Storms today
Thread Starter
Sub Judice Angel Lovegod
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,460
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From: London
Storms today
Today was the first time I have flown since my avionics refit when there was serious weather about.
I flew from Biggin to Chateauroux spending most of the time dodging between classic, anvil shaped CBs, with tops in the 15-18,000 band.
My WX-500 reported a total of five strikes the whole day, though I tested it repeatedly and it claimed to be hunky dory.
Was anyone flying in that area (ie between London and mid-France) that can tell me whether:
a) the CBs weren't big enough to produce cells
or
b) My new WX-500 is crap?
Thank you.
Timothy
I flew from Biggin to Chateauroux spending most of the time dodging between classic, anvil shaped CBs, with tops in the 15-18,000 band.
My WX-500 reported a total of five strikes the whole day, though I tested it repeatedly and it claimed to be hunky dory.
Was anyone flying in that area (ie between London and mid-France) that can tell me whether:
a) the CBs weren't big enough to produce cells
or
b) My new WX-500 is crap?
Thank you.
Timothy
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: Leigh on Sea, England
visit this link -
http://www.phd.nl/aviation/wx/
select 'lightning location animation' from the
drop down menu ('make your selection from this menu')
watch it load + work out your route/times etc + see.
BRegds, Andy Mac.
http://www.phd.nl/aviation/wx/
select 'lightning location animation' from the
drop down menu ('make your selection from this menu')
watch it load + work out your route/times etc + see.
BRegds, Andy Mac.
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
From: EuroGA.org
The WX500 is a great product. I've been flying with it for 2 years. It only picks up electrical activity so it doesn't show everything that stirs the air up, but if it shows a cluster of strikes, you certainly don't want to go there. When flying VMC on top, the correlation between huge embedded CBs (which you can see when on top) and the display is impressive.
Thread Starter
Sub Judice Angel Lovegod
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,460
Likes: 0
From: London
Excuse me, how long did you say it was?
Thank you Tory boy, helpful as ever
andymac, thank you a very interesting site. It does seem to indicate a fair amount of activity in the AMB-DVL area, which wasn't shown on the WX-500, but Bookworm pointed me towards this site which seems to tell a different story
Timothy
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Posts: n/a
Timothy
A couple of observations from flying VFR in the US and watching electrical activity on a lighting detector (not WX500) and Wx radar from a safe distance. I was flying with a turboprop FO, who was also a flight instructor and he was teaching me some aspects of flying VFR around build ups.
(1) CuCb with appx 12-15,000' tops, with intense electrical activity and lots of red painting on the wx radar
(2) Cb tops above FL350, little electrical activity, although the Wx radar was painting plenty of yellow areas and occasional red
I don't know if this helps you at all, but the instructor said that these examples showed why US IFR pilots value lightning detectors so highly, because "cloud size does not always equal meanness." They are also suspicious of attenuation on Wx radar.
Maybe a few more experiments are required to build your confidence levels in the WX500?
I can certainly understand why you wish to build your experience of the new piece of kit, before relying on it.
A couple of observations from flying VFR in the US and watching electrical activity on a lighting detector (not WX500) and Wx radar from a safe distance. I was flying with a turboprop FO, who was also a flight instructor and he was teaching me some aspects of flying VFR around build ups.
(1) CuCb with appx 12-15,000' tops, with intense electrical activity and lots of red painting on the wx radar
(2) Cb tops above FL350, little electrical activity, although the Wx radar was painting plenty of yellow areas and occasional red
I don't know if this helps you at all, but the instructor said that these examples showed why US IFR pilots value lightning detectors so highly, because "cloud size does not always equal meanness." They are also suspicious of attenuation on Wx radar.
Maybe a few more experiments are required to build your confidence levels in the WX500?
I can certainly understand why you wish to build your experience of the new piece of kit, before relying on it.
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,648
Likes: 2
From: UK
Flew into EGSC from the east coast yesterday just before 1600Z. The weather was potentially nasty, but perhaps not as bad as a couple of hours earlier. Spent a short time in a shower cloud with little turbulence, but saw a single flash as I emerged and got a small amount of soft hail.
I didn't pay as much attention to the WX500 as I should have, but saw a single +.
I didn't pay as much attention to the WX500 as I should have, but saw a single +.
PPRuNe Co-Pilot
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 931
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From: The Sky
I know, i also flew yesterday from EGSG but in the morning, i have to say i was lucky the weather was lovely nice sunshine not many clouds and almost nil turbulence ( even the tiger moth went for a ride heheh ), and then on the afternoon everything changed, ugly dark clouds, thunder etc...
