WX in the Cockpit and Scud Running!

[knolde]

Afternoon All: The house generator kicked in about an hour ago and the weather is in technical terms CRAPPY. Nancy said she was glad that we got the generator as it makes times like this much easier.

 

Nancy's comment got me to thinking about returing home last month from a cross-country in rather the same type weather, scattered thunderstorms, sme rain, and occasional low visibility--the XM weather on the Garmin 496 was an invaluable aid to penetrating the weather safely and getting home. In the past week Iooked/took at several AOPA Safety courses; one dealing with NEXTRAD Radar and What ATC Sees and "How to Minimize Cockpit Weather Risks." Neither course is particularly technical or long, but they provide a wealth of information vital to know in marginal weather. In past, I dismissed scud running as an unnecessary risk because I could get an IFR clearance and approach iif I had any weather concerns. However, since getting an LSA my (our) perspective has altered considerably and flying in marginal VFR weather has become a necessary skill.

 

The two AOPA courses deal with the interpertation of NexRad radar from the ATC scope presentation and a perspective from the cockpit. Weather in the cockpit is simply wonderful in that it provides a wide view of conditions and facilitates good choices. Of course, you must know what you are looking at and the AOPA stuff is good, but it also emphasizes that ATC's view is not absolute--remember they like you are looking at NexRad that sees only persipitaiton-NOTHING ELSE! This last factoid is why you can be flying around with lots of clouds and low visibility and the XM display shows nothing--precipitation. IAt this point I should point out that the principle weathr dector in the cockpit remains the APN MK 1 20/20 EYE BALL, attached to a weather savy brain.

 

I have gotten home in marginal conditions, but at the same time I have diverted and landed elsewhere a number of times. I follow a few general 0personal Scud Rinning rules: 1. In less than good conditions, I ltell ATC early and let them know Ialso have wx in the cockpi; this gives a bit of credibility to deviation requests. 2. Get a good weather briefing so that you know where you should/will run into mungy weather and its general direction of movement--this helps in interperting the images. 3. Always remember that looking out the window is also a major help--here I use the autopilot in heading mode so that I can change headings at will. 4. Green is good, the airplane will not melt in a bit of rain amd frewuently a bit of rain will not reduce visibility much. 5. Yellow and Red are bad and you avoid these areas period; normally the reds and yellows are visual buildups and because you spoke to ATC early devitations are facilitated.. 6. Climb or descend to stay as VFR as possible; but always have an out . 7. I try to get down under as far out of destination as possible. This way I can evaluate better what the weather is between me and landing--yes, I have diverted as close as 5 milies from home. 8. Tell ATC if you need help; stay a VFR as possible, and DO NOT HESITATE TO DEVIATE, or DIVERT. 9. Diverting or deviating also is highly advised should turbulence be incountered. 10. If conditions are deteriorating, they likely will continue to do so; here the best thing to do is get the heck out without delay.

 

In past,, I was instrument rated and I still practice instrument approaches, but the real reason is to practice flying on instruments--I can transition to instruments without fear of loss of aircraft control--a vital considration. Lastly, never forget that scud running is serious business! So take it seriously! If you have any comments or questions, I will be happy to answer them.

 

See ya at Page,

 

Ken and Nancy Nolde 400+ hours in N 840KN

[coppercity]

Cockpit weather is such a great situational awareness tool. This time of year in AZ we get lots of afternoon and evening thunderstorms and this is where the wx feature shines. I have been showing my students the differences between the greens, yellows and reds on the panel vs what you see outside. That's the nice part of our isolated storms here, you can watch the storms from a distance! The feature I like the most is the animation over time. You can really get an idea of the trend of cells and areas of storms well in advance of your flight path. This is valuable information as your assessing the risks ahead and can aid in the decision to divert.

[Jim Meade]

This is why I'm going with SkyView and why I'll be very interested in FLIR when it's available.

[Scrapman1959]

we have the new sky view with synthetic vision, and other than watching towers go by same as on the 696 it is nothing but eye candy. The runways dont come into view until you are right on top of them and it does an extremely poor job of painting ridges and bluffs out ahead of you.The data base Dynon bought from whoever they got it from is a joke compared to what you get with a Garmin G-1000 with synthetic vision. We will be looking for someone elses synthetic vision in our next CTLS. I fly 350 hours a year in our Ct and fly in a lot of marginal weather. One advatage is i am on very familiar routes. I know where each tower and ridge is between all the regular airports i fly between. A wise instructor gave me some advise about flying in marginal weather, SLOW DOWN. You are eating up a lot of realestate at 110 knts and leaving yourself little time to react to a tower or ridge coming into view thru the scud. Its the same reason we drive our cars slower in the fog.