Turbulance & the art of flying in bumpy air

[Pinstriper]

Lots of great tips here and worth resurrecting this old thread if you ask me.. I'm sure some new pilots or students might like these tips as well.

 

[Henning]

Lots of great tips here and worth resurrecting this old thread if you ask me.. I'm sure some new pilots or students might like these tips as well.

The reality is you don't need to be comfortable in turbulence, you just need to fly the airplane and understand that Va reduces with reductions in gross weight.

 

[Captain]

Only if you're flying a jet -- very, very few CBS are less than 30k in the Northeast, and most are far bigger in the midwest.

The best way to deal with cumulonimbus is avoidance.

'very few' are less than 30K in the sense that most are less than 30K. Look a a radar plot and you'll see that most are small will a few peaks topping out above 30K. However, 100% of the ones above 30K get my attention.

How come nobodys suggested climbing or descending as a means to deal with turbulence. That's my first instinct. Ask ATC if there's a better ride somewhere. They have a wealth of knowledge of what rides are at various altitudes.

 

[JHW]

People always say "don't fight it" and they are right, but I think in most cases they fail convey what that really means. In plain language, don't try to maintain altitude if you are VFR. Let the airplane ride up and down as it wants to. You may find this is a more comfortable way to fly VFR all the time. Once you let go of the "constant altitude equals flying with precision" idea, you can also give little nudges speed up/slow down to minimize effect of downdrafts and take advantage of lift.