Handling the bumps

[fastfred]

Fall flying can get windy and rough. How do you guys deal with flying on the bumping turbulent days? Speed up, slow down , let the plane go on its own or stay at the hanger?

[Dusty]

Slow down and keep heavy,full tanks is best.
But if you can, wait to a better day:)

[Dorsal]

Flying early in the morning tends to be smoother. I don't mind some bumps but when I have to brace myself by holding on to the upper cabin frame its just not fun anymore, time to land.

[jiott]

Yes, morning or late afternoon is better. Heavy is also better, but really doesn't help that much. It also seems like a tailwind is worse. My very best solution is to climb up in altitude. Here in the Willamette Valley it can be very bumpy until you get up to about 3500' and then it usually miraculously smooths out, assuming a clear day. If its broken cloudy just get above the clouds.

[efwd]

Damn Dorsal, sounds like you have some experience. By the way you describe it I am certain I wouldn't like it either.:eek:

[Flybyjim]

I understand the bumps on some days. What I find is that the more I fly the less they bother me unless it gets really bad, like out of your seat bad. This year the weather in Pa has not been friendly for flying, at least when I was able to fly. Rain, rain, fog on my days off work so I only have about 35 hours logged since 1/1/18. So, the bumps do bother me a bit when I have not been in the air for a while. I agree mornings and evenings are more rewarding.

[Guy Buchanan]

Welcome to low wing loading. That's a fact of our life. What you can do:


Wear Clarity Aloft or similar headsets so there's more headroom. Make sure your ball-cap doesn't have a button on top.
Put insulation on any bars your head can hit. Don't use the neoprene, look for the more rigid foam stuff. It lasts a long time and stays nice looking.
When flying try to let the plane do what it wants as much as possible. That's to say, you don't want to add your own turbulence caused by control inputs. After a while, you get good at responding to turbulence as it happens. I used to roll in aileron as the wing lifted, sorta just keeping the stick vertical and letting the plane roll into it. As the gust passed and the aileron took hold and rolled the plane out I just kept it vertical until the plane was horizontal and there was no more aileron input.
I finally learned that it was best just to ignore changes in altitude, assuming you were high enough, because doing so always put me out of phase with what the air was doing so I was constantly climbing and descending. In the old days, with the 582, that was a major pain. Now I just let the plane go up and down, sometimes +/- 500', but try to average my altitude. If you're talking to ATC, tell them your problem and ask for a block altitude.

[fastfred]

Sounds like I have the right ideas but If my head is banging on the roof I will be heading for the hanger.
I don't mind some bumps but tipping it up 30 or 40 degrees really bugs me. No one has mentioned climbing out does that help?
The next question in these conditions how do you stabilize your approach?
Thanks for the input.

[efwd]

Here is one way to stabilize an approach.;)

Youtube this. "Cessna 150 vs CYOS Crosswinds"

[fastfred]

Here is another one .
Flying Wild Kansas - STOL Kansas crosswind landing Kitfox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aksjtipK3sM)

YouTube
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aksjtipK3sM) ·
(https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Flying Wild Kansas&qft=+filterui:userpage-uc1vpjhggvrb55jajcrygazg&FORM=VQCHNL)

[Shadowrider]

Here is one way to stabilize an approach.;)

Youtube this. "Cessna 150 vs CYOS Crosswinds"


As others have said, sometimes you make it worse by over controlling it. Ride the bumps, don't fight it.

[Guy Buchanan]

I’ve seen at least one Kitfoxer pop their skylight with their head.

Takeoff is more of the same. For landing I go into “dithering” mode, where my hand never stops moving, (feet too, near the ground.) I get much quicker correction than if I wait for something to happen.

[fastfred]

When you say ride it out you mean trim out and let go of the stick?

[aviator79]

Don't let go of the stick. Just accept altitude deviations (within limits). When you get in an updraft, don't shove the nose over, and when you hit the downdraft on the other side, don't yank the stick back and add power. Just ride the currents up and down.

Another thing to keep in mind is that as a pilot, you probably acclimate to turbulence to some extent. Your passengers, not so much. So keep their comfort in mind too. Even if you're having a good time riding a bucking bronco, if you plan to have the wife or girlfriend (can't have both in the Kitfox) on board, reduce your go/no-go threshold for winds/turbulence.

[fastfred]

That is for the updrafts what about the side drafts that rock the wings?

[Dorsal]

One tip is if you climb above the first layer of clouds or "bump layer" things often smooth out. This should be roughly (temp-dewpoint)*250' or the altitude where temp and dew point cross. This is a bit hand-wavy but I find works as a rule of thumb for mid afternoon convective turbulence.
Temp in degrees f.

[Slyfox]

yup fly in the morning, most the time it's better. slow down, yup that works also. put max fuel in, yup that works as well. I know for a fact that when I shortened my wings to speedster that helped a bunch. I can fly with another kitfox long wing and he will be complaining of the turbulence and I'm just fine and I'm flying right next to him. my final fix for turbulence, ha, fly the RV.

[THRC12]

Ride Em Cowboy! I flew so many hours in a Rans S4 with a 503 that I really like flying the Kitfox in just about any conditions! As long as the turbulence doesn't flip me over!!

[fastfred]

Can it really flip it over? It sometimes feels like it but I didn't think could happen?

[THRC12]

It would have to be extremely bad and turbulent. I've never had it that bad.

[THRC12]

On that note though, I'm going to suggest spin training and upset recovery. Best money you can spend. Big confidence builder no matter what you fly.

[fastfred]

I would be headed for the runway if it even got close to that bad. No one mentioned is it best run into the wind or with wind direction? I know cross wind seems to be the worst direction to run.

[fastfred]

I did it many years ago in a 172
Power off - rudder opposite the spin and pull the nose up to level off?

My plane says no spins allowed ?

[THRC12]

I don't guess you really run away from turbulence. I just don't much worry about it these days.

[Shadowrider]

It would have to be extremely bad and turbulent. I've never had it that bad.
Fly into a wake and you will be upside down before you know it. :eek:

[fastfred]

[What the hell is wake in sky? Instructors never mentioned wakes

[THRC12]

I've been in wakes plenty of times. Luckily just not a tsunami wake!!!! Wakes are wake turbulence from another aircraft. They are worst when the other aircraft is slow and heavy creating a lot of lift. I left the pattern couple of weeks ago to let a king air land and let the wake clear. He was on a straight in approach but I was first in the pattern and was nice enough not to make him go around the pattern to land with his 30 gals an hour fuel burn! He was very appreciative when I spoke to him on the ground at the airport the next day.

[Dorsal]

Cool visual of wake turbulence, encountering that on final can ruin your whole day :eek:

https://mashable.com/2015/10/06/video-boeing-777-clouds-wake/#aSFGzbVznGqD

[THRC12]

Now that would be the tsunami I was speaking of!!! 😁

[Norm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlv16ETueU

Antonov wake

[fastfred]

Oh Yeah. I wasn't thinking of wake turbulence from other air craft as was talking of wind and thermals in fall flying.

[Shadowrider]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlv16ETueU

Antonov wake

Great video! If you fly into another wake, and this can be same make and model as you fly, and timed right it can put you upside down and into the ground. Don’t be fooled that the aircraft in front of you is smaller than you so are not comcered about their wake. Wait, give yourself space, and climb above their wake, or when landing land beyond. When you are close to the ground you don’t have altitude to correct. When I first got my license a friend and I went up in 172’s to experiment. Went to a safe altitude and flew formation and I had him climb and I flew into his wake. Gave me a healthy respect of wake turbulence that has helped keep me safe.

[Dorsal]

Norm, I like your video better :)

[Norm]

Norm, I like your video better :)

That's cool I like yours better.