VFR into IMC- Update 06/18/13

[robert7467]

I have bought a few books to help gain knowledge, and I decided to take my first XC since the St Louis fiasco. I went from Millington, TN to Elizabethton, TN to visit a friend at his cabin.

 

The trip there went off without a hitch. The Elizabethton airport was surrounded by mountains and pattern altitude was around 2600 feet, which mountain flying is something new to me. In route, it was showing the mountains at around 4500’, so I went over them at 6500’ to err on the side of caution since I know about downdrafts, but I don’t know how close to the tops I could have went since I have no mountain experience.

 

On the return trip the weather was showing prior to departure:

 

Ceilings at 6000’ in Elizabethton, 10 Vis, winds calm.

 

In route before Nashville, the ceilings showed 10,000’, 10 vis.

 

Then after Nashville all the way to Memphis 25,000’

 

Well, that entirely was not the case. After takeoff, I climbed to 4,500 and started seeing a lot of buildup. Everything was fine higher up, so I climbed to 6,500 flew that for a while, then saw another layer ahead of me, but everything looked good higher up so I climbed to 8,500’ and flew that for a while until I saw another layer ahead, and everything looked good below, so I stepped down to 6500’ and kept repeating this process until 3500’.

 

I tried calling a briefer, but he would not answer on the 2 frequencies ATC have given me, so I just kept checking the stations ahead of me. Guess what? Skies clear until 25,000 on every station I kept checking.

 

ATC even helped me out checking the stations in route and kept getting the same thing I was getting, but there was multiple layers of clouds, and I even went through a little rain when ATC was showing no precipitation.

 

As I got closer in, I started to see some cumulous buildup, that appeared to be the beginning stages of thunderstorms, so I steered clear of those.

 

My buddy left an hr after I did, and has the same experience as I did. Good weather report, but the same conditions that I was in. He has been flying for 30 years, and he said this has happened to him maybe 5 times “bad weather reporting” like on Sunday.

 

I did experience some heavy haze, but visibility was still at least 10 miles, and I managed to stay within the legal VFR limits.

 

This time around, I was aware of the illusions I was getting from the haze from my last experience, so I handled it a lot better this time.

 

Lessons learned:

 

Look at the weather report, but trust what you actually see.

 

Don’t count on ATC as a reliable weather source.

 

 

 

I now look at my PPL as a “good luck” license. As a PPL, you can mitigate most risk with good weather planning, preflight, etc… But it also takes luck until you gain experience, and you can’t get experience without flying and going through it. So it’s a catch 22

 

As always, I will keep you guys posted on my journey to be a proficient, safe pilot.  

 

 

[Cruiser]

I have bought a few books to help gain knowledge, and I decided to take my first XC since the St Louis fiasco. I went from Millington, TN to Elizabethton, TN to visit a friend at his cabin.

 

The trip there went off without a hitch. The Elizabethton airport was surrounded by mountains and pattern altitude was around 2600 feet, which mountain flying is something new to me. In route, it was showing the mountains at around 4500’, so I went over them at 6500’ to err on the side of caution since I know about downdrafts, but I don’t know how close to the tops I could have went since I have no mountain experience.

 

On the return trip the weather was showing prior to departure:

 

Ceilings at 6000’ in Elizabethton, 10 Vis, winds calm.

 

In route before Nashville, the ceilings showed 10,000’, 10 vis.

 

Then after Nashville all the way to Memphis 25,000’ From where do you get a weather briefing? If you are only looking at TAFs along your route that is not nearly enough to understand the weather picture for an enroute flight. Flying the entire length of Tennessee is certainly going to expose you to varying weather conditions.  

 

Well, that entirely was not the case. After takeoff, I climbed to 4,500 and started seeing a lot of buildup. Everything was fine higher up, so I climbed to 6,500 flew that for a while, then saw another layer ahead of me, but everything looked good higher up so I climbed to 8,500’ and flew that for a while until I saw another layer ahead, and everything looked good below, so I stepped down to 6500’ and kept repeating this process until 3500’.  Please review the aviation weather definition of ceilings and give us a better description of what you are calling layers. This might help: http://aviationweather.gov/static/help/taf-decode.php and this http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/media/ga_weather_decision_making.pdf

 

 

 

I tried calling a briefer, but he would not answer on the 2 frequencies ATC have given me, so I just kept checking the stations ahead of me. Guess what? Skies clear until 25,000 on every station I kept checking. Where you trying to reach FSS Flight Watch on 122,0 ? Perhaps you shuold review the AIM, they have an excellent section of enroute weather services.

 

ATC even helped me out checking the stations in route and kept getting the same thing I was getting, well ya, they were getting the same data from automated broadcasts that you were. but there was multiple layers of clouds, and I even went through a little rain when ATC was showing no precipitation.this is not uncommon

 

As I got closer in, I started to see some cumulous buildup, that appeared to be the beginning stages of thunderstorms, so I steered clear of those.

 

My buddy left an hr after I did, and has the same experience as I did. Good weather report, but the same conditions that I was in. He has been flying for 30 years, and he said this has happened to him maybe 5 times “bad weather reporting” like on Sunday. yawn, when I hear "I never saw this before" or "it was the worse in. .." I just yawn, as in ya right.......

 

I did experience some heavy haze, but visibility was still at least 10 miles, and I managed to stay within the legal VFR limits. 

 

This time around, I was aware of the illusions I was getting from the haze from my last experience, so I handled it a lot better this time. That is good to hear.

 

Lessons learned:

 

Look at the weather report, but trust what you actually see.

 

Don’t count on ATC as a reliable weather source. Good, that is not what they are for, ATCs primary responsibility is providing separation service to participating aircraft.

 

 

 

I now look at my PPL as a “good luck” license. As a PPL, you can mitigate most risk with good weather planning, preflight, etc… But it also takes luck until you gain experience, and you can’t get experience without flying and going through it. So it’s a catch 22

 

As always, I will keep you guys posted on my journey to be a proficient, safe pilot.  It just sounds like you need to get more hours in your logbook. What you have posted is pretty much typical cross country flying.

[Marauder]

Robert -- Tom has provided you some insights into the world of cross country flying. You bought a plane that was designed to do long trips. You didn't buy a trainer designed to get you your PPL. What that means to you is that you will need to become a student of weather like most of us did who wanted to get utility out of our airplanes. Whether you are VFR or IFR rated, you need to understand the variables associated with the ever changing environment we are in -- the weather. Learn how to read the skew-t, prog charts and other tools that are at your disposal. Even if you go out and get your IFR rating, that doesn't mean you still won't fly into the side of a CB. You need to understand what Mother Nature is tossing your way and be man enough to know when she is the boss.

[robert7467]

Cruiser, I will answer your questions tommorrow, as it it easier to answer the while I am on my computer rather than cell phone.

[robert7467]

“From where do you get a weather briefing? If you are only looking at TAFs along your route that is not nearly enough to understand the weather picture for an enroute flight. Flying the entire length of Tennessee is certainly going to expose you to varying weather conditions. “ I used foreflight looking at the ceilings, convective activity, visibility and all the other weather briefing tools. I need to learn to do better weather briefings, and I have to admit DUATS can be a little bit of an information overload.

 

“Where you trying to reach FSS Flight Watch on 122,0 ? Perhaps you shuold review the AIM, they have an excellent section of enroute weather services.” I tried 122.0, then advised ATC that I wasn’t getting a response, then they gave me 2 frequencies to try, and I didn’t get any answers on those as well.

 

“Good, that is not what they are for, ATCs primary responsibility is providing separation service to participating aircraft.” The ATC at tri cities was just trying to be helplful, and he helped me check the stations ahead of my route,

 

“It just sounds like you need to get more hours in your logbook. What you have posted is pretty much typical cross country flying.” I agree. The only way to learn at this point is through further training, and more importantly experience. Now that I am looking back, my previous XC’s were pretty much strait forward. I did most all of my XC in the winter time, so I wasn’t used to haze, and the rest of my flying was local under 3000. Now, since its summer time, I have to deal with haze, which is new to me.

 

I will admit, getting my PPL was just about being able to pass the test by memorizing questions. I took a weekend crash course, and all they did was give you enough information to pass the test. At the time, I thought it was acceptable, but now I realize I need to take 100 steps backwards, and relearn all the information and the theories behind all the information which is what I am doing now.

 

Learning in a Mooney presents its own challenges, and it’s not necessarily the plane, or the flying portion of it. In Memphis, there are about 2 instructors that I could find that met the insurance requirements, so I didn’t have a lot of options.

 

For my instrument, I am pilot in command, and I can use any CFII without having to worry about insurance requirements, which will allow me to focus on finding quality instruction. This time, I am in no big hurry to get an instrument rating, which will allow me to have the time to study, digest and understand the information instead of just passing the test. On the bright side of things, that whole St Louis fiasco is a blessing since I am now aware of the many dangers of being a pilot, and I am more eager than ever to gain knowledge towards being a safer pilot. Some pilots have never have never been in such a scary situation, and over time get more and more comfortable to the point if they do get into a situation, they end up being a statistic.

[Hank]

Robert--

 

It sounds like you are on the right track! When making a longish XC, like from Memphis to anywhere much further than Nashville, after you check all of the stuff on-line and sort through the overload, give Flight Service a phone call an hour or two before you depart. 1-800-WX-BRIEF is their number. You can talk to a real person, ask questions and clear up anything you don't understand from the computer. If you've already done DUATS, tell him you want an "abbreviated briefing." Doing this a few times will help you figure out all of the DUATS information.

 

Haze is a problem east of the Rockies. There are summer days here when skies are clear but visibility will be just 3 or 4 miles in haze. As a freshly licensed pilot, I tried to make a short ~80 mile XC on a morning like that; at the airport, an instructor was going out with a student so I thought I would be OK. Initial climb to the west was good, turned crosswind, everything great. Then I turned downwind and the world outside disappeared; instead of calling "downwind, Runway 26, departing the pattern to the east" I called "downwind Runway 26, closed pattern", kept a close eye on the ground out the left window [the only ground I could see], turned base and the world reappeared.

 

I learned that day that haze is a very bad thing. Since buying the Mooney, I often fly above the haze; going south at 8000'-10,000' I have had the haze rise up and envelop me; I have come home above the haze, with the ground mostly visible in front, only to have it disappear on descent around 6000' and the hilltops not reappear until 3500' or less, with full ground visibility only at 3000' or below. [The hilltops are ~1300-1500', not counting antennas.] Fortunately this did not happen to me until after I completed my instrument rating, but I did log that descent time as actual--I couldn't see anything out any windows.

 

Visibility in haze is also variable, depending upon which direction you are looking. With the sun directly behind you, visibility can be pretty good, but the closer you look towards the sun, visibility decreases and can go to pretty much zero, unless you lean your head against the window and look just in front of the wing [not a good position for flying or maintaining VFR].

 

Study well, fly safe, and talk to a mentor. Let me know if you are ever up West Virginia way.

[robert7467]

I have been talking with Nathan Peterson on the phone, and he has been giving me some helpful insights, he is also local to me, and I have met him once. I just need to surround myself with more people like him and be a sponge with any knowlege they can offer.

[Marauder]

Robert - weather is one of those things in aviation where the more you know and more importantly, the more you understand, the better you understand the risks. And it is easy to get complacent, especially if you got lucky in the past. On Monday I was scheduled to pick up my Mooney from an airport that is 25 miles away from my home airport. A flight I have done probably a hundred times over the past 18 years. The weather in the morning was beautiful and the TAFs looked good through the afternoon. I knew I would not be able to get out there until mid afternoon and if I had relied on this morning DUATS briefing solely, I would have tangled with pop up thunderstorms during my short flight. By the time early afternoon rolled around, the TAFs were updated and now reflected potential TS activity. Looking at other available weather tools in the morning with my DUATS briefing, I had already called my mechanic in the morning and told him I would be out there later in the week. He called me in the afternoon to tell me that they had a strong storm come through with hail and that my plane was safe in their hangar.

[Jeff_S]

And here's one to think about when flying in the Southeast in April and May. Various things can turn an otherwise VFR day into IFR, and quickly. In my case, I had taken off from PDK on an IFR flight plan down to Sun n' Fun.  For reasons that I won't bother to go into (nothing dangerous, just a long story) I decided to turn around at Macon and go home. Well, the departure from PDK was VMC and not predicted to change, so imagine my surprise when they gave me the JRAMS3 Arrival to end in an ILS21 approach...due to pollen!  Yes, so much pollen had kicked up in the hour that I was gone that they airport had gone IFR with low visibility. And truly, even though the sky was clear, I couldn't really see the ground from 4000' below the yellow haze.

 

That was one for the record books, literally. It was the worst pollen day of the season with counts over 8,000!

[jnisley]

Last night I did a quick trip to Virginia (GKJ-HWY-GKJ) to pick up my son, even though the weather was perfect VFR, the haze in Virginia was so bad that in reality I was in IMC conditions during my descent from 9,000 through 5,000. (I was on an IFR flight plan so I was fine but I was glad I wasn't a newly minted VFR pilot.)

[201er]

even though the weather was perfect VFR, the haze in Virginia was so bad that in reality I was in IMC conditions during my descent from 9,000 through 5,000. (I was on an IFR flight plan so I was fine but I was glad I wasn't a newly minted VFR pilot.)

You couldn't see the ground?

[Hank]

Welcome to the South! It happens here in the Ohio River Valley, too; I've been completely without any ground reference [not even a greenish color] coming through the haze until the hilltops only appeared at 3500'; I could see the bases at 3000' and was able to cancel IFR at 2500 and make a routine landing at my no-approach home base.

 

It's eerie being VFR in a clear sky with god visibility, then you lose everything on descent. Just stay on the gages and it will work out. Sure am glad I didn't hit anything like that before I finished my IFR training!

[fantom]

...That is not to say that the haze can't be bad here, but I have never had to rely on the instruments because of it.  I guess that I have been lucky.

 

 

 

These probably helped you, also:

 

 

[jnisley]

You couldn't see the ground?

By looking straight down you could see green, or at least imagine it, but there was absolutely no horizon, at 5,000' I couldn't see the 2-3000' mountains 6 miles to the west of my route, the sun was setting which made it worse.

[201er]

Well if you could see the ground from 9000ft, that's already nearly 2 miles visibility. If you could see the ground just the slightest bit ahead, then 3. Legal VFR. Just cause it's legal doesn't mean it's smart though. VMC/VFR has nothing to do with being able to see or make out the horizon, it's about being able to see and avoid traffic. There are multiple ways you can fly in actual instrument conditions while under visual flight rules.

[jnisley]

I agree

[RocketAviator]

Just to lighten things up a bit for all you Easterners!.... There is absolutely NO green around my home base.... If I see green I know I am not anywhere close to home! Just saying you might want to pick a universally relate able image....  heck next thing you will be using something called water for reference!!

 

Fly Safe,

Rocket On!

[jlunseth]

We get IMC haze, or rather smoke, in the Dakotas and NW Minn. in the fall, when the farmers burn harvested fields. Really thick.

[jnisley]

Just to lighten things up a bit for all you Easterners!.... There is absolutely NO green around my home base.... If I see green I know I am not anywhere close to home! Just saying you might want to pick a universally relate able image....  heck next thing you will be using something called water for reference!!

 

Fly Safe,

Rocket On!

If it doesn't stop raining soon here in the east that might just happen:)

[robert7467]

Did another XC to Nashville this weekend. Really Hazy to the point to where I could see the ground looking our the side window, but had issues seeing the horizon in front of me. The good news, is that I could see traffic, clouds, and if needed I could decend to 3000 or so feet safely if I started getting fatigue scanning my instruments. So in the end, it was good to practice scanning instruments in a safe enviroment. On the return trip I cruised at tree thousand.

[Hank]

It's very hazy here, too. Made a burger run Saturday, had to descend to 3000 msl to maintain VFR, came home at 3500. This photo shows the benefit of flying high, but our trip was only 40 nm and not worth climbing. See how clear it is above the clouds, approximately 5000 msl!

For you Southwestern types, the green is plants, crops, trees and vegetation; the haze is all humidity.

The TAF was for scattered 5000 agl; one AWOS was 'clear below 12,000' one was scattered 6000; these were departure and destination. Clouds enroute were at 3500 msl, with surface running 1200-1500 msl. Just goes to show, even on a short flight you can't trust the forecast . . .