wx radar off inflite
 

I have a question. We fly the 320 family and we have some ol skool pilots who believe tht switchin off the radar above 10000' when wx is clear is a good idea.
is there any logic to it.And is it documented anywhere?

And is there any safe gaurd against the microwaves emitted from the radar in regards to flite creW health?

Look at it from the other point of view...is there any reason to leave it on?

Weather radar points forward. You know this. Does that mean its safe? Who the heck knows.

What I believe is this...if you're worried about wx radar and health issues, you should also be worrying about the affect on your body of all the other electro magnetic thingeys we deal with in aviation and in everyday life. All those wire bundles under the floor in the aircraft...lovely electrical fields! Your mobile phone? Hope you don't get brain cancer (or, for that matter, testicular cancer from having it in your pocket).

I can't really see any reason to turn it off in flight...what little danger there is would be if you were directly in front of it and, at altitude, thats not real likely.

At the end of the day, if you want to turn it off in flight if the weather is nice,and it doesn't violate your ops manual, fill your boots.

(And before you say, 'what does he know about wx radar', my helo has weather radar...I just don't use it at 30,000').

HP

wx radar and safety

If it is safe outside the A/C, I'd be very surprised if it isn't safe inside the aircraft.

The thing about switching it off is that you'll probably forget that it's off when you need it. Maybe not a problem on short haul, but on long haul how sure are that you'll remember that it's off when you're looking at those nice fluffy clouds 10 hours later?

"Radar's not showing anything serious in this lot, we'll just nip straight through"!

These modern digital radars barely emit any more power than the HF and of course the signal is highly directional.
The old-school analogue radars could output at 10kw+ if I remember rightly. The key to reducing the output was processing power in the T/R.

Come to think of it, ex-Phantom crews do seem to glow in the dark..........

meikleour
 

Many moons ago we had a new Fleet captain who advocated this procedure. However it was dropped after it was found that condensation on the scanner array gimbals was freezing in flight and making the weather radar unusable when switched on after a period! Some things just keep coming around.

I recall many years ago writing to the Bendix radar people on the same question. They replied that if you don't need the radar then switch it off. Saves maintenance costs, they said.

There are some parts of the world ( e.g. The Gulf) where for all sorts of reasons it might be a very good idea to keep the darn thing on and radiating...

Personally with electronics, for me, they always seem to fail being switched on or off. Why push your luck switching these on or off in flight when not necessary. They are certainly useful in the terminal area!

It is like the captains who tell me 'no' when I ask for wing anti-ice on (A320)when I see ice on the icing indicator. I'm told no, on the 737 we had to wait until you could see ice on the wing. Yes, you are not flying a f****** 737 you are flying an A320 with wing anti-ice/de-ice and as per Airbus instructions put it on at visible icing on the indicator!

Funny enough having EGPWS on at all times at least on one side is mandatory, radar is still optional. But thats shorthaul operation which might differ quite a lot from longhaul.

Radar
 

Denti:

EGPWS doesn't emit so I don't see the connection to this discussion?

IRRenewal:

Thanks for the informative link. It seems to mainly focus on ground crew though. And consider this from the article:We are sitting close to the antenna which is basically a microwave oven.
I know microwave ovens are only dangerous to domestic animals in the States (:}) but how would you feel about spending 8 hours a day 2 meters from one while it buzzes away at home?

Also, personally I have never experienced a radar not coming on again after being switched off in flight but I might have been lucky.

I say turn it on when you need it.

SAN

If flying to an area with possible military activity then it is recommended to fly with your weather radar on.

SEV
 

I think that wx radar is quite important instrument to help pilots to be aware of situation. I think that switch it off is really a bad idea for many many reasons.Somebody swtch off the gps because sattellites has radiation???

We use it on as a sop as wx radar txmittal can apparently help identify you as a civvie aircraft, introduced after 9/11 and invaluable when operating in the less civilised areas of the world or close to unfreindly borders

Ref: Stator Vane

Just because you have not come across a problem does not mean that it is not valid. The fleet in question was the B747 classic during the eighties whilst being operated in the Far East envirnoment where the ground level humidity was very high. The procedure was dropped because of this problem and didn`t occur with the scanner operating. As an aside to this, excessive water comtamination collecting on the walls of large empty fuel tanks in this area of the world is also a well known problem.

Leave the wx-radar on? Why?
 

Huh? Am I missing something? Are there companies that leave the wx-radar on all the time? What is that good for?
I have been flying 12 years for 3 different companies and I never heard of a SOP to leave it on all the time!

We don't ever turn or leave the wx-radar on when it's obvious that it's not needed.

Regards,
Sabenaboy

Quick question folks. Are we talking about turning it OFF or leaving it on Standby? Some difference here.
First sector, turn it on, all OK, then on STBY until needed.

From a maintenance point of view, modern WXR has a pencil beam radiation produced by the slotted design of the antenna plate.
It only radiates away from the A/C in a 180 deg arc. The power levels today are in the order of 75 watts compared with the
hundreds / thousands of watts of the older units with many side lobe beams.

Predictive Windshear Operation included in new units operates below about FL200 and would be desirable
to have this function working at altitudes below this.

I have not seen proof of antenna icing up and not scanning, but if it did it would be due to low motor torque due to wear & tear
not to mention very poor seals in the radome.
If your SOP’s allow for turning off (stby) it will extend the life of the servomotors particularly during Your current flight.

P.S. Most A/C the OFF or STBY the T/R's are powered up but transmit is inhibited & antenna stationary

Wx Radar
 

Guess 'Wiggy' and 'Short Circuit' have reasons. I recall during and preceding the 1st Gulf War in the '90's it was standard procedure to keep the Radar 'on' to improve the radar signature.
It makes sense in the current climate too. Unless you are doing a polar route at FL 350+, then you and the Radar can chill! :cool: