Safety Down Day

1. Safety Down Day Practical Aviation Weather DEWG CAP October 16th, 2010

2. Practical Aviation Weather The Weather…… • Why We Review • When We Review • Weather Information Services • Visual Weather • Microbursts and Thunderstorms • Radar Services • Icing

3. Practical Aviation Weather Why Review the Weather….. • Required preflight action – FAR 91.103 • Significant factor in CAP mission success (VFR operations) • Could be hazardous • Stained undergarments • Damaged Aircraft • Loss of life • Just the right thing to do to insure safety of flight

4. Practical Aviation Weather When Do We Review Weather? • The day(s) before • As part of preflight planning • Before take-off • Enroute • Before Landing Continuously What’s the Big Picture

5. Practical Aviation Weather Weather Information Services

6. Practical Aviation Weather Weather Information Resources? By Phone • Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) nationwide 1-800-WX-BRIEF (922-7433). • CSC DUATS Dial-up: 1-800-767-9989 • DTC DUATS Dial-up: 1-800-245-3828 (maintains a record which fulfills preflight requirement of acquiring weather and airport information.) By WEB • Aviationweather.gov • Intellicast, Unisys, NOAA, Aviation Digital Data Service, Weather Channel Enroute • EFAS (Enroute Flight Advisory Service) 122.0 MHz • Available via Remote Communications Outlets (RCO) for regional coverage

7. Practical Aviation Weather Information Needed by Briefer 1. Aircraft registration number or pilot’s name 2. Aircraft type 3. Type of flight planned (VFR or IFR) 4. Departure airport 5. Route of flight 6. Destination 7. Flight altitudes 8. ETD, ETE, and ETA

8. Practical Aviation Weather Visual Weather Many types of weather phenomena can be determined visually • cloud types and their affect on flight conditions • thunderstorms and clouds with extensive vertical development • microbursts and wind shear, in some cases Moderate or greater turbulence, Temperature/dewpoint spread between 30° and 50° Fahrenheit Virga, Rain showers, Heavy precipitation, Blowing dust or rings of dust

9. Practical Aviation Weather IF………Microbursts or Wind Shear Immediately execute the recommended recovery procedure or a go-around if deviations from normal configurations occur in excess of the following: Takeoff/Approach • ± 15 knots indicated airspeed • ± 500 f.p.m. vertical speed • ± 5 degree pitch attitude Approach • ± 1 dot glideslope displacement • Unusual throttle position for a significant period of time

10. Practical Aviation Weather Microbursts and Wind Shear Ref – Pilot Windshear Guide (AC 00-54)

11. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Thunderstorm Accidents According to the 2005 Nall Report, within the category of GA, pilot-related accidents, “Nearly 25 percent of fatal weather-related accidents were due to encounters with thunderstorms. • Radio communication can be lost due to 'precipitation' static; it will work again after exiting the storm. • Turbulence will be so severe that the pilot very likely will not be able to read the flight instruments. • The aircraft might sustain structural damage. • Most importantly, the pilot might lose control of the aircraft. All thunderstorms are dangerous!

12. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Thunderstorm Accidents Never intentionally fly into a thunderstorm. The following options always exist: • Divert and land • Navigate around the thunderstorm • Reverse course (180-degree turn)

13. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Thunderstorm Accidents • Do not attempt to climb above a thunderstorm. Aircraft generally cannot climb to the necessary altitudes. • Do not land or take off in the face of an approaching thunderstorm. A sudden gust front of low-level turbulence could cause loss of control. • Do not fly without airborne radar into a cloud mass containing scattered, embedded thunderstorms. • Avoid all thunderstorms by at least 20 miles (on the upwind side). • Circumnavigate the entire area if a thunderstorm covers 60% of the scope.

14. Practical Aviation Weather Radar Services

15. Practical Aviation Weather Radar Services and Diversion • Whose responsibility it is to divert aircraft around severe weather conditions, and be sure they know the answer: • ATC's primary responsibility is to separate IFR traffic. • Weather avoidance services are not guaranteed; ATC provides them only if their workload permits. • Pilots must request weather avoidance services from each controller on the route. • Be aware that “direct to when able” clearances from ATC mean that the controller is assuming that you are avoiding storms on your own. The Pilot!

16. Practical Aviation Weather Radar Services and Diversion, cont’d • The key limitation of ATC radar is its line-of-sight • Any mountains between your aircraft and ATC radar prevent ATC from detecting the weather at your location. • Radar sites located on mountaintops, which can be over 8,000 MSL, can 'overshoot' precipitation located in valleys or on the far side of intervening mountains. • Approach control radar (ASR) shows light, moderate, heavy, and extreme precipitation in real-time. • Reroute radar (ARTCC) includes Weather and Radar Processor (WARP) radar, which integrates NEXRAD weather with center radar. • Shows moderate, heavy, and extreme precipitation. • Is not real-time; it is updated every 11 minutes during fair weather and every 6 minutes during precipitation.

17. Practical Aviation Weather Icing

18. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents Prime Directive……… Do not fly into known icing conditions unless your aircraft is certified for known icing operations ……even then…..

19. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents How dangerous is icing? • It always degrades performance, but it often leads to catastrophic, unrecoverableloss of control. • No aircraft is immune. • Certification for flight in “known icing” provides little defense against severe icing. In fact, the definition of severe icing is that it overwhelms ice protection systems. • Ice protection systems on most GA aircraft will not save you; they just buy you a little time to get out of icing conditions. Extremely Dangerous!

20. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • Pilots must avoid icing conditions, but if they cannot, they must get out quickly! • Unfortunately, no onboard systems can definitively pinpoint icing conditions. • Pilots must maintain situational awareness and plan a way out of icing conditions.

21. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents Rime ice is an opaque (milky looking) ice with a rough, porous texture. • Forms when water droplets freeze immediately upon impact with the Airframe (most likely below –15 degrees Celsius). • Is more likely to form where anti-icing or deicing equipment is located. • Seriously affects wing aerodynamics.

22. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents Clear ice is a transparent or translucent ice with a smooth texture, which may contain streaks or bumps of hard ice. • Forms when water droplets freeze slowly on the airframe (most likely between 0 and –5 degrees Celsius). • Can spread beyond the location of anti-icing or deicing equipment. • Is very hard and heavy. • Adheres strongly to the airframe. • Has more serious effects on aerodynamics than rime ice.

23. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents Mixed ice is a combination of rime and clear ice that forms between –5 and –15 degrees Celsius.

24. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • The effects of all types of ice, even on aircraft certified to be “ice protected,” can include: • Decreased performance • Increased drag • Reduced lift • Increased fuel consumption • Catastrophic, unrecoverable loss of control: • Tail stall (a condition that pilots are not trained to • recognize or recover from) • Loss of roll control due to ice formation on • thinner, outer portions of wing

25. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • Decline an ATC clearance that puts or keeps you in icing conditions. • Climb quickly through areas conducive to icing. To do so: • Do not accept intermediate altitudes. • Delay climbing if you are able. • Accept an “inconvenient” heading to get to a safe altitude. • Descend quickly through areas conducive to icing. To do so: • Prepare for a faster descent. • Delay descent on an approach as necessary.

26. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • Pilots have five options for getting out of icing conditions: • Climb: To get above clouds, To get reserve altitude, To get to colder conditions above where icing is not a problem (below –20 degrees Celsius) • Descend: To get to warmer conditions (above 2 degrees Celsius), keeping in mind that this is not an option if you are already at MEA. • Continue: If conditions ahead are better than conditions behind. • Divert: If icing conditions are likely on approach to destination. • Return: The moment you notice conditions are worse than expected.

27. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • If you can’t maintain altitude, descend under control. Do not stall! • Hand-fly the airplane in icing conditions. Autopilot could mask an impending upset. • Remember that the stall warning system can be unreliable. It can freeze, and your wing can stall at lower angles of attack. • Be alert for tail stall. The tail has a smaller leading edge, so ice is probably already accreting on it if you see ice on a wing. • Note that: Extending flaps aggravates tail stall. • Adding power aggravates tail stall. • Train to Recognize and Recover from tail stalls.

28. Practical Aviation Weather Avoiding Icing Accidents • Symptoms of an Impending Tail Stall • Lightening control loads • Difficulty trimming. • Pilot-induced (pitch) oscillations. • Buffets in yoke, not airframe (The yoke pulls forward, sometimes smashing to the stop and can’t be pulled back; forces of more than 100 lbs. can occur.) • Very sudden pitch-down, which can be unrecoverable on approach. • Recovery is Opposite of Wings Stall • Pull the Power • Pull the Yoke • Reduce the Flaps

29. Practical Aviation Weather The Weather…… • Why We Review • When We Review • Weather Information Services • Visual Weather • Micro bursts and Thunderstorms • Radar Services • Icing

30. Practical Aviation Weather Comments? Q & A Thanks…..Capt Dan