A Question about turbulence

[gevers1]

Aye aye all - much as I love commercial aircraft and commercial aviation, including my various FS9 adventures, about the only thing I don't like, is the real actual flying.

Crazy I know, but I think I've read a bit too many of those air disaster books and watched too many of those Discovery/National Geographic programs about famous plane crashes and as soon as I sit down in a plane and things start going bump, I get very nervous. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not in hysterics or anything, but the hands get sweaty and the mind starts racing back to all those documentaries ...

The reason for the post: I've just come back from a long-haul flight from Singapore, in a rather nice Swiss A340-300. Beautiful aircraft and all that, even managed to get a sit behind the controls on the ground in Bangkok where we stopped off to pick up some more passengers. After we took off from Bangkok, about 20 minutes into the flight and with the plane at cruise altitude, things started getting bumpy. Nothing too bad, until the plane suddenly lurched to the right, dropped a few hundred(?) feet, engines went a-roarin' as we got back to altitude and heading. I looked over at the wings and saw the wings flapping and the engines rocking back and forth quite a bit. All very scary. The rest of the flight went pretty quietly, but I was on edge for quite a while after that.

My questions then: just how much turbulence can an aircraft take? Is all that wing flapping and engines rocking normal? Do aircraft ever go down due to excessive turbulence? Can pilots (or atc) predict where the turbulence will be and so take avoiding action?

cheers!

s/.

[Garry Russell]

One thing you can be glad of is the wings flapping

if they didn't they'd snap :o

I have been on a few trurbulent flights and the structure has been bending and bucking just fine

The answers are in the statistics

Turbulence is a constant effect and everyday there are aircraft in very bumpy conditions but how often does one break up?

They have weather radar to avoid the worst so it is nothing to be worried about in as much as it is no more of a risk that anything else.

Windshear at low level is perhaps the most risky :think:

Garry

[DispatchDragon]

Funny how many people DONT ask and sit there with white knucles

1/. They can take a lot of stress
2/. Yes they should move up and down if they didnt there would be an unforrtuante ripping sound ;-)
3/. Yes acommercial aircraft have been damaged by severe turbulence
4/. Yes and no - both Pilots and ATC can predict were turbulence will be and avoid the most severe BUT sometimes it is impossible to avoid
5/. Turbulence is rated light, moderate and severe the second you dont want to stay in for very long the last you avoid like the plague
6/. The avoidance of turbulence is part of my job - we attempt to predict where the worst will be and route pilots away from it.
sometimes (especially here in the US in midsummer where the "midcontinental line" occurs on a daily basis) it is impossible to avoid
light/moderate and in that case the only thing the crew can do is tie you (the paying customer) into your seat and ride it out as quickly as possible
rerouting can mean anything from deviating 5-10 degree's off course to changing cruising flight level.
It would alarm many passengers to learn that even today with sophisicated weather radar many crews use a Mk1 eyeball to avoid building CBs and the
like - if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck - and sounds like duck - then you avoid it
The advent of Doppler weather radar in ATC centers has improved avoidance , but as you indicated you were traveling across parts of the world where
such niceties are not available.

The best advice I can give you is this -- pull the window blind down so you dont see the wing flexing - order another double whisky (if the cabin crew is
still up and around and relax) its alot easier to ride it out that way.




Leif

[DispatchDragon]

Sorry Garry we must have been writing the same thign at the same time

Actually I have spent most of the night planning routes around what is left of Ike in the central states this morning.

There is a line of trash running from south of Houston all the way to Chicago with tops to FL450 so the gents will be carrying some
extra gas to avoid what they can.

Leif

[Garry Russell]

Hi Leif

Glad you posted that as you are in a position to really know the in's and out's of this

But you're quite right about the extra safeguard

Better airframe and various avoindence system are the key to safety but the old Mk.1 eyeball with a few hundred hours of experience is the cream on the cake.

Viscounts were good for the wing flap because of the large window sitting between the wing you could see both as the fuse humped up and down.

Garry

[Prop Jockey]

But remember.................you are not alone There are aircraft in front of you flying a similar route/airway and there are aircraft behind you flying the same route/airway - so if anything really nasty shows up then the crews/ATC will know. Now thanks to nice people like Leif, where possible your route is planned to avoid areas of known nasty turbulence. So if you experience turbulance on a flight then its usually anticipated and not too severe. Even if it seems fairly severe to you, in flying terms it probably isn't. If it was severe - the aircraft in front would likely have experienced it and told someone, giving your crew the option to negotiate avoiding it.

Cheers

Rich

[DispatchDragon]

Rich

My most favorite words in the air -- is hearing the guy ahead of you check in with center with Allegiant 531 level 330 smooth

And thanks for the compliment -- we try and get it right, safety, economy and comfort --- the three words on the mind of every flight dispatcher

Leif

[Prop Jockey]

You're welcome Leif, and I'm sure there are thousands of passengers who owe you a beer for your successful efforts too CHEERS

Cheers

Rich

[jonesey2k]

I was in an Embro 145 coming back from Paris once, the poor little aeroplane was being blown about so violently that the stewardess was looking more then a bit concerned herself!
I was grinning like an idiot and it was all I could do not to laugh as it was one hell of a ride

[RAF_Quantum]

Hi,

Here's a Boeing 777 wing being tested to destruction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe9PVaFGl3o

Regards

John