Tips on flying in turbulance

[Morph]

I went to http://www.weathersa.co.za and selected the aviation selection and then the Aerosport section. Once you select your area you can see the amongst other things, thermal activity. Very interesting :D

[mtc]

I guess a 3-axis and a trike need different response. In three axis I found i had to use more control input in turbulence (aerolon and rudder() than in a trike. With the trike, I just let it rock and roll, fold my elbows over the bar, and ease it back when it turns. The big knocks I also ease back rather than fight.....
but better not be up there in the first place.
I saw some very true comments in another topic at
http://microlighters.co.za/viewtopic.php?p=3016#3016

especially...

Gert, severe turbulance is ...
when you hear the spreader bar crack down on the keel...
when only your seatbelt keeps you in your seat...
when the bar rams you in the chest so hard it hurts...
when one wing pitches up so fast the trapeze bar cracks into the side of your face...
when you are suddenly heading 180 degress away from the heading you were on....
when it is almost impossible to stop the compass swinging....
when you would rather be on the ground wishing you were flying

[Fairy Flycatcher]

Thanks FF

Lastly, was it it you and your Skygod offering the advanced flying course? If so, Where do I find out costs/time needed etc.?

Sorry again RH, only answered half your question.

We are working on a syllabus for a "Trike Master" rating - should be ready mid-October, but we do advanced courses on a one-on-one basis at any time. The cost and time is going to depend on you, what you know, how much you can learn from us and what kind of flying you want to be doing. You can email me on comefly at mweb dot co dot za any time for more info on this, or just send me a PM and I will reply with the rates etc.

[Redeye]

One thing that is importnt in turbulance is to reduce speed- G loading goes up dramatically with increased speed-
The other thing I noticed when flying trikes is there is a huge diference in the the way difent trikes handle turb.

For me the Blade was by far the best- I would be flying along fine with one hand on the bar while my mates in other trikesc were being bounced all over the sky.When I was instructing on other makes I found some were a lot better than others-- Teast drive a trike you want to buy in the midle of the day you will soon see what i mean

[cornell]

I really don't think that an aircraft or microlight will break up in mid air with some turbulance. They did a test once in a C150 Aerobat with a G meter and flew the poor thing in heavy turbulance. The highest reading on the G meter was 1.5G. Also remember that when you hit turbulance its a suprise every time and you don't expect it. When you fly in turbulance and you see you wings flapping up and down be happy that they are doing that they are designed to do that and take the turbulance better. Also check your turbulant air enter speed in you POH and stick to that, that is only for really bad turbulance so don't worry about that when you hit a few bumps. I always say if i must go somewhere and the wind is blowing and there is turbulance i will go but if it is for a flight around the block to burn fuel for fun i wil just stay on the ground because why fly if you are not going to enjoy it. When you hit really bad turbulance don't fight with the aircraft.

[ZU-ANE]

I agree with some of the above postings about the bar being moved around and so on, my question is what to do with the power. My natural reaction is to come of the power a bit to stop the ossilation, but is it the right thing to do? My other question is if there is a difference between flying in hot air terbulance and terbulance created by wind or do you use the same strategy?

[cornell]

Zu-ANE I don't fly microlights so the best person to ask is FF but from my personal point of view if you enter tubulance and its real bad then you have to come of the power to bleed the speed down to max turbulant penatration speed look it up in you POH. Also Turbulance is Turbulance how would you know if its hot air turbulance or wind turbulance when you flying

[ZU-ANE]

I find that thermic terbulance tends to be much worse than wind terbulance(much more bucking and bouncing(up and down) where as wind terbulance i find to be more of rocking and pulling action.(don't now how to describe it in English realy)but then again I have limited experience. I will be awaiting FF comments thanx

[ZU-ANE]

Where is FF????? Sunday afternoon nap maybe?

[Fairy Flycatcher]

Where is FF????? Sunday afternoon nap maybe?

Nope just landed from a flight dealing with some thermic turbulence

I agree with you that in a trike thermic turbulence can be more difficult to deal with than mild wind turbulence. You have columns of air rising at say 5m/sec, which is 18km/h or downdrafts at about the same speeds. Considering what speeds you fly at, this can have quite an impact on you, and big sky country is not where you should be with your trike. You can get wing-ups, nose-ups, nose-downs, and all sorts of nasty shears as well. You must not come off the power when your nose is suddenly picked up in a thermal, and as this decreases your forward momentum, and you can actually exaggerate a stall.

Mild thermic turbulence should not be a problem though.

As your climb is a secondary function of your thrust (the first being acceleration), you are bound to want to put power, come off power etc. My advice is to keep your power as steady as possible, using primary bar movement so keep your nose attitude as neutral as possible, and go with the up and down waves.

You have to add some power though if the thermic turbulence puts you near a stall, but overall this can be tricky. Flying is severe thermic turbulence, you will have to play with the power quite a bit.

In windy conditions, bear in mind that with the average trike you are flying at only 45 mph, your stall speed is about 33mph and if you pull the bar in really hard you get about 60mph, so when you deal with gusty wind, a gust factor of anything over 10 knots can get really ugly.

Mild windy turbulence, including light wind shear, is often easier to deal with, as it is reasonably predictable and avoidable.

Dealing with rotor turbulence caused by waves or mountains can be very dangerous and must be avoided.

Are you battling with turbulence in the air or coming in for landing? You have to have very different techniques for the two.

Coming in for landing, you have to use your power to assist you with small attitude and altitude adjustments using short bursts of power. Trying to land in turbulence without the assistance of an engine makes it very difficult, and should only be done in an emergency (engine failure) Landing in turbulence, do about a 20 degree powered approach ath the correct speed, and be quick with "punching " bar movement. Many people hold a wing correction too long, and either cause oscillations or turns to the other side, or if it was a pitch correction, climb or descend.

Come spend some time at La Mercy or another airfield where experienced pilots fly in turbulence, and listen to their engine management coming in for landing.

My natural reaction is to come of the power a bit to stop the oscillation, but is it the right thing to do?

Although power's first causes some acceleration, your power is only really used for altitude changes. If you are experiencing oscillations, you are probably flying too fast (bar too far in). Coming off the power will have the immediate effect of reducing your forward momentum, so it might seem that it helps with oscillations, but the truth is that it is your speed which is incorrect (probably - havn't seen you fly) This is a common error flying in turbulence, and can make turbulence much worse to deal with. Your trike manual should tell you what speed is best to fly turbulence in, it is usually about 5 mph over best rate of climb. (about 50-55 mph in my Aerotrike). This allows you attitude adjustments both nose up and nose down in turbulence.

I think you could probably write many books on this, but best is to go to a school where the guys do fly in turbulence and get some direct training, or pick up some useful information in hangar talking. You learn best from examples as well, so there will be a bit to learn from everyone's response.

This is a bit long winded, and if I did not answer properly, ask again and send me a couple of

[ZU-ANE]

Thank you very much.

[ZU-ANE]

Hey demon, if you decide to come fly next weekend when you are on holliday whith the missus, you will experience them first hand(Komatipoort style) (there is only a barbed wire fence between this place and hell in summer )

[ZU-ANE]

It's oK, will come visit you guys when I take my wing to jenya for a redo. See you then. Hey where is Rietfontein by the way??

[skybound®]

I really don't think that an aircraft or microlight will break up in mid air with some turbulance.

I beg to differ. It of course depends on the turbulance.

There was a fatality many years ago, where a pilot flying in the Magalies area had a complete strutural failure of the wing. The conclusion of the report was that he entered on the leeward side of a mountain into rotor and the wing broke.

Leeward sides of mountains even in a moderate wind I fear as much as I do a thunderstorm.

[Trytofly]

Great topic to discuss. Flying in turbulant conditions is one thing. What about the bussiness end of flying .... LANDING I am based at a private airstrip sharing the hanger and strip with a brand new Piper X6. The landing strip is not true into the wind (in Zululand you need about 05/23). This one is about 03/21. I was not phased flying in wind until I got caught oneday (with a pax) trying to land in this half crosswind, it took 3 attempts to land. I was affraid coming in skew that we were going to roll or something. Since then it has become a mental thing, a BIG THING .