Hurricane Sandy

[carusoam]

What are you doing to prepare for Sandy?

If you haven't seen the track.......

She is coming up the East coast and is scheduled to visit NJ after the weekend.

100mph winds and 10" of rain are being predicted.

My plane is indoors for maintenance.

Best regards,

-a-

[Seth]

My aircraft will be in the hanger. I was hoping to put some hours on the break in this weekend. I was going to drop the aircraft off for it's Annual at Freeway MSC on Sunday night, but that is not going to happen now because of the storm. I do not want the aircraft outside. I'll start another thread, but very well be out of Annual by one or two days (Nov 1st) when the weather has passed, and may need to figure out how to get a ferry permit to get it to Freeway. This would not usually be an issue, but the replacement of cylinders (Top Overhaul due to the cylidner issues) is not quite in place. Break in flight is either today or tomorrow.

So - the aircraft will be in my hanger for the weather. I would advise anyone who has an aircraft in the direct path of the storm tied down or on a coastal area to mvoe their aircraft. I know some insurance companies reimburse for movement expenses.

-Seth

[timpercarpio]

Locked in our hanger at KCXY, Harrisburg, PA.

Tim '78 201

[bd32322]

What kind of weather is seen in the hurricane proper and the eye wall? Are there thunderstorms? Probably not because all the NOAA planes fly into the hurricanes all the time...

Not that i plan to fly in it in the mooney ofcourse, but just curious since flights are made into them and thy dont seem to be specially modified ...

[carusoam]

Expect large pieces of ice/hail...

Bring your extra thick windshield.

-a-

[Hank]

From being on the ground as hurricanes come ashore, it is a huge mass of severe thunderstorms.

The NOAA does fly through them, including the eye wall, using specially modified, armored, multi-engine planes. Please keep your Mooney away from hurricanes. I once left NC early because a mere tropical storm was about to come ashore.

Now I no longer live in hurricane country so I don't worry as much anymore.

Sandy is apparently a large storm, as central WV is expecting heavy snow (2 feet + in some places), but it's not a very strong one. Mixing with the cold front to cause snow is quite unusual, though.

Seems AOPA Pilot had an article on the hurricane hunters last year?

[bd32322]

From being on the ground as hurricanes come ashore, it is a huge mass of severe thunderstorms.

The NOAA does fly through them, including the eye wall, using specially modified, armored, multi-engine planes. Please keep your Mooney away from hurricanes. I once left NC early because a mere tropical storm was about to come ashore.

Now I no longer live in hurricane country so I don't worry as much anymore.

Sandy is apparently a large storm, as central WV is expecting heavy snow (2 feet + in some places), but it's not a very strong one. Mixing with the cold front to cause snow is quite unusual, though.

Seems AOPA Pilot had an article on the hurricane hunters last year?

Are you sure they are specially strengthened? I cant find anything on that online and they flew a whole bunch of different types of planes in there.. Hopefully someone who flew those planes or knows someone who flew those planes will chime in

Furthermore, i see no lightning at all in the system and the cloud heights are relatively low (< 30,000 ft) ... Just lots of rain and wind.

It is strange and interesting ... It seems very different on nexrad compared to lines of thunderstorms ...

I guess i'll keep watching as the system moves.

[Hank]

Hurricanes are not "lines" of thunderstorms. Imagine a 600-mile "line of thunderstorms" all bent into a circle, spinning around. Late-season storms like Sandy may not be very tall [i.e., only 30,000 ft or so]. The center of the circle, typically 20-50 miles across, is relatively calm and dry, but the next couple of hundred miles is far from either.

The whole mass rotates counter-clockwise, so the strongest winds will be north of the eye when it hits land. Tornadoes are often spun off as the winds hit terrain. Pressures are very low, with pretty steep gradients. This has a nice side-effect--the weather is usually beautiful and clear after a hurricane, because they suck all the little weather into them.

The P-3 Orions were armored on leading edges, critical surfaces, and had extra-thick windows. Apparently they've upgraded their equipment to C-130s.

For lots of visible phenomena, watch a hurricane in August or September, when they are big and strong from all the warm water. This is the end of the season, and they rarely go so far north into cool waters. The last I remember was in the late 90s, we had a brush from a Category 3, and by the time it reached Long Island it had downgraded to a tropical storm. Category 1 is only 74 mph [sustained winds, not maximum gusts]; below that, it's not a hurricane.

[Amelia]

Ours survived quite nicely in its own hangar this time, but we lucked out, and it was a non-event for us. Last year we expected a direct hit from Irene, so we accepted the insurance company's nice offer to fly out of harm's way on their dime.

[carusoam]

Flying out is a good idea. Insurance wants to cover it. It's a opportunity to visit a different city.

-a-