flying out of Glenforsa in a 20kt breeze, or the turbulence experienced crossing the Gibraltar Straights as the wind is funnelled through the Gap between Spain and Morocco.
Beautiful but... Paragliding brings a whole new appreciation of the weather
Flying out of Exeter in the summer a gentle into runway wind can turn into a stiff crosswind from the south as an afternoon sea breeze cuts in. This shouldn’t be a surprise on a warm summer day, but may put you out of personal or aircraft limits. Fog – either radiation fog forming as the sun goes down or banks of sea fog or low cloud being drive inland by a gentle breeze. It has caught me out approaching Le Touquet necessitating a return to the UK, and it has caught me out approaching Brighton to clear customs from Kortrijk in Belgium. Just 20 miles out it was CAVOK but rapidly turned into OVC002 approaching the field. The result was an initially tense diversion onto Exeter. Again this should not have been a surprise with the charts showing the remnants of a weak occluded front with wind from the south. Heading home late in the day I’m sure many pilots will recognise that slight worry as the haze appears to thicken in the valleys and visibility into the sun all but disappears. The TAFS and forecast charts will help identify the risk, but there is nothing like having a back up plan in your mind. Performance – a short runway may rarely present a problem in winter, but a windless summer’s day makes a huge difference to performance, sometimes doubling the take-off roll. A friend and I once flew a 180hp Robin into Truro for a fly-in on a warm summer day. With 500m available it is usually well within the Robin’s capability. On the ground we were asked if we minded giving a lift home to a couple of stranded passengers. The departure was slightly uphill, with a hint of tailwind. The clearance from the fence at the end of the runway was less than we would have liked… With the benefit of hindsight a quick calculation would’ve highlighted the risk and we should have insisted on a downhill into-wind departure.
Whatever your flying habits, a sound understanding of the weather can only make it safer and more enjoyable. Just as flying currency is important to keep your flying skills up to date, so is ‘weather’ currency.
From Exeter to just about everywhere
Derrick Ryall is Head of the Public Weather Service at the Met Office and has more than 1,000 hours in more than 20 years of GA flying
28 CLUED UP SUMMER 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
