Storms are Not Predictable

I received a fair amount of feedback from last week's article and felt I should continue with this topic. Then the picture above happened on Wednesday (they were not in the air).

My article last week was about staying away from the storm. It is very common for pilots to want to return or beat the storm back to the airport. But as I said last week now you are on the ground and the glider is outside when it hits. It is also a misconception that more experienced pilots are going to be a lot better at reading the storm and therefore safer.

15meter Nationals in 2002 had a huge thunderstorm day, I was one of the 14 who tried to complete the task. 42 pilots felt it was best to head home. Three of us went through the curtain of rain with lightning on both sides. I do not need to do that again...

When a storm hits the airport at 1 pm and you were not planning on landing until 5 pm, you might not need to head back yet. If there is soarable weather elsewhere then go that way and enjoy the day. Last week Sean had literally turned the other direction and was just shy of 500km. Where he went there was no over-development and was able to final glide back home after everything had dissipated.

All of the modern Soaring Forecasts will give you a good idea of when and where the over-development is expected and if it will regenerate after.

I remember a day where 3 of us got trapped by cells, we gave up early, landed safely at another airport, and enjoyed a nice lunch at the local restaurant before the tow plane came to retrieve us.

With experience comes a better understanding and reading of what is going on. But storms are not predictable. Understand that you are playing with A LOT of energy. The weather can turn very fast. Many long thermal flights involve some storm navigation, I do not want to discourage it, but you must not get complacent.

Ken's article in May 2002 describes the day and his surprise of what happened as there were lots of other gliders and the clouds gave no indication for what was next.

Ken Sorenson has a write up in Soaring describing his adventures, requires SSA log-in.

It is very detailed on a lightning strike where both pilots had to bail-out.

A write-up from the UK about an ASK-21's unfortunate fate.

I am not saying to never fly when it over-develops, just do not fly through it.

 Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.