how to determine if scenic flight will be turbulent?

Badger

Badger

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Badger
I'd like to take family up for a VFR ride within 50 miles from home base, maybe 3-4000 feet, etc. If it's expected to be bumpy, I'd rather just plan for another day.

What sources of information can I look at to help determine if turbulence is likely? Should I look at pressure trends, cloud type/shape, dew point spread ???

Thanks
 
For turbulence? Look at the lapse rate and wind shear. Absolute wind at cruise altitude if there is significant terrain.

Fly early.
 
Severe clear days tend to occur when the air is turbulent.

Haze collects in the air when the air is fairly calm.

Usually, I find that even if it is kind of bumpy, once I get above 2500 or 3000, it tends to be pretty calm.
 
'No expert here... but a few things I've learned:
  • The obvious: check the forecast, you don't want to fly on the edge of a weather change.
  • If there are clouds, are they pretty static or being torn/whipped in all directions?
  • Lots of puffy cumulus clouds are a good indication of rising air columns and portend some bumps.
  • Early in the morning is best, the earlier the better. As things heat up, you start getting rising columns of air, dust devils, etc.
  • Flying over dramatically different colored ground may generate some bumps, as they absorb heat differently and may cause some updrafts or downdrafts. Think orchard, freshly tilled field, or asphalt.
  • Avoid mechanical turbulence from wind around peaks
  • Slow things down a bit if you encounter turbulence. It won't feel so bad.
  • Avoid wake turbulence, especially if you're flying with another plane. Within a half mile or so, the wake from a little plane can twist another little plane dramatically.
 
thanks for the ideas so far.
I forgot to mention, I'm in the Midwest, but hopefully this thread will be useful for pilots across the US. Mountain turbulence is probably a whole different situation...
 
Oh... and get on the handheld and ask for some pireps, or call a Center and ask if there are conditions that might favor turbulence.
 
mornings before it starts to warm up or evenings after it starts to cool down. cloudy days. climb above the temperature inversion (haze layer) or cumulus cloudbase.
 
CT4ME said:
'No expert here... but a few things I've learned:
  • The obvious: check the forecast, you don't want to fly on the edge of a weather change.
  • If there are clouds, are they pretty static or being torn/whipped in all directions?
  • Lots of puffy cumulus clouds are a good indication of rising air columns and portend some bumps.
  • Early in the morning is best, the earlier the better. As things heat up, you start getting rising columns of air, dust devils, etc.
  • Flying over dramatically different colored ground may generate some bumps, as they absorb heat differently and may cause some updrafts or downdrafts. Think orchard, freshly tilled field, or asphalt.
  • Avoid mechanical turbulence from wind around peaks
  • Slow things down a bit if you encounter turbulence. It won't feel so bad.
  • Avoid wake turbulence, especially if you're flying with another plane. Within a half mile or so, the wake from a little plane can twist another little plane dramatically.
Click to expand...
That's about right.

The bumpiness you are referring to on an otherwise nice day is just low level convective turbulence, otherwise known as lift to sailplane pilots. Glider people use a bunch of tools to perdict when it will start, how strong it will be, how high it will go and when it will start dying.

But none of that is really required to give a smooth ride. In the east and midwest, flying before 10am pretty much guarantees a smooth ride on most nice days. The light is particularly nice for pictures and sightseeing just after sunrise.

If you get a little bumpiness after takeoff at say 11am, climb until it disappears but know that it will keep getting higher until cumulus clouds form at 4 to 9 thousand. After that, you need to get above the clouds for smooth air - and that is not a good way to give a smooth ride.

This may not apply during frontal passages and days with high winds. Flying after 6-7pm on days where there are no buildups or TX storms also works.

Flying on a day with high stratus clouds and no sun will also do it. It just isn't as nice a day for a ride.
 
Does anyone ever seem to even file PIREPS anymore? I know before my last flight I always did, and FSS used to be surprised when I'd do it, like "Wow, really? Awesome, lets see if I can remember how to do this" surprised.
 
A couple weeks ago there was an AIRMET for turbulance below 12,000 MSL in our area. It was right. Check your forecasts.
 
'was planning a flight recently on WingX or Foreflight (can't remember)... when checking winds, there was a little red warning that showed up between certain flight levels. It said something to the effect that turbulence should be expected because of conditions between layers (or something like that). It was right.
 
Check the bases of the first cloud deck. Above that is usually smooth, below that is usually bumpy.
 
It will come (at least locally) with practice.

Go up, solo if you need to, and try it out.

You'll really impress your passengers if you can say "there might be a slight bump over this ridgetop" and then feel a slight bump 15 seconds later.

There aren't always clouds visible, and the haze layer isn't necessarily reliable.

AIRMET TANGO is a red flag, but if you aren't seeing windshear at the airport, it isn't necessarily a no-go. Given that your passengers seem to be really nervous about it, I'd treat it as a no-go under that particular circumstance, though. AIRMET TANGO is far from a certainty, and I've been up in one with the air smooth as glass....
 
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Go over to the edge of the ramp and grab a handful of dead dry grass. Throw it up and if it doesn't come back down within 3 feet of where you are standing, it is too windy (bumpy).
 
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