The weather has been tough lately or is it me?

Gary Ward

Gary Ward

En-Route
PoA Supporter
Joined
Jan 16, 2020
Messages
2,711
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Display Name
Display name:
Challenger1
The weather has been kind of crappy it seems for weeks now and when we do get a clear day the wind has been gusty making for some bumpy rides up there.
Several times here lately I get up there and am getting tossed around quite a bit and think to myself this ain't worth it. So I go back and land early.
Haven't burned much fuel lately which means not much hours in the logbook. I am going to have tough time keeping my hours up at this rate!

Does this mean I am getting soft or old or wiser or...? lol

My buddy sold his Cherokee and bought a Arrow about a month ago. The Arrow is stuck in Duluth Mn because of the weather there and here. So we haven't flow together much like we have in the past.

We used to fly both our planes together but probably not so much in the future because his plane will be so much faster than mine. The good news is he gave me my own POH for his arrow and I am going to learn to fly it. Looking forward to that!
 
It’s either been tough lately or we’re both getting soft! I concur… let’s hope for a good end of Apol and nice may
 
Winds have been brutal this March early April.. I got 0 hrs for the month of March.

If just going up to tool around with no destination... definitely not worth it; IMO.
Now if you have a destination, lets say lunch or something; now you have to decide is it good enough to get bounced around.. :D

either way, I pick you are getting wise.. :)
 
Winds seem more snarky than previous springs.
 
March was lousy here.
 
When I had a powered parachute, me and the guys who flew with me always complained about the winds in Mar/Apr. Every year we thought it was worse than the previous year. Then one day, we looked at our logbooks. We had about the same amount of flying each year and it always dropped way off in the Spring.

That being said, it's been windy for over a week here in Central Texas... seems much worse than previous years! :D
 
I got out once in March, practice approachs. Very rough, not much fun.
 
yup, Cinci has been windy and cloudy a lot this year. It does seem like more than most years. I also didn't see some of the warm snaps this winter that we have seen the past few years. It's been a tough one.
 
Winter in the upper Midwest was pretty mild this year. We’re making up for it with a rougher than normal spring. Spring is always a tough time of year however.

The weather hasn’t curbed too many flights for me though. Only one ferry flight of a VFR only airplane has been postponed so far.
 
It's been crappy and windy. Have to go high for smooth, 6 to 9k or above most days. 16 gusting 25 seems about average. Another wild day in the middle of the country. Adapt or stay on the ground. Been great weather for jumping in the airplane with an instructor to push your limits if you are not comfortable.
 
Terrible. I'm north of you. We had some nice days mid March but that lasted for maybe a week. Had to cancel so many flights since then. Today, it's been snowing all day, temps in the 20s, visibility like 0.5 mi and 20kG30 winds. There was one VFR day last weekend but that day the wind was terrible at 21kG30 and not exactly down the runway, more like a quartering x-wind. Last year at the same time, I was flying all over the place every single weekend from early March onwards. Hasn't worked out this year so far.
 
I like to stay IFR current with flights in actual, even if its just local stuff. If I don't get up by the end of this month, I'm no longer current, as I haven't been able to fly all winter/spring: icing, high winds, high turbulence.
 
My wife is just about out of IFR currency and she keeps waiting and looking for IFR weather so she can shoot some approaches, but it is almost always VFR. When she has seen IFR weather and headed to the airport it always seems to clear up before she can get there.

LIfe is tough down here in paradise. (But it has been a little windy lately).
 
I planned to fly the other day, get the oil warmed up. Yes it was kinda gusty, a fair bit off runway heading. I saw in the TAFs forecasted to slow down toward evening. I planned my flight around 5 P.M., went fine.

Being the early bird that I am, the 1st hour of daylight works many days. I know it’s obvious, don’t have to always keep it daylight, but the wider gap between SR & SS leaves a fair amount of options.

It’s like when trying to fly an extended cross-country. On any given day you could have adverse weather, but often a few hour of the day are safely flyable.
 
Almost as bad as the weather the past several weeks have been the weather forecasters. They have given some particularly bad predictions lately, at least in the southeast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WDD
I was headed to Henderson NV on this Thursday but wind there was bad today and forecast to be bad Thursday. Too much crosswind for me!

I watched (via Flightradar 24) a Cirrus SR20 out of Burbank CA arrive at KHND this afternoon only to find too much crosswind so he diverted to KLAS. It looked like controllers vectored him through the Bravo where he landed on a runway aligned with the wind. AVgas nearly $10 a gallon there probably because they don't have that much call for it at that busy Bravo airport. And no self-serve...

So Thursday I'm headed to Chandler AZ.
 
Wind is part of life in my part of the world, but it has indeed been worse this year. I'd flown 3 times as much at this point last year.
 
JOhnH said:
My wife is just about out of IFR currency and she keeps waiting and looking for IFR weather so she can shoot some approaches, but it is almost always VFR. When she has seen IFR weather and headed to the airport it always seems to clear up before she can get there.

LIfe is tough down here in paradise. (But it has been a little windy lately).
Click to expand...
Your wife could go into business here. For a flat fee plus all expenses paid, she will head out to your airport when you want go flying VFR
 
What about the "Sun"... Had more sunny days in the last 2 weeks than the last 2 months...:rolleyes: Can't shake the shadow that has been following me...:)
Wind on the other hand has been brutal. Lots of days gusting 30 to 40 mph..:(
 
wyoming_wind_sock.webp
a572mike said:
Wind is part of life in my part of the world, but it has indeed been worse this year. I'd flown 3 times as much at this point last year.
Click to expand...
wyoming_wind_sock.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top