Convective outflow boundaries emanating away from thunderstorms are generated as cold, dense air descends in downdrafts then moving outward away from the convection to produce a mesoscale cold front also known as a gust front. Some gust fronts can be completely harmless or may be a precursor for an encounter with severe turbulence and dangerous low-level convective wind shear. The direction of movement of the gust front isn’t always coincident with the general motion of the thunderstorms. If the gust front is moving in advance of the convection, it should be strictly avoided. The pilot’s best defense is to recognize and characterize the gust front using METARs, ground-based radar and visible satellite imagery.

According to research meteorologist and thunderstorm expert, Dr. Charles Doswell, “cold, stable air is the ‘exhaust’ of deep, moist convection descending in downdrafts and then spreading outward like pancake batter poured on a griddle.” As a pulse-type thunderstorm reaches a point where its updraft can no longer support the load of precipitation that has accumulated inside, the precipitation load collapses down through the original updraft area. Evaporation of some of the rain cools the downdraft, making it even more dense compared to the surrounding air. When the downdraft reaches the ground, it is deflected laterally and spreads out almost uniformly in all directions producing a gust front. 

• READ MORE: Keeping an Eye on the Storm

Gust fronts are normally seen moving away from weakening thunderstorm cores. Once a gust front forms and moves away from the convection the boundary may be detected on the NWS WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler radar as a bow-shaped line of low reflectivity returns usually 20 dBZ or less. Outflow boundaries are low level events and do not necessarily produce precipitation. Instead, the radar is detecting the density discontinuity of the boundary itself along with any dust, insects and other debris that may be carried along with the strong winds within the outflow. The gust front in southwest Missouri shows up very well on the NWS radar image out of Springfield as shown below. 

 An important observation is to note the motion of the gust front relative to the motion of the convection. In this particular case, the boundary is steadily moving south while the thunderstorm cells that produced the gust front are moving to the east. This kind of outflow boundary is usually benign especially as it gains distance from the source convection. On the other hand, a gust front that is moving in the same general direction in advance of the convection is of the most concern. These gust fronts often contain severe or extreme turbulence, strong and gusty straight line winds and low-level convective wind shear. 

As mentioned previously, gust fronts are strictly low-level events. As such, even the lowest elevation angle of the radar may overshoot the boundary if it is not close to the radar site. Shown above at 22Z, the NWS WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler radar out of Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina is the closest radar site and clearly “sees” the gust front (right image). However, the NEXRAD Doppler radar out of Columbia, South Carolina (left image), is further away and misses the gust front completely. As the gust front moves away from the radar site, it may appear to dissipate, when in fact, the lowest elevation beam of the radar is simply overshooting the boundary. 

As a result, it is important to examine the NEXRAD radar mosaic image before looking at the individual radar sites.

Not all gust fronts are easy to distinguish on visible satellite imagery; the gust front could be embedded in other dense clouds or a high cirrus deck may obscure it. It is also possible that the boundary may not have enough lift or moisture to produce clouds. In many cases, however, it will clearly stand out on the visible satellite image. When the gust front contains enough moisture, as it was in this situation, cumuliform clouds may form along the boundary and move outward. This is very common in the Southeast and coastal regions along the Gulf of Mexico given the higher moisture content.  

As this particular gust front passed through my neighborhood located south of Charlotte, North Carolina, strong, gusty northerly winds persisted for about 10 minutes. As is common, the main core of the precipitation didn’t start to fall for another 10 minutes. When a gust front such as this appears on satellite or radar, it is important to monitor the METARs and ASOS or AWOS closely for the occurrence of high winds. Several airports in the vicinity reported wind gusts peaking at 30 knots. The sky cover went from being just few to scattered clouds to a broken sky with these cumuliform clouds moving rapidly through the region.

• READ MORE: The Ins and Outs of Pilot Weather Reports

As mentioned earlier, a gust front moving away from thunderstorms is a low-level event that can contain very strong updrafts and downdrafts. The graph shown above is a time series, plotting the upward and downward motion or vertical velocity in a strong gust front as it moved over a particular point on the ground. The top half of the graph is upward motion and the bottom half is downward motion. 

Time increases from left to right. As the gust front approaches, the vertical velocity of the air upward increases quickly over a one or two minute period. While the maximum vertical velocities vary with height in the outflow, a common maximum number seen is 10 m/s at about 1.4 km or 4,500 feet agl (25 knots is roughly 12 m/s for reference). As the gust front moves through, the velocities abruptly switch from an upward to a downward motion creating strong wind gusts at the surface. Most outflow boundaries don’t extend above about 2 km or 6,500 feet agl. What is remarkable is that upward to downward motion changes in just about 30 seconds over the ground point where this was observed. But imagine flying an aircraft at 150 knots through this; the up and down exchange will happen in just a few seconds producing a jarring turbulence event.

Just in case you were wondering, gust fronts are conveniently filtered out by your datalink weather broadcasts as shown above for XM-delivered satellite weather. This is because the broadcast only provides returns from actual areas of precipitation. Often outflow boundaries or gust fronts produce low reflectivity returns that fall below the threshold used to filter out other clutter not associated with actual areas of precipitation. When in flight, pay particular attention to surface observations looking for strong, gusty winds before attempting a landing at an airport when storms are approaching. 

This feature first appeared in the July/August Issue 949 of the FLYING print edition.

The post Know Your Convective Outflow Boundaries appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

• READ MORE: Why Aren’t Cessna 140s/150s Considered Light Sport Aircraft?

Answer: The biplanes you mention—Stearmans, Kaydets, and Navy SNJs—were mostly likey trainers.

They were yellow because if they went down on a training mission—as they often did—they were easier to spot from the air.

• READ MORE: How Can an Aircraft Get Struck by Lightning Without a Close Thunderstorm?

Often the trainees made unscheduled off-airport landings in hayfields, swamps, forests, and the desert. Having an aircraft painted to look like terrain would have made it more difficult to find them.

The post Why Are Some Military Airplanes Gold? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Out of power, altitude and options, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and copilot Jeffrey Skiles ditched the aircraft in the Hudson River near midtown Manhattan. There were 155 souls on board. There were injuries but no loss of life, and the term “Miracle on the Hudson” was coined since it was viewed as one of the most successful ditchings ever performed.

What Is Ditching?

According to the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), ditching is defined as “a controlled emergency landing of an aircraft on water.” If the aircraft isn’t equipped with floats, it’s usually a one-time-only event, and unlike power-off landings to full stop on a runway, it is not something you can practice. But you can prepare mentally by studying what to do in the unlikely event of a water landing.

Any time you fly over water, you should be thinking about it, especially when the aircraft is beyond gliding distance of the shoreline.

Always Consider It When Flying Over Water

“Do you know how to swim?”

A pilot of the J-3 Cub asked me this the first time I took off from Runway 17 at the Tacoma Narrows Airport (KTIW) in Washington. The airport sits on a peninsula that leads onto the Puget Sound. If you have seen the 1983 movie War Games, the scene with the ferryboat and the island was shot just south of KTIW.

The pilot asked the question after I wondered out loud where we’d land if we had an engine issue. I assured him I could swim as in my teens I trained to be a lifeguard and was thrown out of boats in the middle of a lake fully clothed, with no life vest to test my skills. Until that flight all my training had been over land.

Most of my information about ditching comes from interviewing colleagues who have done it.

• READ MORE: For Those Aviators Attracted to Water

In July 2022, John La Porta, a CFI in the Seattle area experienced an uncommanded loss of engine power while flying a Cessna 150 over the water west of Seattle. La Porta was alone in the aircraft at the time. According to La Porta, the aircraft was at less than 2,000 feet when he noticed a loss of oil pressure. He was attempting to reach King County International Airport-Boeing Field (KBFI), but when the engine lost power, he knew he wouldn’t make it. He didn’t want to take a chance on flying over the hilly terrain, homes, and streets, so he set up to put the aircraft in the water next to Alki Beach.

Things happened quickly, he recalled. He tightened the lap belt and cinched the shoulder harness as tightly as he could. He did not lower the flaps to 40 degrees per the ditching instructions in the POH, but that may have been a blessing as the flaps would have possibly blocked his egress from the aircraft, which flipped over. He was upside down but couldn’t tell in the submerged aircraft.

Although the shoulder harness probably saved his life since it kept him from slamming into the panel, it also pinned him inside the airplane.

“I could not get the belts to release until the airplane’s tail settled into the water. I had one hand on the window, and I was able to sort of stretch up and take a breath of air, and then I found the lap belt and was able to get it undone. I held on to the window as I released the shoulder harness, and then I swam out of the window,” La Porta told FLYING, adding that, if he had someone else in the airplane, he’s not sure if they both would have survived because of the seat belt jamming.

After that experience, La Porta became a big believer in carrying a seatbelt cutter on his person.

Training for the Worst

When it’s more than just you in the airplane, ditching reaches a whole new level, said Amy Laboda, an ATP/CFI and FLYING contributor.

On June 14, 2001, Laboda was in her Cessna 210 with her two daughters, ages 9 and 10, their 15-year-old babysitter, and an adult family friend heading for the Cayman Islands. Shortly after takeoff from Key West International Airport (KEYW) in Florida, as the aircraft passed through 1,500 feet, there was a loud bang and a loss of engine power.

• READ MORE: Stearman Pilot Found Guilty of False Statements in Water Crash

“It was the kind of sound that makes you push the nose over and start turning back,” said Laboda, adding that she drew upon her experience as a glider pilot to get the most distance out of the altitude available but quickly realized she wasn’t going to be able to make it back to land.

She declared an emergency and was cleared to any runway but had to respond, “Unable.”

“The last thing I heard from ATC was ‘services on the way,’” she said.

The aircraft came in like a bobsled, and the windscreen popped out. “It was like getting hit in the face with a fire hose,” said Laboda, noting they were lucky because the water was flat, warm, and smooth.

Laboda boasts years of experience teaching the ditching seminars for the FAA FAASTeam, and from an early age she taught her kids how to quickly put on the overwater safety gear.

“When they were little, we made a game of it,” she explained, adding that part of the preflight briefing is what to do if they had to put it down in the water.

Everyone did what they had been told to do and survived with just cuts and bruises. “There were several boats in the area, and we were in the water for less than 10 minutes,” she said.

Train to Ditch

If you have the opportunity to take a water survival course for aviators, do so. If not, chapter 6 of the AIM provides illustrations and textual descriptions of how to ditch an aircraft. There are a great many variables that result in a successful ditching.

The condition of the landing area is key. Is the aircraft coming down in rough seas or a calm lake? Does the pilot have the skill to come in at the slowest possible airspeed? Was there time to prepare?
The AIM advises stowing or jettisoning loose objects from the cockpit so they don’t become projectiles. Tighten seat belts and unlatch doors because if the aircraft frame is bent, they might jam. If you have time, jam a shoe in the door crack to prop it open.

The National Search and Rescue Manual along with the emergency section of most POHs advise pilots to attempt to bring the aircraft in at a slightly tail-low attitude—slower, the better.

Once the airplane comes to a complete stop, keep your seat belt on and reach for the door. When you have found the door and opened it, release the seat belt. It is important to stay belted until you have grasped the door handle because it helps with orientation. It’s dark underwater, and if the airplane is upside down, you won’t know it. Use the seat belt cutter if you have to—but still hang on to the door.

Once you are free of the belt, pull yourself clear of the aircraft and activate the life vest if you are wearing one. If you are underwater, blow one bubble and follow it to the surface.

Unlacing your shoes so you can kick them off easily is also a good idea because of all the articles of clothing you are likely wearing they are the heaviest and will drag you down.

This feature first appeared in the July/August Issue 949 of the FLYING print edition.

The post The One-Time Water Landing appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

SA-097 emphasized that “as little as 1/4-inch of wing-leading edge ice accumulation can increase the stall speed by 25 to 40 knots and cause sudden departure from controlled flight.”

The alert also warned that ice buildup on pitot tubes can lead to instrument failure, impacting readings for airspeed, altitude, and vertical speed.

The NTSB acknowledged that some pilots have been taught to wait for a certain amount of ice to accumulate on the leading edges before using deice boots due to concerns about ice bridging. However, the FAA’s recent tests show that modern deicing boots, from aircraft manufactured after 1960, are not prone to ice bridging.

The agency warned that performance issues may arise if deice boots are not engaged promptly when icing begins and advises pilots to refer to their operating handbooks for specific procedures on boot activation and use.

The alert also cited several accidents where failure to follow operating handbook instructions led to in-flight loss of control, underscoring the critical importance of adhering to recommended deicing practices.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post NTSB Issues Deicing Safety Alert appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: The LSA rule as it stands limits aircraft to a gross weight of 1,320 pounds for land aircraft.

• READ MORE: Pilots Have Questions When It Comes to MOSAIC

Gross weight is determined when the aircraft is certificated. The Cessna 140 GW is 1,450 pounds, and the Cessna 150 is between 1,500 and 1,600 pounds, depending on the year of manufacture. You can take the other seat out and fly partial fuel, and that will make the aircraft lighter, but it won’t change the certificated gross weight.

Understand that the LSA rule is under review with MOSAIC, and if approved as written, will increase the gross weight of aircraft to 3,600 pounds.

When that transpires, many of the single-engine light trainers flown today in the utility and normal category will likely become LSA compliant.

The post Why Aren’t Cessna 140s/150s Considered Light Sport Aircraft? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: There are many observed cases of lightning strikes to aircraft inside or near clouds that had not previously produced natural lightning. Studies show that about 90 percent of the lightning strikes to aircraft are thought to be initiated by the presence of the aircraft itself. The scary statistic, however, is that 40 percent of all discharges involving airborne aircraft occurred in areas where no thunderstorms were reported.

Apollo 12

One of the more famous cases of aircraft-initiated lightning is the Apollo 12 launch at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in November 1969. The Saturn V rocket was struck not once but twice on its way into orbit.

According to the 1970 NASA findings, other than these two strikes, there was no other lightning activity reported six hours before or six hours after the launch. At the time of the launch, a cold front was moving south into the launch area. Broken towering cumulus topping out at 23,000 feet with light to moderate rain showers were reported.

Rarely Fatal

Damage to airborne aircraft struck by lightning includes minor pitting or scarring to the aircraft’s skin to complete destruction of the aircraft.

Besides direct damage at the point of entry and/or exit, indirect effects that include the loss of VHF communication, loss of navigation equipment, and loss of instrument panel gauges are also possible.

In 1963, a Pan American Airlines Boeing 707 over Elkton, Maryland, was struck by lightning while in a holding pattern at 5,000 feet. The outermost fuel tank in the left wing exploded causing two other fuel tanks to follow suit. There were no survivors.  

• READ MORE: Does the FAA Punish Pilots for Logbook Mistakes?

It’s certainly true that a catastrophic accident such as this is extremely rare, but lightning strikes to aircraft are more common than you might imagine—most of which are aircraft-initiated strikes.

Based on compiled data it is estimated that in the U.S. a commercial airliner is struck once for every 3,000 hours flown. That’s an equivalent of about one strike each year. 

Melting Level

While aircraft-initiated lightning is still being actively studied, there are a few important characteristics to consider.

Based on the current research, it doesn’t take flying in or near a mature thunderstorm to become the victim of a lightning strike. The mere presence of the aircraft in an environment conducive to an electrical discharge is all that is necessary.

Most of the aircraft-initiated lightning strikes occur when the aircraft is flying at or near the melting level (0 degrees Celsius). The preferred temperatures include a range from plus-3 C to minus-5 C, with the highest number of incidents occurring right at the melting level.  

A few of the strikes down low are the result of an aircraft intercepting a lightning strike in progress. Essentially, this is the case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the other hand, aircraft-initiated strikes are observed the most are between 3 km and 5 km or 10,000 to 16,000 feet during the warm season. Once again, temperature is a key factor. The melting level that typically occurs is in this same range of altitudes throughout the summer months.  

Low-Topped Convection

In general, natural lightning in deep, moist convection doesn’t form until the tops of the storm build well above the melting level.

For lightning to form, three ingredients must be simultaneously present. These include vapor-born ice crystals, graupel, and supercooled liquid water. If any one of these three is missing in sufficient quantities, natural lightning doesn’t generally occur, but this not to say the cloud is void of all electrical activity—some still remains.    

Therefore, an aircraft-initiated lightning strike typically occurs within local air mass instability within low-topped convection.

Often low-topped convection doesn’t produce natural lightning. The updrafts are rather weak in comparison to those that do produce lightning. Consequently, the updrafts do not carry enough supercooled liquid water into the upper part of the cloud where it is needed. 

• READ MORE: What Are Echo Tops?

Clouds and Precipitation

An overwhelming number of lightning strikes occur within the cloud itself. Only a very small percentage of strikes occur outside of the cloud boundary or below the cloud.

Here’s the key: A very large percentage of the strikes occur within precipitation to include rain, snow, snow grains, ice pellets, and hail. It is not uncommon to find a mixture of these near the melting level. 

Keep Your Distance?

The FAA encourages all pilots to keep a safe distance from an active thunderstorm for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, this practice alone isn’t quite enough. Even when thunderstorms (natural lightning) are not occurring or expected to occur, an aircraft-initiated lightning strike can still be a risk.

In order to avoid an encounter with lightning, the best advice is to remain in cloud-free air whenever possible, especially when the atmosphere is conditionally unstable and capable of producing marginally deep, moist convection extending well above the melting level.

While it may be difficult, the best advice is to operate outside of areas of precipitation and minimize your time in clouds and precipitation near the melting level.

The post How Can an Aircraft Get Struck by Lightning Without a Close Thunderstorm? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: The short answer is no. But unfortunately there’s a lot of “tribal knowledge” surrounding logbooks and what can happen. FLYING contacted the FAA for the correct information.

Endorsements

The CFI should be familiar with Advisory Circular 61-65 (H), which contains the endorsements an instructor is allowed to give. The language is copied verbatim. If you are a learner pilot, the first endorsement you will get is the TSA citizenship verification endorsement in accordance with 49 CFR 1552.3(h).

FAR 61.51 covers pilot logbooks and details how to log “training time and aeronautical experience.” It states that each person must document and record the following time in a manner acceptable to the administrator:

(1) Training and  aeronautical experience used to meet the requirements for a certificate, rating, or flight review of this part.

(2) The aeronautical experience required for meeting the recent flight experience requirements of this part.

Part B covers logbook entries, stating that “for the purposes of meeting the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, each person must enter the following information for each flight or lesson logged:

(1) General—

(i) Date.

(ii) Total flight time or lesson time.

(iii) Location where the aircraft departed and arrived, or for lessons in a full flight simulator or flight training device, the location where the lesson occurred.

(iv) Type and identification of aircraft, full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device, as appropriate.”

The savvy CFI logs all instruction given, including ground time and the topics covered. If the learner takes the time to be there, they should get credit for the experience.

As far as “messing up an entry in a logbook,” FLYING posed a series of questions gleaned from scenarios encountered in more than 30 years of flight training on both sides of the CFI certificate.

Ink Color

I start with this because when I was working on my CFII certificate, I logged time in my own logbook with blue ink and the CFII who I was training with positively clutched her pearls over that one.

According to the FAA, they do not require a specific ink color for a paper logbook.

The logging of time spent using an advanced aviation training device (AATD) can be controversial as there are some CFIs who refuse to do it, saying it will “ruin” a logbook.

According to the FAA: “Simply logging time (in any capacity) does not ruin a logbook, but the pilot must ensure they are properly categorizing the flight time logged. For example, if a pilot decided to record their time spent using an AATD in their logbook, that is acceptable. However, the AATD time could not be counted toward cross-country time for pilot certification.”

Set Up Your Own Logbook

As most logbooks have a few blank columns, it’s a good idea to designate them to suit your needs. For example, you might have one for ground training received or given, AATD, solo flight, etc. You can have an entire section set aside for ground instruction, dual instruction given, etc.

Endorsements

There are many logbooks with preprinted endorsements, but you may run out of room. The FAA does not require endorsements to be on a specific page or in a specific location in the logbook. 

“Endorsements can be made in a pilot’s logbook or other documents acceptable to the administrator if the learner uses an electronic logbook rather than paper, in order to show they meet the aeronautical experience requirements for the certificate or rating that may be in paper form or electronic,” FAA said. “Keep in mind that many endorsements require a CFI’s signature which may not work with an electronic logbook.” 

For check rides most learners print out spreadsheets of their experience and have the CFI sign those.

Mistakes

Mistakes do happen. Usually they are math errors.

Filling out a logbook takes a fair amount of concentration, as does totaling up the columns and double checking the math before you sign the page. Take care when you do this, and please be extra careful when it comes to totaling up required experience for a check ride. You do not want a learner to go for a check ride and be turned away because they are missing 0.2 of something, or a takeoff and night landing or two. 

If you make a mistake, correct it. Please note that the FAA does not have specific guidance on correcting logbook errors. According to the source at the FAA, “choosing a particular correction style (white-out, crossing out the error and correcting, crossing out the line and making a new entry, etc.) is up to the pilot.”

The post Does the FAA Punish Pilots for Logbook Mistakes? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

According to base officials, the storm produced wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. It came through early in the morning before the crowds had arrived, bringing with it lightning and rain.

The airshow held the day before had attracted more than 65,000 visitors, according to an U.S. Air Force spokesperson.

Of those injured, six were military medical personnel and four were civilian vendors. All were outside on the flight line when the damaging winds occurred. 

“Due to the timing of the inclement weather, spectators had not entered the event area,” the spokesperson said.

Additionally, some vendors reported damage to booths and the wind relocated many portable toilets. One building on base was struck by lightning, but there was no reported damage to the structure.

Because of damages to services, Sunday’s airshow was canceled.

Video of the show area during the storm showed flattened tents and chairs, and aircraft blowing across a water-logged ramp. There were no reports of significant damage to the larger aircraft on display. 

Airmen made several foreign object debris (FOD) walks looking for trash and parts of aircraft deposited on the ramp by the storm.

“Safety is always our first priority at McConnell, especially when it comes to hosting the community for an airshow,” the spokesman told FLYING.

The post Injuries Reported After Severe Storm Strikes Before Airshow appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: Pilot candidates learn about the role of the NTSB because it’s important to know what constitutes an accident or an incident, and when the agency needs to be notified. The criteria for both is listed under Part 830 in the  (Federal Aviation Regulations/ Aeronautical Information Manual FAR/AIM).

Talking about accidents in ground school helps learners recognize risks that were not properly managed by the accident pilots. This leads to discussion about ways to identify and develop ways to mitigate those risks.

By deconstructing previous accidents, pilots can learn from the mistakes of others and develop the skill to mitigate risk by seeking an alternative course of action resulting in a better outcome.

The post Why Are Flight Students Taught About the NTSB in Ground School? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Answer: In the scenario you described and since ATC asked you to do the maneuver in the pattern, it’s not unexpected.

• READ MORE: What Are Echo Tops?

S-turns and 360-degree turns are methods of creating space between aircraft. This keeps you from overtaking another, most likely slower, aircraft. It’s similar to the way bands march in place for a few minutes during parades to create more space between them and the parade floats, horses, or other bands ahead of them. At a towered airport, if the controller tells you to do this, they are trying to create space between you and the aircraft you are following.

While in the pattern, listen carefully for what kind of aircraft you are sharing space with. If you are flying a Cessna 182 or a twin and there is a slower aircraft like a Cessna Skycatcher or Piper Cub ahead of you, you’re probably going to need to slow down.

• READ MORE: What to Do When You Lose Your Logbook

At all times it is up to the pilot in command (PIC) to determine if it is safe to do these maneuvers If ATC asks you to do a 360-degree turn and there is an aircraft in the way, don’t do it and advise “unable.” At a nontowered airport, 360-degree turns in the pattern are a little dicey. A better option is to depart the pattern and reenter on the 45.

The post When Is It OK to Perform Unexpected Maneuvers in the Pattern? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.