jrcox19
Pre-takeoff checklist
We had no power in Ormond for a day, hangar at OMN was fine although I did see 2 or 3 that had their doors ripped off. Lots of airplanes tied down at both OMN and DAB but I didn't see any with major damage at least.
How are the Florida peeps doing ?
- Thread starter WDD
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Bro do you even lift
it's raining here, in case anyone was wondering.
The weather in Sarasota has calmed down,actually cool and comfortable. Brunt of the storm was south of us. Unfortunately the area south sustained major devastation .
BTW, if anyone is going looting in S Florida, I could really use a wing leveller.
I have the wing leveler that came out of my Mooney.BTW, if anyone is going looting in S Florida, I could really use a wing leveller.
Hmmmm........
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Hang 4
Flagler was getting some wind and a lot of rain, but nothing like the West Coast. My airport (FIN) is now the staging area for 100's of utility trucks, so not sure when I'll be able to get my plane back in the shop to finish my annual. We put it in my hangar to make room for some of the planes on tie downs. Given what happened in the rest of the state, I'm fine with missing a few weeks so the folks that need power can get it.
1969 Beechcraft B23 Musketeer.
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Hang 4
STEC is very proud of their STC. Going between types tends to be cost prohibitive. I suspect that even if I gave it to you for free, by the time you got the STC and installed, you could have a modern AP for about the same money.
Todd82
Line Up and Wait
bflynn
Final Approach
BTW, if anyone is going looting in S Florida, I could really use a wing leveller.
Yours is broken or defective? I know mine frequently gets distracted by passengers.
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
It (almost) never rains in northwest New Mexico, but when it does, man it pours, with lightning and thunder, and possible hail and washes all the dirt and gravel off of the driveway. Then the electricity goes off...
bflynn
Final Approach
Not Florida, but in NC, we had power flickering pretty continuously last night. Just to be safe, I ate a steak and the rest of the ice cream for dinner.
This morning a lot of tree limbs down in the yard. Cleaned it up, 4 piles of limbs and branches at the street now.
Glad it was minor here, I think it was just a depression, but we had gusts near 45.
This morning a lot of tree limbs down in the yard. Cleaned it up, 4 piles of limbs and branches at the street now.
Glad it was minor here, I think it was just a depression, but we had gusts near 45.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
One of the weirdest things about hurricanes is the weather after. Late season Gulf storms will often drag in a cold front. Tampa on Friday was spectacular, clear and cool, one of the nicest days of the year. It struck me as bizarre that 100 miles south of us people were being rescued.
We got our power back this afternoon. Hooray!! I’ll pickle the generator later this week, but I want to run some non-ethanol gas through it first and the stations are sold out right now.
We worked this morning on gathering up the remains of the barn roof and hauling them to the road for pickup. We have a guy coming Mon or Tue to give us a repair estimate. Tomorrow we’ll start on the tree damage and begin clearing downed limbs.
We worked this morning on gathering up the remains of the barn roof and hauling them to the road for pickup. We have a guy coming Mon or Tue to give us a repair estimate. Tomorrow we’ll start on the tree damage and begin clearing downed limbs.
donjohnston
Pattern Altitude
I get so tired of reading and hearing this. First, if you're near the coast (and Florida has a lot of it) with an airplane, and you evac with your plane every time a storm is forecasted, you'd be spending a LOT of time flying north. Because hurricanes are not very predictable. And unless you evac far away, you have a good chance of moving INTO the storm. That's how about half the planes damaged at F95 during Michael ended up destroyed. One of the planes at North Perry was moved there from Tampa to get away from the storm.
Second, people who say this either don't have anything else (house, cars, family, job) or understand logistics. If you have a SEP airplane in SW Florida, you would want to have moved it up to around central AL to get far enough away. In your typical PA-28 or 172, this is a five hour trip. So if you have no one back home, and no job, no home to prep, then that's a great plan. But if you have a house, spouse, kids, pets, maybe an aging in-law and a job, then you quickly realize that the airplane is so far down on the priority list that it doesn't even register.
We like to say that when something goes wrong with the plane while we're flying it that "it belongs to the insurance company now" and what's important is being able to walk away afterwards. Well, this is no different. Priority one is keeping yourself and your loved ones safe. Then you can start worrying about replaceable things.
midwestpa24
Final Approach
I agree with you 100%. There are so many other important things to do in the 48 to 72 hours before a hurricane than worry about a piece of aluminum and plastic. And that's not even mentioning how quickly a storm path can change 50 miles and make what was safe unsafe or vice versa.
tsts4
Pattern Altitude
Exactly. We had friends here in Tampa that left to ride out the storm in Orlando so they ended up going right into the path. I’ve lived through more hurricanes than I can count (born in Baton Rouge, grew up in LA 90 miles north of Panama City, FL, and live in Tampa). Never tried to leave or move anything— it’s a crap shoot if you do and typically you just waste time and money only to go from the frying pan into the fire. However, Ian was the first time we’ve lived in a mandatory evac zone in our county. We took it seriously, packed up critical items necessary to live should we be unable to return to the house, moved our boat and motorcycles out of the flood zone and went to a nearby friends house to ride out the storm. Our plane is hangared but the airport is also in a flood zone albeit higher ground than our house, not that would have mattered had Tampa taken the direct hit as originally expected — in that case it would have been a goner. The bottom line is we couldn’t save everything so chose to save what we could within practical reason.
In the end, it didn’t matter. However, my in-laws live just 2 miles from Ft Myers beach on an inlet and the bottom floor of their house and dock got nuked from the storm surge. We had 15 totes of personal items (books , pictures, baby/kids stuff, etc) they were storing for us — all gone. But that’s inconsequential as so many people lost everything. In the final analysis, I’m comfortable with our approach to storm prep and won’t change in anything for the future.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
You did it right. Hopefully the next time, those who consider "riding it out" in an evac zone will watch some footage from Ft Myer Beach. That thought process mystifies me.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
Orlando is an excellent evac option. There is an infinite supply of hotel rooms. It is far enough inland that even the worst storm will have weakened to Cat I or TS status, which is not going to hurt anyone in a sound structure. And of course no exposure to storm surge.
People from outside Florida see the wind and rain, but people in Florida know it is all about the water. The government does a good job mapping zones vulnerable to flooding. If in an evac zone or a mobile home, GTFO. Go an hour inland and you will be fine. If you are in a sound structure and not on the water, stay put. You will be fine.
People from outside Florida see the wind and rain, but people in Florida know it is all about the water. The government does a good job mapping zones vulnerable to flooding. If in an evac zone or a mobile home, GTFO. Go an hour inland and you will be fine. If you are in a sound structure and not on the water, stay put. You will be fine.
tsts4
Pattern Altitude
My in-laws were hemming and hawing— my wife was furious with them. But ultimately they heeded the evac order (reluctantly) and went inland to my brother-in-law’s so were safe, Of course the weather guessers and models didn’t help. My take away is these storms are simply too unpredictable to risk it and try to ride it out where storm surge and/or flooding is a good possibility. I have zero sympathy for those who do only to wind up in their attics or on their roofs in the middle of the night when the storm is raging and putting first responders in harms way trying to save their sorry asses. Sorry about the rant.
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Warlock
I live on the water on the Texas Coast my Hurricane plan takes three days to prep and leave if necessary…my Hurricane plan for the plane is called a Hanger…and 0 deductible not in motion.
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Ed Haywood
En-Route
The angle of the storm track to the SW FL coast increased the risk. A slight shift eastward in path would add a hundred miles of coastline to the cone AND accelerate landfall by a day. Same thing happened in 2004 with Charlie. We went to bed on Friday night thinking the storm would hit Tampa later in the weekend, and woke up on Saturday morning to it pounding Port Charlotte.
tsts4
Pattern Altitude
Yep. I was still active duty in 04 for Charlie (Wilma and Katrina too) and we lived in Valrico at the time. My unit (JCSE) at MacDill evacuated our ride out team and minimum deployment package plus spares via convoy to our primary evac location which was Avon Park. Little did we know that we put them right into the path—exactly opposite of what was intended. I remember sitting at home in Valrico watching our pool cage shake and shimmy all day long. It survived without damage— heck we never even lost power.
Exactly. Ahead of Charlie, people evac’d to shelters in Polk that then got slammed. I went back and looked ar some of the 2004 pics last night. Florida had 4 large ‘canes in 6 weeks, three of them going through central Florida. We looked like Ukraine.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
I was in SOCCENT at the time and also lived in Valrico. Still do. For a while, the Charlie track went directly over Medard Park, maybe 5 miles from my house. I've got a screenshot somewhere. Charlie definitely taught me that the cones were just SWAGs. Being in the center of the forecast path 72 hours out is probably a good indication that it will not hit you.
tsts4
Pattern Altitude
No kidding—small world! We lived at the end of Culbreath at the time. We left JCSE (actually my 2nd MacDill assignment as I was at the Wing before JCSE) and Tampa in ‘06 for the Pentagon. Finally moved back in ‘19 and we’re currently in Apollo Beach. Work for DLA now in our regional office at CENTCOM. Were you on jump status while at SOCCENT?
40YearDream
Pre-takeoff checklist
So, will there be a lot of salvaged airplane parts coming on the market in the near future?
Ed Haywood
En-Route
I am at the end of Bloomingdale. Used to work out at the Y on Culbreath every day. Yep, I jumped at SOCCENT. Was there 03-08.
tsts4
Pattern Altitude
Then we definitely jumped together at some point—I was there from 03-06. I was the JCSE J4 and owned the rigger shop.I still have 2 of the rigger tables that we replaced while I was there.
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Warlock
132 Houstonians died in the evacuation of RITA…car wrecks old folks on life support and care homes for the most part. RITA was the first landfall after Katrina and people evacuated that should not have clogging the roads for days. There were no deaths from the storm in Houston, as it moved east in the last 24 hrs going in along the Tx/La border…I personally knew 4 people died during the evacuation…it’s not always that simple.
donjohnston
Pattern Altitude
I was saving the track data for a couple days before it finally made landfall.
https://imgur.com/a/5aw68V8
This is a three day period. At about 36 hours out, it was forecast to pass about 200 miles from Ft. Meyers. At 48 hours, it going to pass about 100 miles away and make landfall at Cedar Key (200 miles up the coast).
https://imgur.com/a/5aw68V8
This is a three day period. At about 36 hours out, it was forecast to pass about 200 miles from Ft. Meyers. At 48 hours, it going to pass about 100 miles away and make landfall at Cedar Key (200 miles up the coast).
midwestpa24
Final Approach
I think that is something people who haven't been on the receiving end of a major hurricane don't understand. The forecasts change regularly. A shift in track of just 20-30 miles can have massive impacts on where the worst damage occurs. You can be on the west side (the good side) of the storm within 50 miles of the eye, and have almost no damage or even rain from a hurricane.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
The shift also significantly affected strength. The forecasts 72-48 hours out had it hitting wind shear from a cold front in the northern gulf and weakening from Cat 4 to Cat 1 before landfall. When it shifted east, that allowed it to make landfall before it encountered the shear and lost strength. There is a HUGE difference in destructive power between Cat 1 and 4.
Ed Haywood
En-Route
That's pretty much what happened here. We were right on the boundary between minor and major damage. Very little impact in my neighborhood other than some downed trees. But 15 miles southeast of here, at our airfield, it started to peel the steel walls off several hangars. A few more MPH and those hangars would have gone to visit the Wizard of Oz. 15 miles northwest of here, they got an inch of rain.
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unsafervguy
En-Route
report from ground zero. KFMY, with the exception of today because of disaster in chief, oh sorry the commander in chief, is here, is open for ops on a limited basis. limited hours, limited radar coverage but the tower is open and GA ops are happening. about 6 aircraft were destroyed, one of mine included. the majority of tied down planes left but of those that stayed most survived fine. most that were tied down facing east west were fine, those that were north south got the damage. mine had two ropes and a ratchet strap on all three points. all three held, the structure of the aircraft gave way, the ropes are still tied to the rings laying on the ground. the tail tiedown on warrior was completely ripped out of the aircraft. the mooney 300 feet away with only one rope had some rudder damage. go figure. why didn't I fly out? family, two houses a boat and four cars and a job. also, where do you go? I thought about having my son fly it to boca where he is at school, but a few miles south at north perry they lost 30 planes to a tornado. as some have said,where do you go, and do you have time? the toys don't matter. they can be replaced. up until less than 24 hrs we all thought this thing was going farther west and would hit landfall up north. surprisingly, the wind damage was not the biggest problem. very few powerpoles down, no as much tree damage as you would expect. the water surge did the majority of the damage. fort myers beach looks like a war zone. we were allowed on the beach to inspect for one day and it has since been under lockdown, the recovery operation is still on going.
we got lucky the house stayed dry, only by a couple of inches, we are on a canal about 4 miles up river and it got to within 3 inches of the pool deck and patio. roof is trashed but still water tight. RV-4 was in the hanger and not a scratch on the hanger. boat was on the lift in front of the house and came through fine, my next door neighbors boat was not even strapped to the lift and is fine. our condo on fort myers beach is trashed, the building is standing but the hurricane shutters were destroyed and the front sliders blew in and the patio furniture was wedged in the back of the kitchen. twelve feet above the grade and still 4 inches of water in it.
we were lucky, a lot of people did not make t through it, the number I heard this morning is about 70 in lee county. alot of people lost everything to the water.
a big thanks to all the governments and utility companies around the country that have sent people and supplies. the linemen that got my power back up left mississippi before the storm hit to be here ready to help. they have been working 16-18 days to get power back up.
we got lucky the house stayed dry, only by a couple of inches, we are on a canal about 4 miles up river and it got to within 3 inches of the pool deck and patio. roof is trashed but still water tight. RV-4 was in the hanger and not a scratch on the hanger. boat was on the lift in front of the house and came through fine, my next door neighbors boat was not even strapped to the lift and is fine. our condo on fort myers beach is trashed, the building is standing but the hurricane shutters were destroyed and the front sliders blew in and the patio furniture was wedged in the back of the kitchen. twelve feet above the grade and still 4 inches of water in it.
we were lucky, a lot of people did not make t through it, the number I heard this morning is about 70 in lee county. alot of people lost everything to the water.
a big thanks to all the governments and utility companies around the country that have sent people and supplies. the linemen that got my power back up left mississippi before the storm hit to be here ready to help. they have been working 16-18 days to get power back up.
unsafervguy
En-Route
you might want to rethink that, the lee county sheriff, said in an interview a couple of days ago, "you may walk into someones house to loot, but you most likely will be carried out!"BTW, if anyone is going looting in S Florida, I could really use a wing leveller.