Turbulence.

[Oldguy]

3 hours ago, Yetti said:

As far as strapping down.  My head is really close to the ceiling.   so first bump my seatbelt gets uncomfortable tight and I will slow down.

Oh yeah. Bounced it one time, and that was enough.

I have only gotten into what could have been a really bad situation one time, but was fortunate enough to have ATC give me a heads-up on developing weather. When they use the terms "severe" or "extreme", it gets my attention. Kind of like before my IR and noticing the ground was disappearing, I turned around, landed and planned out another route. Took an extra 30 minutes, but well worth it.

[kortopates]

Of course you don't need to be anywhere near convective weather to experience severe CAT. Here in the west, I believe we have the severest turbulence thanks to the Sierra Nevada mountains which is found in the leeward side in the Owens Valley as well as further north. I've been using the drop the gear and speed brakes to help quickly slow the aircraft down  ever since my earliest bad encounters - basic survival instincts.  We've had many very rough flights returning from ski trips that I have had to fly the entire valley with the gear down the entire way which is a miserable hour. If I am not trapped in the valley due to icing above, the turbo allows climbing up yet while carefully avoiding the rotors which can do real damage. But once above by several thousand feet its easy to find a relatively smooth ride on the wind ward side,  But when necessary,  the added drag of the gear lessens the impact from vertical gusts to lift or drop a wing and helps with stability to significantly reduce pilot workload and maintaining a slower airspeed. (AP is always off in bad turbulence). If also IMC, I would stay on the ground, but in VMC its just no fun at all as long as you don't have unknowing pax to terrify.  Try it sometime if you encounter bad turbulence. 

I don't know how true it really its is, but the Fedex caravan pilot that makes the trip everyday VFR despite the turbulence has been known say he wears a helmet on the bad days. I've thought of bringing a bike helmet as well but never did.

Edited February 6, 2018 by kortopates