Vacation to FLA.. is XM weather good enough? or would rather have radar?

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SinkorSwim

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St. Charles MO or WDW Fla
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HFC1969
Thinking of trying a vacation trip FLA from STL.. 600 to 700 miles..

Stop twice probaly to let the kids pee... :yesnod:

But all I have is XM weather.... everyone says that I really should have radar for flying into FLA? :dunno:

Discussion plz.. :idea:
 
When? This time of year? The earlier in the day you depart, the better.
 
Radar is a tool. Nice, but not required. I don't see planes falling out of the Florida sky every summer afternoon, with or without XM or radar on board.

Enjoy your trip!
 
As long as you know and accept XM's limitations, it's plenty fine for Fla. travel.

Each device - XM, Stormscope/Strikefinder, radar, Mark-II eyeballs - has it's positives and it's limitations. XM will show you what's on the other side of that cloud - radar won't & Stormscopes won't. Radar and Storrmscopes are real-time/tactical, XM has inherent delays making it more strategic. XM can give you cloud tops and winds aloft, radar/stormscopes can't.

If you combine XM with pre-flight weather information, it will serve you well. But it's all in the way you use it and the experience you have operating it.
 
I fly Florida regularly; one applies the same rules there as anywhere else - don't fly into convective activity!

Fly early, when the heating has not yet kicked in to create afternoon storms; maintain adequate visual separation from storms.

I find the combination of XM and Strikefinder is very potent. But the Mark I eyeball is still the best tool.
 
SinkorSwim said:
Thinking of trying a vacation trip FLA from STL.. 600 to 700 miles..

Stop twice probaly to let the kids pee... :yesnod:

But all I have is XM weather.... everyone says that I really should have radar for flying into FLA? :dunno:

Discussion plz.. :idea:
Click to expand...


you need to quote "everyone" in the other thread about the dumbest things you have ever heard
 
SinkorSwim said:
But all I have is XM weather.... everyone says that I really should have radar for flying into FLA? :dunno:
Click to expand...
You're kidding, right? People actually say that? How do all those flight school airplanes survive without XM or radar? What did people do 10 years ago without XM? Small airplanes rarely have onboard radar.
 
Everskyward said:
You're kidding, right? People actually say that? How do all those flight school airplanes survive without XM or radar? What did people do 10 years ago without XM? Small airplanes rarely have onboard radar.
Click to expand...
All I can think of that might have prompted such a remark is that it's common for a frontal line of TRW to persist across the northern border of FL and crossing that line when it's active without onboard radar can be quite a challenge. But if you wait long enough the front will move away and even with radar there are days when it's not really penetrable unless you can fly really high (i.e. above 30,000 MSL) so all the radar does is decrease the chances of having to wait more than a day.
 
I live on the East Coast of Florida and I do fine with XM. While it is not real-time, it does show the progression with a time stamp. You see where a cell was 40 minutes ago, then 35, then 28 then... 8 then 2 (numbers all vary of course), so if you pay attention you can see where the weather is going and where you are going. As someone else said, there always seems to be a line of weather around the north-east boarder by Georgia, but you can usually fly around them. And ATC is good about helping if you ask. And once you get out of South Georgia there are so many airports you can always put down and wait a few minutes for the weather to change.
 
I have not ever used either a stormscope OR XM weather, and in the summertime ALL of my flying is around convective activity, for the most part. Wow...pilots are getting soft. ;)

It's pretty easy to see convective activity. Of course, if you're flying in IMC with embedded thunderstorms or on a dark night, that's different, but ATC/Flightwatch can help with that, too, and all you need are those old narco radios.

Also, if your flying at night, and you see cloud to ground lightning in front of you...turn. :)
 
I remain VFR, it's typically easy enough to do. Transitioning N-S at the coastlines is typically preferable for weather avoidance. I don't fly through convective clouds down here, I'd rather be at 100' next to the beach, much safer.
 
You can typically see the big storms from 50 miles away and go around them....Just treat them like an obstacle. In southwest fl it was common for the rain to be inland and hold off the coast in the summer and sometimes reverse...depending on the winds. Very rarely would they keep you from getting anywhere...just sometimes an hour or two delayed.
 
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