What's the craziest weather/wind you've experienced unexpectedly?

[FloridaMan]

Weather seems to claim a fair number of Mooneys. The guy out in Montana in the M20J with his sons. There was another M20J crash in Colorado in September with two experienced pilots. And then there's that latest airplane that disappeared over Yosemite.

Different parts of the country have varying weather patterns. Here in FL we have the summer thunderstorms that can build up and out climb our airplanes before our very eyes. The risk is that you're in IMC and fly into a towering embedded thunderstorm.

I had lunch with a bunch of pilots last weekend. One of the guys told me about his old M20J and how he was flying in IMC in FL one day at 6000 AGL and caught a downdraft that "instantly" pushed him down to 2000ft. ATC got on the horn and asked him what he was doing.

The only time I've ever been caught off guard was flying out west in October. I had been warned that I may need to strap in and hold on for the ride by the guy that operates the G550 in my avatar. I talked to Parker Woodruff that morning when I was leaving KABQ. It was around 9AM, I guess, and there was a moderate turbulence AIRMET for the region. Parker suggested that I should have already left, but at any rate, should be departing as soon as possible. I'm flying along smoothly at 11,000MSL, facing a strong headwind. I notice that my phone had full signal strength and 4G service. I was surprised, being out in the middle of the desert and all. All of a sudden it was like my Mooney had been coupled to a roller coaster and it was all I could do to keep the sky above me and keep my airspeed in the green arc. It lasted about 15 seconds and then was gone. I suppose that sort of thing is common out there and most certainly gave me a healthy respect for something I'd never experienced before.

I'd like to hear your stories, and where things happened, and whether these sorts of weather patterns are common in the vicinity. Knowledge of what can happen should help us make more informed decisions.

[201er]

I wouldn't dub it the craziest or most unexpected weather but I had the same experience as you when flying from Phoenix to St Louis over and around ABQ. I was at 13,000 IFR on O2 and I got the crap kicked out of me by the turbulence. I think I left Phoenix at like 7AM but it was already really turbulent. I was going up/down 500ft at a time and there was no extra power to work with from the normally aspirated engine. I made the mistake at staring at my instruments too much trying to salvage altitude but it made me pretty sick. I'd never felt so sick flying myself before and even reached for a bag but didn't end up using it. It was a really rough 3 hours going through all that. I finally got out to level ground and then continued on for 5 more hours to get to St Louis nonstop. The first 3 hours in turbulence was far more draining than the next 5 after, although it was a lot harder to make it through it after getting my brains jumbled around like that.

[fantom]

The first 3 hours in turbulence was far more draining than the next 5 after, although it was a lot harder to make it through....

Was that flight 8 hours nonstop in a 201?

[Marauder]

Was flying back into upstate NY on clear day. Weather was forecasted to have a possibility of scattered clouds at 2k near my arrival time. As I got close to my destination airport, I could see what appeared to be a layer of clouds moving in from Lake Ontario and headed towards my airport. As I begin entering the pattern, I could tell the "cloud" was actually a fog bank and was headed towards the departure end of my landing runway.

As I lined up for final, the bank was closing in on the other end of the runway. I touched down and on my roll out I met the fog bank at mid field. I stopped completely in it and on a 50 foot wide runway I could not see the runway lights I turned on to full. I had to shut down on the runway and had someone walk out to me to help pull the plane to a taxiway.

It was almost like a scene from the movie "The Fog". By far the strangest weather I have encountered.

[aerobat95]

The worst weather I have ever encountered was not in a Mooney, I was flying a KC-135 into Afganistan from the Gulf of Oman. There were severe T/S everywhere that we were trying to pick our way through. Unfortunately we could not go around them as Iran was to our east and the area of Pakistan that we were not authorized to fly over to the west. So we had to make an attempt and go through. I have only been scared a couple of times in airplanes and this was one of them. It got as dark as night and we were getting St. Elmos Fire all over the windscreen. Then the turbulence hit. We lost all communications and were were unable to maintain altitude. The instruments were pretty much unreadable due to the turbulence. Altitude deviations were +/-2000 feet from what I could gather. We aborted our mission and were able to finally get out of the WX. We then RTB and had to dump 105,000 lbs of fuel to land. That was an absolutely crazy day. Flying the KC-135 I have learned to respect the weather and what it can do to you. I have seen CB's towering over me when I was cruising at FL410. I could only imagine the power one of those has and what it would do to a small plane like our Mooneys. So for me in my Mooney I typically try to avoid most weather.

[201er]

Was that flight 8 hours nonstop in a 201?

Actually 8.5. Also done an 8 hour from NJ to KS nonstop.

[FloridaMan]

Aerobat95, Is this you?

And 201er, does the ER stand for extended range?

[201er]

And 201er, does the ER stand for extended range?

Now it does! LOL Never thought of it that way but good point

[bnicolette]

I have had several “white knucklers” through my career. Most recent and really the only one that took me by surprise was leaving KBFD about midnight heading for KAFJ in the Learjet 35a. The flight time should have been about :20 minutes. Checking the weather directly before departure (XM weather on board) showed the current awos of 2 miles and 800 overcast with light winds. Halfway through the flight we checked again and the visibility had gone down to 1/4 mile with VV of 100 at KAFJ. Checking our alternate KPIT showed RVR of 1200 and VV100. It was a part 135 flight so anything below minimums was not even legal for us to attempt. By the time we got to KPIT the RVR had come up to 1600 but was varying between 1000 and 1600 so we had the tower keep up appraised of the development and started to get vectored for the ILS 32. Thankfully it was 1600 as we crossed the FAF but then again went down to 1000 during the approach, but we were legal at that point to continue with the approach. At minimums we didn’t see a thing and had to execute a missed approach. As we were being vectored around the RVR’s were all over the place but elected to try for ILS 28R as the RVR was varying between 1200 and 1800 still with VV100. As they were vectoring us around I could see that the fog bank was clearing to the east and I could get into KLBE which was 20 miles or so to the east and I knew I had an “out” in the event this approach didn’t work. We ended up getting in on that approach. We saw the approach lights at right at 200’ and elected to continue down another 100’ which by then picked up the runway. Once on the ground, we had to continue to be vectored and tower told us when to make turns as it was near impossible to even taxi. Taxiway markings we nearly invisible. It took us every bit of :30 to taxi into the FBO being vectored all the way.

I’m sure most commercial pilots on this board have been through this at least a couple times. The weather changed that fast on us but we had plenty of fuel and had an “out” not too far away that wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t get in on the second approach.

I have been struck by lightning twice in my career and thankfully only one caused any damage. Funny thing was that we were at least 20 miles from the closest cell that was painting anything. Go figure.

12:24 AM 30.2 °F - 28.4 °F 93% 30.11 in 2.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Mostly Cloudy

12:33 AM 30.2 °F - 28.4 °F 93% 30.11 in 0.1 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

12:47 AM 30.2 °F - 28.4 °F 93% 30.11 in 0.1 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

12:51 AM 30.9 °F - 28.9 °F 92% 30.17 in 0.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

1:51 AM 30.0 °F - 28.0 °F 92% 30.19 in 0.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

2:51 AM 28.9 °F - 28.0 °F 96% 30.19 in 0.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

3:51 AM 28.9 °F - 27.0 °F 92% 30.21 in 0.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

4:51 AM 28.9 °F - 27.0 °F 92% 30.23 in 0.0 mi Calm Calm - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

5:51 AM 28.9 °F 25.2 °F 27.0 °F 92% 30.24 in 0.0 mi NNE 3.5 mph - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

6:51 AM 30.9 °F 25.2 °F 28.9 °F 92% 30.27 in 0.0 mi South 5.8 mph - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

7:13 AM 30.2 °F 26.7 °F 28.4 °F 93% 30.22 in 0.1 mi South 3.5 mph - N/A Fog Light Freezing Fog

[Txbyker]

Early this past summer I was enroute to Amarillo from Houston. Over the panhandle at lower altitudes you get some turbulance due to the barron ground and the heat. There were scattered thunderstorms in the distance. Ahead of me was one stray thin cloud about 15,000 with some streaking gray moisture below it. I could see through the moisture easily and decided to fly through it at 8000 feet. As soon as I hit the moisture my plane was almost hanging on the prop while the autopilot tried to maintain altitude and airspeed went to 80 knots in what seemed like a few seconds. I dropped 2000 feet but part of that was me disengaging the autopilot and putting the nose down to maintain airspeed. I will never fly through visible moisture if I can help it.

[aerobat95]

Aerobat95, Is this you?

And 201er, does the ER stand for extended range?

No that wasn't me.......similar with the St Elmo's fire though

[flyboy0681]

Craziest wind was today heading down to the Florida Keys. A nice wind at my back found me on the brink of being a genuine Mooney 201.

[N201MKTurbo]

In May I needed to fly from Phoenix to Portland, OR to do some work at the silicon works. I had been checking the weather for a week or so before the trip. My plane was IFR ready, but I wasn’t current. I had IFR charts for emergencies. The weather looked iffy for a direct VFR flight up there, but looked OK to fly up the eastern side of the cascades and then take a run down the Columbia River from the Dalls to Portland. I have done this a few times in the past with success. I have flown down the gorge with the tops of the canyon completely obscured. It is kind of weird to fly through a 60 mile long tunnel.

Anyway I flew up to Yerington, NV for fuel and food and checked the weather. It was still reporting and forecasting 8000 foot ceilings P6SM with widely scattered rain showers throughout eastern Oregon. The radar confirmed that when I left Yerington. By the time I crossed into southern Oregon the weather had deteriorated quite a bit. The ceilings were solid overcast at about 2000 feet and the mixed rain/snow showers were wide spread.

I Have done more of my fair share of scud running in the mountains, and I thought I would keep going to see if it cleared out further north. I was flying through north south running valleys with the sides completely obscured. The ceilings dropped down to about 1500 feet but there was still pretty good visibility outside of the showers. I finally got to a point about 30 miles north of the Lakeview VOR where I could not find good visibility anywhere in the valley, I could only see the ground straight down, about 3 miles of visibility.

I knew it was time to throw in the towel. My GPS showed a small airport about 3 miles from me so I flew over to it, it was just a duster strip with no facilities and no town. I flew back to Lakeview OR and landed. The man at the airport was very nice and helped me out as much as he could. I checked the weather and it was bad, there was no way to get to Portland VFR and too much icing for an IFR flight, besides I wasn’t current. I asked about a rent a car and he said the Ford dealership in town will sometimes rent their used cars. He called an they said they would rent me a car. They came out and picked me up and took me into town (about 3 miles) and I got a fine 2001 Torus with 120000 miles on it for $60.00/day.

I drove back to the airport to get my driving GPS out of the airplane and as I was leaving the airport I saw a Grumman landing. I thought to myself “That guy is crazier than me”

I got to Portland about midnight after driving six hours through heavy rain and blizzard conditions. Two days later when I returned to the airport to get the plane and fly home, the airport was full of CAP people. When I went into the office to pay my parking I was told the Grumman was missing.

The Sheriff called me the next day to ask me about the weather and if I might have any idea where they might look. I told him it was unlikely that he could have made past the higher terrain in the next valley to the east. He was going to Idaho.

Unfortunately they found the wreckage two days later on the mountain I suggested. They had been looking there anyway and I didn’t change that. The NTSB called about a week later for a statement.

I followed the search on line after I got back home and the outcome really tore me up.

http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Meridian-pilot-found-dead-in-Oregon-crash-155838375.html

[DonMuncy]

In December 2004 on my way from Dallas to Santa Clarita, CA. Had stopped for fuel in Phoenix after picking up a little rime ice. On toward Whiteman (KWHP). Cruising merrily along at 150 kias, and suddenly felt a shudder and looked down at 115 knots. After a lot of sweating and examination of instruments, I came to the conclusion everything was unchanged except the airspeed. As it began to come back up, I realized I had gone through a terrific wind shear. The airspeed was then normal, but the groundspeed was way down.

Then the turbulence started and continued from light to severe (according to the definitions, it didn't get to extreme, but at the the time I would have said it was extreme).

ATC along the way, inquired as to my well being. First time I had ever heard that kind of concern from them.

They said conditions were worse past the mountain range, so we opted to land at Palm Springs. When we got low enough to be shielded by the mountains just west of Palm Springs, things settled down so we had an uneventful landing. I never was quite so glad to be on the ground.

[N201MKTurbo]

DonMuncy,

For whatever it is worth, I've crossed those mountains more times then I can count. It is almost always rough. If you cross on V64 it is a lot smoother then the pass or V16.

[fantom]

Actually 8.5. Also done an 8 hour from NJ to KS nonstop.

Quite impressive, in a masochistic sort of way . I sure couldn't stay aloft that long.

Did it strapped to a Martin Baker ejection seat crossing the pond, and didn't like it then.

Well done!

[201er]

Did I mention I only have a single axis autopilot and it was shot on the 8.5 hour flight anyway? Once you're going past 5 hours nonstop, it's not that much more to just keep going. Perhaps someday I'll go up with a second pilot and set the Mooney endurance record. Does anyone know what's the longest a Mooney every stayed up? I bet I could at least get 15 hours at 6gph LOP/120kts 1800nm range. That would be NYC to Phoenix nonstop.

[Piloto]

St. John's CYYT: Icy runway, 15 kts crosswind, 200ft ceiling 1/2 mile visibility. Taxiways blocked by snow.

José

[Hank]

Did I mention I only have a single axis autopilot and it was shot on the 8.5 hour flight anyway? Once you're going past 5 hours nonstop, it's not that much more to just keep going. Perhaps someday I'll go up with a second pilot and set the Mooney endurance record. Does anyone know what's the longest a Mooney every stayed up? I bet I could at least get 15 hours at 6gph LOP/120kts 1800nm range. That would be NYC to Phoenix nonstop.

someone flew from So. Cal. to Savannah, GA last year in an E, about 17-18 hours. The wonders of LOP operation.

[flyboy0681]

He wrote a very thorough trip report about his flight after the fact. Most impressive, both in planning, preparation, and especially in execution.

I read it too, if I recall he didn't quite make it to his intended destination.

[WardHolbrook]

My most "intense" experience was several years ago giving some actual instrument dual in a Cessna 172. Some severe unforecast "lake effect" weather (low ceilings, visibilities, and icing conditions) developed while we were on a combination night, instrument "round-robin" XC training flight. The "out" part of the trip was uneventful - the weather was as forecast - 4,000' ceilings with good visibility beneath, perfect conditions to allow an instrument student to get his first bit of actual.

The "back" part of the trip was another story. An unforecast winter squall developed and moved across our home airport and every possible alternate for about 200 miles. Ceilings and visibilities were running around 400' and 1/2 to 1 mile in blowing snow. Additionally, there was light to moderate icing.

Initially, I wasn't too concerned, it would be a good experience for the student to see just how quickly things can go "south" on you inspite of all the planning you do. (Sometimes Mother Nature just flat refuses to read the weather forecasts.) By the time we got to our home airport, the weather had dropped below the minimums for the VOR approach so we decided to go to our alternate which had an ILS. We were starting to pick up a bit of ice, but it was only about 15 minutes to the alternate so I wasn't too concerned. Again, I felt that this could turn out to be some very good experience for the student.

As we diverted to the alternate the vacuum failure light on the instrument panel illuminated. That was not a good thing! That was precisely not the time that I wanted to have deal with a vacuum failure. The student did a good job of partial panel flying, but after several minutes he started to get vertigo and he began to lose it. At that point, I took the airplane back and was flying "cross panel" partial panel. The winds started to pick up and the ride went from occasional light chop to light to moderate turbulence. The whiskey compass was all but unusable. At that point, I declared an emergency. What had started out a routine training flight with a couple of easily handled "issues" had turned into something altogether different.

As we weighed our options, it became apparent that the weather was going to get worse before it got better and we didn't have much more than the legally required fuel - waiting out the squall line in a holding pattern wasn't an option, besides we had started to pick up a bit more ice. I decided that it would be better to get on the ground as soon as possible - the weather was at minimums for the ILS. I tried flying the first approach, but with the turbulence and the whiskey compass dancing around I couldn't keep on a heading that allowed me to track the localizer. Basically all I had was the electric turn coordinator. I missed that approach and went around for another attempt. This time we had approach vector us to the inner marker and I descended on the glideslope. Just as I was getting ready to go around the runway lights came into view and we were able to land.

That was probably the closest that I ever came to dieing in an airplane. It was also the last time that I ever flew actual IFR in a single-engine airplane. There was a time when I would fly any well maintained, legally equipped single-engine airplane about anywhere and anytime (within reason). For me, those days are gone forever. As far as single-engine IFR goes, it never used to bother me at all. Now I would never even consider it unless I had a VFR ceiling underneath me the whole time.

[The-sky-captain]

Great story Ward, I'm glad all worked out well in the end. The more PIC experience I get the more cautious I have become when it comes to blasting off into low IFR and such. I'll no longer take off in zero vis/thick fog where the tower has to ask me to let them know when I am airborne. I'm confident in my ability but know that I can't control many issues that may pop up and cause an emergency in a single engine, low IFR environment. I control what I can (preflight, fuel, go/no-go) and pray for help on the stuff I cant control.