonstrate discrete cells of activity that one can keep clear of. All it seems to show is some electrical activity somewhere out there.
What are other people using? What else could I have done to find out the extent of the rough stuff and which course to request to get through it asap? I listen to the volmets so I knew the destinations were OK and that local airports were landable - is met radar available to european controllers?
My G1000 is able to accept data liked weather and I would have really like the ability to look at a superimposed weather radar image on both flights.
Does anyone know if this is in the pipeline in Europe?
:ouch: