View Full Version : Quick flights over t'pond tonight
TopBunk
23rd Nov 2006, 17:00
Looking at the Sig Wx charts for tonight, mid Atlantic winds reach 220kts - must be close on a record and could see some quick, nigh on record, flight times. Might be a bit bumpy though....
ALLDAYDELI
24th Nov 2006, 10:28
I was thinking the same thing. There is a big low and one hell of a storm forecast for southern/central UK tommorow inbound of a SSW direction.
I have ridden 200kts winds on the North Atlantic eastbound on a BA B744 3x Septembers ago and it aint pleasent...believe me.
Personally, I've found the turbulence can be a very variable factor - many has been the time I've been sat in the core of a jetstream and its been as smooth as a baby's ..... - get to the edges of the core where the shear is at its greatest - usually - and it can be as rough as hell, as it can be where the core does big changes of direction.
outnumbered
24th Nov 2006, 12:18
I came back SFO to LHR last Friday/Saturday, and the moving map was showing over 700, and up to 731 "mph" (knots?) ground speed for a while between Canada and Greenland. The captain has mentioned that they were expecting strong tailwinds... Later in the flight we were back to the usual 560-580 range.
hobie
24th Nov 2006, 14:49
I have ridden 200kts winds on the North Atlantic eastbound on a BA B744 3x Septembers ago and it aint pleasent...believe me.
I rem a trip back to LHR some years ago from from the States (in the first week of November) ..... I recall saying to myself at the time .... 'I will never ever fly the North Atlantic again in November' ..... :p
BRISTOLRE
24th Nov 2006, 15:57
Hobie, I said the same thing to myself after a similar experience, ie. avoid during Sept/Oct/Nov periods due to jetstreams & autumn depressions. It is not pleasent if you are on the edge of it. Surprising how something like a B744 gets buffeted around.
chevvron
24th Nov 2006, 16:31
You might call it a depression; many people would call it a hurricane (or at least the tail end of one)
Can i just ask what crossings are like in march?
Matty J
25th Nov 2006, 18:35
Ive crossed the North Atlantic in March for the last couple of years and havn't had any really bad flights.
The roughest place we found was just as you pass the Nova Scotia/New Foundland area but then the rest of the flight was smooth.
Nova Scotia always seems to be the worst place on the trip for most months of the the year (For us atleast). October this year we flew to Orlando and ran into the remnants of a Hurricane in the same area, cloud up to FL380 and it was bumpy as hell for a while:uhoh: :uhoh: :yuk:
Matt.:ok: