201er

It’s not always an option. Oxygen, passenger comfort, winds, speed, distance to go… or you’re already on top but need to descend through for arrival. Or if it’s early enough in the day 8k tops turn to 10 and 10 turns to 12, etc. Normally aspirated, out climbing isn’t usually an option. Or you have an area of some 20 or 50 miles of cumulus and then clear the rest of the way. There are countless reasons why you might choose to or need to put up with nuisance level cumulus. Hardly enough to invoke 91.3

For sure I won’t go through anything that tops above 20,000MSL. I can imagine reluctantly going through something with bases 3,000 and tops 15,000 which would be a 12k tall cloud. It will be quite a ride but I know I’ll come out the other side ok. So, I voted 15k is my “no way” limit. There’s also a qualitative side which is a bit trickier to quantify. No red on radar, dark clouds, or extremely rapid growing clouds. Stormscope can also help differentiate the undesirable from the unable types based on the amount of strikes. There are times when the best way through (or least bad) is to go through those smaller towering cumulus than the actual thunderstorms in other directions.

ATC is being very demanding. Traffic everywhere. Not much alternatives. Some planes are going around, others are going through. ATC says other planes just went through and due to traffic they need you to stay on the airway. Very insistent. What amount of vertically developing cumulus clouds will you downright refuse to go through? Sure there are lesser amounts it would be nice to go around, but what vertical height of clouds will you simply refuse no matter where they send you or what you have to do? Think saying unable and if they continue demanding, declare an emergency not to go through those clouds.

Something easier said than done if it’s scattered Cumulus like a mine field. If you can’t get over, sometimes you gotta go through. If they top out below 10k, they may be uncomfortable but should be doable. Coming back from Florida I was in and out of cumulus topping out between 8-10k and they were a nuisance but not worth zig zagging every little cloud in a wide field. Anything that goes over 15k or is looking dark (or showing up on radar), I want to go around. Most life-saving word in a pilot’s vocabulary: “unable”

That’s the thing though, non-instrument rated pilots that do illegal cloud flying usually don’t have the guts to file it. That’s going on record and showing intentionality. It seems like they are more likely to go through clouds quietly or take a pop up from ATC if offered. It’s a bit more hush hush that way and they rationalize to themselves that it’s just them getting out of a pickle than intentionally going out to do that.

Autopilot or not, I don’t think you can gain 30 knots of ground speed with no change in altitude. Even a few hundred feet. Nobody is perfect at anticipating it so usually you go up first and then you push to go back down which brings the speed up. The other aspect is you ride it out to a degree cause if you push hard enough to hold altitude, you’ll make everyone sick. Split the difference with some speed gain and some altitude gain. Plus, what goes up must come down. Be ready for the drop. This was near Chattanooga. Perhaps mountain wave rather than convection? I thought winds were pretty strong.

Why would a non-instrument rated pilot file IFR? Or go into clouds? Especially with passengers?

What kind of Sun n Fun “incentives” are you offering? This is Mooneyspace, you should know better Gear one up, gear another up half price?

So I'm guessing it's ok to bring my Oshkosh tie down stakes? The Claw I think, or whatever everyone has at Osh... Also I didn't see much about IFR arrivals. I'm guessing it's normal IFR if the weather is crummy? No reservations and special procedures like OSH?

Gonna be in Florida all week so thinking of popping into Sun n Fun for a day. Never been. For those who have flown in before can you tell me a few things? 1) Do you have to tie down in daytime GA Parking? 2) Is GA Parking paved or grass? 3) Do you need to bring your own ropes? Do you need to bring your own stakes? 4) Realistically how long should I plan for the arrival to take? Is there usually a lot of waiting/holding? 5) Any other advice/tips? I've only done Oshkosh so please point out any differences I should be ready for.

I’m disappointed, I expected at least to one decimal point from you. Show your work next time.

As we all know, demonstrated cross wind component doesn't really mean anything. It is what the manufacturer happened to demonstrate but does not mean or imply a maximum. The real max-crosswind capability is where there is no more available rudder to make a side slip without drifting (or where the upwind wing runs out of ground clearance). What is that max? It is likely different between long, mid, and short bodies. And among short bodies there is probably a difference from when they expanded the rudder. Share your knowledge or experience of what that maximum is and specify the specific model it applies to.

What would a landing like that do to a Mooney? Probably a prop strike and collapsed gear? Doubt it would rip the wing off or flip over though.

You gotta do something first and you might not get to everything. In what order do you go

Some are saying that's an improvement compared to last time. Maybe next time they can initiate a go-around before anything touches the ground.

You're flying an instrument approach at destination in IMC. Let's say weather is something like 600 Broken and you are descending through 1000ft when suddenly and without warning the altitude is going down fast, air speed rising, and the plane is rolling. Weather is otherwise smooth or you know it is going aerobatic beyond what weather normally does. Controls are heavy and only somewhat responsive. You need both hands to keep it steady so reaching for things is difficult and distracting. Other than trying to recover, what do you do? Electric driven AI supports indication on vac AI.

Here’s a discussion we had with a bunch of links and videos to door coming open in flight scenarios. I see so much carelessness about it and such severe outcomes.

Yet another tragic example of how a door popping open can lead to a crashed airplane and why nobody but the PIC should be closing it:

Would have probably been simpler to hack off an antenna or get a 1mph speed mod to justify it being a 202

Interesting that there doesn't appear to be any damage to the airframe. Where did the blade go? Lucky that it didn't go through the windshield!

I thought 2 blade is supposed to be faster

That’s what the phone is for. Nah, WiFi only tablet is plenty. If the Stratus fails, there’s still the panel GPS. If both fail, it’s probably a GPS problem and won’t even come to the phone. Seems like the most common point of failure is overheated iPad. Otherwise this stuff just works.

This shouldn’t be difficult. Always underestimate rather than over. But always strive to improve, practice, and expand those abilities. Keep a wide enough margin that the worst failure you could be reprimanding yourself for is “getting close to getting close to your limit”.

That would be the Grim Reaper @Alan Fox I’ve personally witnessed him cutting up Mooneys so we know the avionics are real.

Let me counter that with a question for those who have hard personal minimums. Do you cancel an approach you're already on if the reported minimums suddenly go below your personal minimums (but above FAA minimums)? Do you immediately turn around or land if an area you are overflying is below your personal mins? Are personal minimums strictly a ground-based flight planning concept or something people adhere strictly to in flight?