Sunshine State? Bah!
Another day, another damn cloud in my way. Most flights were canceled due to low cloudbase, especially in the morning with an overcast in 400′ and 2SM visibility. It improved as the day passed, but not by enough.
Things could be worse though, A big section of Washington state is without power due to that big-ass storm over there now. Chris is up there and he hasen’t been on MSN all day, which is highly unusual for him, so my guess is that he got hit by the blackouts. Hope he’s allright over there.
Another thing that I’d like to mention regarding to this storm, a widespread panic in the game society. Valve’s Steam servers are in Seattle (I think) and with the blackout, they’re all out, leaving thousands of gamers unable to play the games supported by Steam. Including Red Orchestra (Personal favorite) and the all-too-well-known Counter Strike. Man, I wonder how many OMG-shouting 12 year olds are glued to the weather channel right now.
I’m not booked for a flight over the weekend but maybe I’ll try Orlando Executive again on Sunday. Come in when it’s still and quiet, hm? That’s always nice when entering new waters. But I’m taking tomorrow off, I’m sick and tired going early to bed so I can show up for a flight that’s most likely gonna be canceled.
man, i’m glad i come from a land where there aren’t any natural disasters, ever. it’s a blessed land, they say… no volcanos, no hurricanes, no snow (not that snow is a disaster, but it can be pretty evil sometimes), no earthquakes, nothing… only beer and beaches (ok, and now I should start working for a travel agency in Rio)
anyway, how would it be to fly a helicopter during a thunderstorm? scary, to say the least… ever tried it?
Thunderstorms are killers for anything airbourne. Yes, it is true that if an airplane is hit the lightning does travel through its skin and exit at another point, but a crucial component might get seriously damaged if it takes a direct hit. There was this SuperPuma over the north sea that got hit in the tailrotor once and it almost got torn off the aircraft. Plus some parts aren’t good conductors so they’d just heat up till they melt/explode.
On top of lightning, we have hail, 6000 ft/min updrafts, 8000 ft/min downdrafts, severe turbulence and icing, windshears and microbursts. I think that the only thing more hazardous to aviation in nature are tornadoes. We avoid T-storms like the plague, and with good reasons.
So no, I’m not planning flying during a thunderstorm. Ever.