It was too hot to fly!

Tomahawk674

Tomahawk674

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
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270
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St. Joseph, Missouri
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Display name:
Tomahawk674
Hello everyone, just came back from beating around the pattern.

The forecast said a high of 93, which didn't seem all that bad. But it was that bad, it was too hot, even when taxing with the doors open I was sweating. Up in the air it wasn't that bad, but taxing was compareable to an inferno, I had sweat getting into my eyes by the time I got off. I will never fly when it's that hot out again!


My landings were decent (in my own scale). What I didn't like was that it was very, very hazy. I couldn't tell from the ground but up there it was very noticeable, and I didn't like it. I'd like to avoide those conditions in the future.

Is there any thumb rule for knowing when it will get hazy? the day was hot and humid, does it have to do anything with that? The local forecast only says, sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy, so not such a big help, and I don't know if I want to call FSS just to ask them that.

Thanks in advance,

Javier
 
The secret is cross ventilation if possible. A door and a window open makes a huge difference (but its still hot).

I do it, just because I know that when I get up to about 9500ft it cools down nicely.
 
Tomahawk674 said:
Is there any thumb rule for knowing when it will get hazy? the day was hot and humid, does it have to do anything with that? The local forecast only says, sunny, partly cloudy, or cloudy, so not such a big help, and I don't know if I want to call FSS just to ask them that.
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You should call FSS before every flight. I'm not an overly cautious or paranoid pilot but it's a *very* good idea to do so. It's the only way you will be protected if a TFR happens to pop up in your area. I also make sure I get "No TFR's" out of the briefers mouth.

Does your airport have an AWOS/ASOS that you can listen to the weather on before you takeoff? It will say the visiblity.

Often new pilots are used to have almost unlimited visiblities and the first time they fly with even 10 miles it is a shocker. 3 miles will really get your attention. I'm comfortable down to about 3 to 4 miles now, anything less and I shouldn't be in the air as a VFR pilot.
 
jangell said:
You should call FSS before every flight. I'm not an overly cautious or paranoid pilot but it's a *very* good idea to do so. It's the only way you will be protected if a TFR happens to pop up in your area. I also make sure I get "No TFR's" out of the briefers mouth.

Does your airport have an AWOS/ASOS that you can listen to the weather on before you takeoff? It will say the visiblity.

Often new pilots are used to have almost unlimited visiblities and the first time they fly with even 10 miles it is a shocker. 3 miles will really get your attention. I'm comfortable down to about 3 to 4 miles now, anything less and I shouldn't be in the air as a VFR pilot.
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You are more comfortable than I am. Anything less than 5 makes me a bit nervous still. Gastons was the edge of my limits, and I certainly wouldn't do that every day.

This man speaks the truth tho - TFRs are alone, a good reason to call FSS, but I've found their visibility reports are usually way off, as are ASOS and AWOS. The best way to know? High heat, high moisture content, and your eyeball will all tell ya.
 
We do have ATIS at STJ. Can't say I remember what the visibility was, guess I wasn't paying attention to that since we were just doing patterns... :(
 
LOL...that sounds like a typical day here in Georgia.

High heat, bumpy thermals, 5-6SM visibility, and did I mention HOT?
 
ASK for those PIREPS when you call fss. When we are flying if we have time take a minute or two and give a PIREP, it may help the next guy make a sound decision.

Mark B
 
SkyHog said:
You are more comfortable than I am. Anything less than 5 makes me a bit nervous still.
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I'm with you, Nick. I've flown in 3-4, but I don't like it. My biggest concern, so long as I have a horizon, is that I won't see an oncoming a/c.
 
Just slide the canopy back and have total ventilation. Now worries! Oh, yeah, it wasn't a Tiger......nevermind. :D
 
nope, no canopy, but we taxied with doors open, the first few times round the pattern I had the port vent or whatever open, but I had to close it since it was hard to talk over the radio. Taxiing back, again doors open, but all I felt was the prop blowing hot air at me, like a blowdrier.

Wasn't even that hot, 93, but humid as heck.
 
SkyHog said:
You are more comfortable than I am. Anything less than 5 makes me a bit nervous still. Gastons was the edge of my limits, and I certainly wouldn't do that every day.
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It gets below 50 miles and we get claustrophobic around here. :D 200 miles isn't uncommon.
 
Ghery said:
It gets below 50 miles and we get claustrophobic around here. :D 200 miles isn't uncommon.
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It is not uncommon for us to see that far either in the dead of summer. There are times when I'll take off, headed for a far away place, and I can see the mountains near the destination clear as day.
 
Ghery said:
It gets below 50 miles and we get claustrophobic around here. :D 200 miles isn't uncommon.
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From Lovell Field, Lookout Moutain is 5nm away, most summer days, you can't really make it out. Oh well.
 
tdager said:
LOL...that sounds like a typical day here in Georgia.

High heat, bumpy thermals, 5-6SM visibility, and did I mention HOT?
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Same here Tom. If I can see more than a few miles this time of year it's only because a cool front moved through and lowered the temp to the low 90's. Don't even get me started on the thermals with all the hills and water in middle Tennessee.
 
Man, the heat has been unbearable this summer down here in Georgia. Dadgum air conditioning doesn't work below 7,000 feet!
 
StJ Awos 816 233 0666 I call it all the time.

Sure has been hot. I work out side in this crap I sure the heck avoid flying in the pattern on these Hot and Humid days. Most of my pattern work is done at day break or late evening. It can still be a real Killer.

I guess I am getting old, this heat is kicking my A$$. Its raining now so I am not working but been getting up at 3am and get in any where between 7pm and 9 pm. Self employed is the way to GO ?????

Jon
 
LOL...a friend of mine with years of experience said the same thing. "I am getting old, I just do not want to fly when it is this dang hot".

You can tell when the weather is good because the fly-in community behind me gets busy, but during the heat of the day on Saturday....nary a plane in the sky!
 
Flew from RVN to I74 yesterday. Visability at 8500 was great, not so great at 4500 oh well. By the way I74 has a nice little restaurant on the field an operational B25 parked out in front and a B17 resto project going on. I understand the B25 may fly on weekends.
Ron
 
write-stuff said:
Man, the heat has been unbearable this summer down here in Georgia. Dadgum air conditioning doesn't work below 7,000 feet!
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No kidding.

Reminds me of when I was working on my private. One of the flight school's instructors was British, and the day we went up had to have easily been the hottest day of the year. In a 152. To this day I can still remember him saying "I can't understand how you people can live here!" :rofl:

-Rich
 
As a current Georgian, I have to agree with the others...3-5sm is a standard summer day...don't care for it much though...lots of traffic, which is hard to spot. Most of my initial flying was done in upstate NY, and most of that was during the winter, which made for nice unlimited visibilities - as long as it wasn't snowing.

I'm moving to DEN next spring, and can't wait to do some flying in the dry air...and of course taking a mountain flying course.
 
just call up FSS..its the easiest and most conveneint way to get the most accurate weather for your specific area...its there for your conveneince so use it

if you dont feel like bothering an actual person for aosmething so simple then listen to the recorded weather breifings..i know in my area all of the FSS i call are automated and sometime sthey have a few common routes of flight previously recorded..

Ant
 
It has been extremely hot around here too!

Depending on which way I am landing I will usually land long or use a short field technique when it gets this hot.

Taxiing kills me, especially with just the one little window in the Cherokee.

It is cooling off a little bit now though, which is great news for me.

Best,
 
Rudy said:
Taxiing kills me, especially with just the one little window in the Cherokee.
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Cherokee = Indian word for "small airplane that taxis with door open" :D
 
Bill Jennings said:
Cherokee = Indian word for "small airplane that taxis with door open" :D
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Ahhh, I've seen more than one Cirrus taxi around in the same manner. Guess it's part-Indian, too. :)


-Rich
 
Yep, finally seems to be cooling off a little. I guess with global warming, this is how its going to be from now on. (Rich, I pm'ed you.) - Russ
 
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