Flying in the Rain
 

Dear all,

Wending my way back home the other day there were some fairly light showers along much of my route (not Cb type stuff), and through most of the showers I could easily see thru to the other side. I chose not to fly through the rain, and took the scenic route which kept the aeroplane dry, even though I wouldn't have been too bothered if we did get a little wet.

Thinking about it a while later on the ground I realised I don't know very much at all about flying in rain, even light rain. I'm not talking about flying near serious Cbs, just light rain and not for prolonged periods. Apart from regular use of Carb heat any other tips or warnings?

Best rgds
BEX

The first thing that comes to mind is the reduction of ability to see other traffic. Also to be considered is your ability to fly on instruments for a few minutes if you lose the horison, otherwise a shower can be useful to clean the airplane with.

UK? Think freezing level!

One of the most dangerous places to be is the light see-through rain from medium level cloud on a warm front above the freezing level. It can be made up of supercooled droplets Take an already cold plane without deicing into that for any length of time and you will probably only come out downwards.

Thanks Blu, and thanks Irv.

All very good points confirming my gut feeling to stay out of the precip.

It may have seemed like a dumb question, but I'll bet there are more than a few reading this.... we all learn something.

Thanks again.
rgds BEX

We joined the circuit in a 172 in the middle of one of those sharp, heavy April showers. Zero visibility forwards, engine noise drowned out by the noise of the impacts, aircraft still flew normally. It was a new circuit to me and I am sure we didn't find all the corners properly, on account of the terrible vis.

In my opinion no question is a daft question if you don't know the answer. The only daft question is the one you don't ask.

You didn't say what aircraft you fly, but generally there is no problem unless (as Irv pointed out) you are above the freezing level ( use the OAT gauge ) or have recently been above the freezing level ( such that the airframe is below freezing).

The reduced visibility is fairly obvious, but one effect that hasn't been mentioned is if you have a wooden prop. Without leading edge protection, a wooden prop will suffer anything from mild pitting at the tips to almost complete destruction in rain depending on the drop size. I assume hail is even worse, but if you're in hail you will be so close to a CB that the prop may be the least of your worries.

Does you aeroplane leak ?

Sounds daft, but light a/c arent as waterproof as cars !! I've got drenched in a PA38 many times !!

Another light rain issue - fine while the fan's running on the front clearing your screen. Turn base, carb heat, throttle back... all of a sudden can't see out. Not so good when trying to land!

Add a crosswind and the one time I had to do this I was pretty uncomfortable - had to come in a bit shallow on account of needing to use throttle to clear screen. Wished I had wipers :)

Hersh

The great thing about rain (or flying in pretty wet clouds for that matter) is that the plane gets nicely washed; not a bug left anywhere... :O

But you need to be proficient on instruments and navigation if you hang around it for more than a few seconds. This is what I find odd about the Night Rating; you can do it with minimal instrument skills, but under an overcast sky the vis could be zero - this is 100% IFR.

Just remembered something else.

I hadn't flown cessnas much until this year. A month or so ago there was a light shower passing through the airfield as we were in the circuit. In the old pa38/28 you'd still be able to see, but a 152, cripes you can't see a thing !!!

You should try flying a twin! The fans blow the air over the wings, and completely miss the cockpit.

Learn to slip and peep out of the side windows. :D

2Donkeys, I do, but it has wipers :D

Another point: If flying in rain, make sure you switch on the Pitot Heat. Years back I was flying a Tomahawk in heavy rain in Holland, without the pitot heat on, and some water must have got into the pitot, because the ASI started behaving like an altimeter. Made landing interesting: Pitch and power basics again.:confused:

IO540-C4D5D, not like you to be imprecise. Even under a clear sky flying at night in the UK is 100% IFR. You meant IMC, right?

Rain not only washes the bugs off the leading edges but will also take the paint off them if the coating is in any way deficient. It will also take the paint off a metal prop, the varnish off a wooden prop with leading edge protection and the leading edge off a wooden prop with no leading edge protection.

One of my most memorable flights when I was a student involved dodging rain showers - it was the first time I'd ever seen circular rainbows. :cool:

drauk

LOL yes I meant 100% IMC :O

VFR VMC IFR IMC all the same really... :O

Two simple rules,

OAT and if you can see though it you can fly through it:hmm:

So there you go then....

Thanks for all the replies. I am now a little older, and a little wiser:O

Best rgds
BEX

flying through showers
 

a little food for thought...
If you see a little patch of showers dead ahead, clear on the other side. I say, fly through it. Get a little experience, experience the sensation.. As you never know, one day you may be forced to fly through rain, be it heavy or light. At least if you have a play in some light showers you will know what your in for should you be surounded by rain..

I'm flyin' in the rain...
Just flyin' in the rain.
What a glorious feeling,
the plane's washed again...

:O

Another "dumb" question: :O
I fly gliders and we are very concerned about flying in rain because rain drops on the wing seperates the air from the wing and reduces lift. We have to increase airspeed (dive;)) to get more lift. Don't you worry about that in engined aircraft?

PP :ok:

Perrepilot,

I gather you're flying a modern glass sailplane, On a K-21 or a K-23, you really notice the difference. On a K-8, Blanik, or T-21, it's not really an issue. 99 per cent of light aeroplanes are in the second category. Only on a modern design, composite structure, powered aeroplane does a wet or slightly dirty (fly-spattered) wing make a serious difference. On a mushroom-riveted Yak, PA-28, etc, you can see why simply by looking at it. On a Lon-Eze, or a Lancair, it may well make a difference, but these are few and far between.

Recently sat an ME flight test on a PA34 and the wx was certainly not the best...what appeared to be some light showers rapidly turned into heavier ones, contrary to very recent METARS and an improving TAF...

A comment was made a page or two back about high throttle RPM keeping the rain off the windshield...rightly so in a single, but not in the twin - being prepared and familiar with your instruments is certainly useful, because on that ocassion I had almost nil forward viz through the screen....still made the test more challenging!:ok:

Had a little flight in Sweden this weekend relating to this thread.

Was out cruising around with a friend in the club's Warrior and picked up a lot of bugs on the windscreen, not so that it disturbed visibility, but a lot of bugs, like 50-60 on the left half of the screen. We went up higher to 2500' and cruised around for 1/2 an hour when it started to drizzle very light rain. The drizzle I'm talking about here was more like moisture forming in tiny drops on the screen, not rain, and this started to dissolve the bugs resulting in an incredible messy sludge very much imparing visibility. The drizzle was not enough to remove the bugs so it only got worse. I turned back toward our arifield, which was about 20nm away. Fortunately the drizzle started to form bigger drops which started to wash the screen clean, and when i entered the circuit visibility was good enough to land.

Not a thing that I would have thought before hand could be a problem, and had the drizzle stopped, the "sludge" dried and had the sun broken trought the clouds this could certainly have lead to at least a complicated landing with very bad visibility trough the screen.

Another day, another experience to learn from, maybe they should include "bug density" as a SIGWX in weather NOTAMS ;-)

If your at a field which has approach lights / runway lights.

Make your life easier and ask the twr to turn them on.

MJ

Hi folks
I was on a Nav trip the other day... En route to the second waypoint, I was faced with a dark "wall" of rain.... It was quite dark and impressive. I was cruising at 3000' and continuing this way would have taken me right in IMC. So I decided to descend to 2500', then 2000', then 1500'.... I still could not see through the shower although I could see just underneath a big dual carriageway... The descent was quite bumpy as well...
First of all, I wanted to continue through the rain and descend even lower (terrain clearance was OK) for low level navigation, but I could not really see through the shower and it seemed to extend for a few miles.... Following the dual carriageway would taken me certainly to my second waypoint, but what could I expect after that? The sky was very obscure in the direction I was going to take for my third waypoint. Terrain clearance could then be a problem.
I finally decided to turn around and come back into more welcoming skies...

Did I make the right decision to come back or would it have been possible to continue my trip with a chance of better weather after a while? What would you have done?

I came back safely, that's what matters.

Cheers :)

If you are not happy turn back.

And if anyone gives you gip tell them to !!!! off.

You are PIC you make the calls. If your not happy bin out.

Its all very well discussing it in the bar but if your sphinxter starts twitching and you have a get out clause. Trust it and fly again another day.

Good choice, big lumps of hard stuff in front off you unable to remain VFR you made the right choice.

MJ

Fancy Navigator

I am not sure why descending in the face of heavy rain would help, because rain tends to fall downwards also. You would have to descend below ground level to avoid it. I know there is some rain which exists only at altitude (the name for it is something similar to Viagra :O) but that is rarely true for heavy rain.

The best thing, if you really MUST fly around in UK weather, is to get the IMC Rating and get your hands on a suitable plane. Provided you are able to put in the hours to maintain a reasonable currency afterwards, it isn't a bug deal and will hugely improve your confidence and your ability to actually complete a trip and get back.

Fancy Nav,

I think the very fact that you are able to post on here validates your decision.

It was the right one - nothing else to it.

DBChopper
:ok:

Lowtimer,
Ok, thank you =). I fly a K-13, Twin II, Blanik and LS-4. Love it =).

PP

Fancy Nav,

Definitely best to turn away and find another route which doesn't take you through that heavy rain. Even if terrain clearance is not a problem for low level nav, what happens if you meet someone else who can't really see where he's going, coming the other way up that dual carriageway? Also, further under a big cloud, it might not be just rain but also hail and/ or lightning.

Um, I hope you haven't really forgotten the rule about which side of a line feature to fly ...