Windshear and light GA

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

Winter time in Anchorage is JUST around the corner! Extra fun when you’re heavy and the low speed cues and overspeed tapes are really close together.

 

[A300Capt]

Wow...coffin corner, much?

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Y tho

 

[A300Capt]

I offered to take a Cherokee up to our MX base for an oil change today. Winds kicked up quite a bit even while I was doing my pre flight - gusting to 17kts with a 30-degree crosswind component. Within my safety margin. But when I started to taxi, an aircraft on final gave a windshear advisory of 20 kts. Tower reported that they had been getting windshear advisories the last hour.

With only five hours under my belt after 10 years away (230 TT) this pushed my safety margin a bit too far - I parked her and packed her up. Not second guessing my decision, but figured it was worth the question - is low level windshear of that strength enough of a threat to cancel a departure?

You made the right choice. If you’re not comfortable then it’s not worth going and it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Listening to that little voice in the back of my head has kept me out of more trouble than my ego has tried to get me in to.

 

[moxiepilot]

Winter time in Anchorage is JUST around the corner! Extra fun when you’re heavy and the low speed cues and overspeed tapes are really close together.

W/S 6000-1200 +/-25 with moderate occ severe turbulence from NEELL to the FAF. Yeah, that sucked last week. And my landing? No better

 

[Screaming_Emu]

W/S 6000-1200 +/-25 with moderate occ severe turbulence from NEELL to the FAF. Yeah, that sucked last week. And my landing? No better

Last year about this time I was going from ICN-ANC and we got 90 minutes of unforecast severe off the coast of Japan. I'll have to see if I can find the time laps I took of the wing bouncing around. About the next month after that, any little bump gave me the willies.

 

[BlueMoon]

Good call. Reminds me of my first GA flight with an instructor after 12 years away from GA.

Winds were about 60 degrees off the runway at about 14-18 knots

CFI: “you ready to do some cross wind landings”

Me: “Sure, but to be honest, if it was just me flying, I would have cancelled.”

CFI: “whys that?”

Me: “This is too much like work, flying in this isn’t fun to me and I don’t need to fly that badly. This is good practice with an instructor, but I don’t need to fly in this, if this was for fun.”

 

[NovemberEcho]

Last year about this time I was going from ICN-ANC and we got 90 minutes of unforecast severe off the coast of Japan. I'll have to see if I can find the time laps I took of the wing bouncing around. About the next month after that, any little bump gave me the willies.

couple years ago, heavy and severe turbulence reported all over the area.

JetBlue: uh approach, we’re gonna slow down. All the passengers are screaming

 

[gotWXdagain]

Last year about this time I was going from ICN-ANC and we got 90 minutes of unforecast severe off the coast of Japan. I'll have to see if I can find the time laps I took of the wing bouncing around. About the next month after that, any little bump gave me the willies.

Coming into the Denver GA airports from the north can be an adventure, they descend you early and you get to coast along the front range ridgeline altitude for 50 miles. That happened to me once as an early springtime system was on it’s way in. Not 30 seconds after I told everyone to strap in, the cabin went weightless and my shoulder straps kept me from hitting the ceiling. Every bump after that becomes it’s own mini panic attack.

 

[Space Monkey]

I offered to take a Cherokee up to our MX base for an oil change today. Winds kicked up quite a bit even while I was doing my pre flight - gusting to 17kts with a 30-degree crosswind component. Within my safety margin. But when I started to taxi, an aircraft on final gave a windshear advisory of 20 kts. Tower reported that they had been getting windshear advisories the last hour.

With only five hours under my belt after 10 years away (230 TT) this pushed my safety margin a bit too far - I parked her and packed her up. Not second guessing my decision, but figured it was worth the question - is low level windshear of that strength enough of a threat to cancel a departure?

Generally, it's probably wise never to try to launch when the gust factor is in excess of Vso for the airframe in question.

More seriously, if you personally feel uncomfortable enough that your are seriously questioning taking off, that's a good indication you should not take off. In aviation and most other endeavors, if the answer is not definitively YES, then the answer is NO. You made the right decision.