SDL Today

[KLRDMD]

It was, shall we say, a bit turbulent in Arizona today. There was the typical moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft admonition but we see that in AZ more often than not. Then there was the PIREP of a Lear on final at SDL reporting wind shear of +10 kts and -10 kts. That's a bigger deal. I had wind shear called immediately upon touchdown at FLG yesterday morning too.

The wind at AVQ was 290@14G18 upon liftoff. Not too bad as I used RWY 30. The entire flight to SDL was moderate turbulence with occasional light turbulence. Not much fun but it is good to experience it every now and then (solo, I wouldn't take any passenger in today's weather).

It was pretty much a flight as expected, cleared through the PHX Bravo at 5,000 ft, east transition. Then I was turned loose from PHX at about 7 miles out with a field elevation at SDL around 1,500 ft. I had the power back to about 20" for the descent. In the green arc, but I don't recall the exact airspeed.

I was not quite yet on the downwind to RWY 21, at 3,500 ft MSL I got hit by the biggest THUMP I have ever had in my scant 17 years of flying. It lasted about one second in total but it was the most unbelievably violent turbulence I have ever experienced. My head hit the ceiling so hard that I'm sure my neck will be sore in the morning. I've hit my head on the ceiling many times in turbulence previously but nothing like this. I was actually a bit surprised I was still conscious. It was that bad.

My left lower leg is bruised and cut from hitting something. I've never been injured before in my airplane. The turbulence was so violent that the tower even called and asked if I was OK. Are there ATC tapes of that ? It was about 2120Z.

Then it got interesting . . .

I got established on the downwind at pattern altitude. On final I had about a 60º crab angle. The tower called the wind at 260@10G28 for RWY 21. It sure felt a lot worse. I have never worked so hard in my life to get the airplane down and in one piece. I only used two pumps of flaps and kept my speed up (+/- 80 Kts). I had full left rudder in and could not maintain the nose pointed down the runway; it was still about 5º off. The wings were fairly violently moving through about 45º each way but without a lot of pitch excursions.

I was fully expecting a go around, with the probability of going somewhere else to land but figured I would give it one really good effort. The runway was plenty long and there was no reason to have to plant it on the numbers so I took my time getting it lower and lower and demanding more and more control of the airplane as I got closer to the ground.

I planted it one somewhat firmly and definitively and immediately raised the flaps to keep it on the ground. Taxiing was more than a little effort with me having a ground speed of about 10 kts but registering 40 kts on the airspeed indicator. I had to slow to almost zero forward speed to maintain directional control on the ground.

All in all, a great experience. It was one that took me very close to the limits of what I can do with this airplane. Maybe in a couple of days I'll post a picture of my bruised leg - once it gets all nice and purple ;-)

[DaV8or]

Wow, if you fly in stuff like that a lot, you might want to put a G meter in the plane. I mean, at what point do you inspect for damage to the airplane?

[lahso]

Good story, Ken. I've had a similar experience in a Seneca going to Atlanta. In cruise I hit my head on the roof so hard it broke the left ear cup of my headset. Like you, I thought I'd have neck troubles afterwards but I guess my headset absorbed the impact.

[scottfromiowa]

Everest?  Swim with Great Whites? You go Ken.  Not for me.  How abot boxing?  I get that there is personal satisfaction in testing ones limits and I'm glad your O.K., and cheated the elements....but (naw, I'll leave it at that).  Glad you are O.K.

Scott

[fantom]

Better that your leg is bruised, than it be your plane. Well done getting on the ground safely, Ken!

[LFOD]

Damn.... Sounds like quite a ride. 

[FlyDave]

Wow Ken, sounds wild and wooly! Glad you made it in one peice with "only" 1 cut and some bruising!

That one strong blast reminds me of what some people referred to as "blow holes" encountered while flying gliders over the Sierra Nevada's in the summertime. You should be wearing a football players mouthpiece in that kind of turbulence so you don't break your teeth!

I'm flying from Los Angeles to Santa Fe, NM on Friday and quite expect there to be AIRMETs for turbulence all the way, not to mention high ground winds when I get there. It looks like I'll have a 30-40 knot tailwind at 13K'. I'm going to get in the air as early as possible though to avoid as much of the high ground winds as possible.

[jlunseth]

I have had similar experiences.  The worst landing winds I have experiences were at Willmar one summer.  As I recall, the winds were variable over a range of 140 degrees from the right, and were 14G28, or maybe 32.  Worse, ground friction usually reduces the ferocity of the wind once you are in ground effect, but this wind was scouring the ground.  There are cattail swamps near the runway, the cattails were laying down almost horizontally, and changing direction wildly.  I tried my standard landing numbers the first time, and almost made it, except a big gust right at ground level blew my all the way over to the runway edge lights.  I never knew they were that tall!  I hit hard, bounced, immediately went around, and on the second landing came in no flaps at 90.  Went perfectly.  The lesson I learned is that standard landing numbers do not work for every situation, and you get alot more authority out of the rudder at 90 than at 70.

[Hank]

Ken--

I'm glad to hear that you and your marvelous F are OK. Weather happens sometimes--I had the pleasure of 70 knot headwinds coming home last week, descending through 6000' of moderate turbulence to land on my 3000' obstructed home field, Rwy 26, with the wind 230V290 @ 20G27 in the ten minutes prior to my landing. It was not a fun ride, but my wife did not complain and my C handled it well.

Congratulations on having Plan B ready to execute. Days like that require Plan B to be loaded, with Plan C in the works.

[rbridges]

you have bigger balls than me.  I got stressed reading your story.

[Hank]

I was stressed FLYING my story. But Plan B and Plan C were both ready. It was smooth as silk crossing the mountains at 11,000, but that ended abruptly descending through 6500. Field elevation is 567 msl, and the wings didn't stop rocking until the nosewheel hit. Immediate braking and flaps up, and the rollout was very short. I HATE gusts during flare, as I must have flared four times, adding power when the gusts hit. KHTW was just 4 nm away with over twice the runway and open approaches, but a larger crosswind component; and I actually had two downwind options with decent winds, the biggest being KPTI. Sure, it's a ways off, normally about 90 minutes but with the tailwinds well inside my available fuel.

On the other hand, reading about Ken getting bounced around in his cabin stressed me out! That sounds to me like SEVERE turbulence!! Not a place I want to be, but sometimes our hands are forced. Brief beforehand so you are not surprised, know your limits, know your options, and always have Plan B thought out in advance.

Fortunately that sort of turbulence is rare here, but seems to afflict our Western brethren much more often. My first bout with extended in-flight turbulence was flying across WY at 8500' and falling off of SLC's radar for about an hour. Sometimes the price you pay for going where you want to is more than the just the fuel.

[RJBrown]

Years ago I was flying Denver (APA) to Phoenix (FFZ) in my Rocket. Normal cruise at 200 knots.  John and I were up front and 2 girls were in back. Air was smooth as glass till we crossed the Mogollon rim. Hit a bump that bounced all our heads off the roof. Knocked the headset off one of the girls and she didn't know it. She did not realize the increase in noise was normal and freaked out thinking the plane was coming apart. Pulled the power back quicker than 1 inch a minute that time. Once she calmed down she had a good laugh over that one.

Desert winds can be wicked. 

[KLRDMD]

Here's the audio file of the SDL tower at the time of my 'fun.' It explains why the tower asked if everything was OK.