Hi All,
My son and I flew through some moderate to severe turbulence last Saturday in my 81, Commander 840 with -10 engines at 27,000. The Turbulence was forecast between 18,000 and 28,000. The controller notified us about it's proximity to our location via a pilot report.
My question to the group is:
1). What would you do operationally? Land, slow down, climb, descend, ignore everything and just fly etc.
2) If you said slow down - what speed would you slow down to and why?
Thanks,
Kent
Hello Kent,
that day of your flight you speak of, i was watching your flight path on flightaware and your progress through southern Indiana, Kentucky and through Tennessee where the higher radar echo's where showing on the radar apps. Not that i snoop on everyone i know when they fly, lol, but on some big fronts/ weather systems like that day, as i do similar flights like you to Florida also, i like to log on and see what everyone is doing and going and at what altitudes. i like to try and guess what commander i am watching of who has the -10's and who has the -5's, as i am jealous of the -10's, but i also thought this day, RVSM 1000 at FL350 would be good on a day like that?
.
Anyways, i was thinking to myself while you were over central Indiana, if i could/would have continued on over that wicked looking area you were approaching? But then i thought, the radar seems to always look worse (especially the composite) in the winter time and that you probably were on top and were riding smooth anyways! Then i thought, hey he got bigger cahonas than i do! -sorry.
Anyways, as i start to get more gray hair on my head it seems that i am getting much more conservative regarding weather compared to how i was years ago in the Aztec's and Apache's. I think we have all have been in situations wishing we were not in the conditions we ventured into. My old examiner who as a young man was blown off a frigate ship in the Battle of the Coral Sea used to say to me: "Its better to be on the ground wishing you were flying versus flying wishing you were on the ground!"
My ramblings here really don't address your core question of what airspeed to penetrate or what to ultimately do. Very good topic here and i really like everyone's replies and guidance. Would love to listen and study this subject on the next Twin Commander gathering!