The skilled pilot and fine wordsmith, Dave, takes us through what it’s like to land on the fringes of Hurricane Hanna.
You really should click over and read the whole thing. Even if you’re not a pilot, you’ll appreciate the “inside info”.
Here’s a tease for you.
Time: 1400 hrs local
Position: Over JST (Johnstown VOR)
Altitude: 30,000 feet and descending
Groundspeed: 505 mph (439 kts)We have penetrated the outer ring of clouds of the northwest sector of Hanna. The turbulence is annoying and the clouds are thick but not wet (wet will come in a few minutes). The forward shields are up (anti-ice systems ON) which automatically turns on the engine igniters. Seventy miles ago I told the lead flight attendant to batten down the hatches and get ready for a goat rodeo. The weather radar is on the 120 mile range and the returns are in the category of you got to be kidding me.
Before we left LAX, I decided to upload another ton of fuel which caused a ton of cargo to be unloaded. The ramp supervisor took it in stride, though, which greatly relieved me. Unfortunately, they will have to handle the same freight three times. Why does bad weather automatically correlate to heavy loads and minimum fuel? It is an aviation mystery of old. Next question: Why I am flying in this mess? This is for junior pilots. OK, I was trying to snag a good overnight in a downtown Philly hotel, but this? What was I thinking?
