You are currently browsing the articles from Turbulence Forecast Blog matching the category
A fantastic visualization of all the planes in the air at any given time. Flying is very safe, and at the same time, enchanting.
Written by tb_neg on November 8th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting.
Due to a strong jet stream, many planes in the great lakes area are reporting moderate-severe turbulence. However, you have a good chance of avoiding the unpleasant bumps by making Northwest Airlines your carrier of choice. I used the tools at FlightAware to analyze the routes taken by various planes traveling to and from DTW to various areas which would put them right into the path of the two severe advisories that are occuring right now:
SIGMET NOVEMBER 9 VALID UNTIL 242330
SIGMET
OH IA WI IL IN KY LM MI LH
FROM 60WNW YVV TO 40NE ECK TO ROD TO PXV TO 50WNW DEC TO DBQ TO
TVC TO 60WNW YVV
OCNL SEV TURB BTN FL220 AND FL390. CONDS MOVG SLOLY NEWD AND
CONTG BYD 2330Z.
and
WSUS01 KKCI 241940
BOSO WS 241940
SIGMET OSCAR 4 VALID UNTIL 242340
SIGMET
OH MO IL IN KY
FROM FWA TO APE TO 50E BWG TO 30N DYR TO FAM TO FWA
OCNL SEV TURB BTN 100 AND FL220. CONDS CONTG BYD 2340Z.
In every route I could think of, Northwest either flew around or under the advisories until they were out of the areas. Flying low costs a lot of fuel, and with record oil prices, it’s good to see that Northwest still adheres to what they are good at; avoiding turbulence. While Northwest may not have the most modern amenities, your flight will probably be more comfortable.
Here are some of the routes I looked at: NWA426, NWA469, I ended up looking at around 20 routes for Northwest and various competitors.
Written by tb_neg on October 24th, 2007 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Interesting and Turbulence.
When I started looking at the maps everyday nearly 3 years ago, I never imagined I’d see such a clearly defined line of turbulence that correlates so closely to the weather. Usually, turbulence is unpredictable, correlating somewhat loosely to the jet stream or a frontal system, but what you see below shows a very unusual and excellent correlation between weather and storms. As you get nearer to the storm system in the plains states, the air is more and more disturbed in a clear pattern, turbulence going from smooth, to light, to moderate severe, depending on how close you are to the storm system. See below. Turbulence is, by definition, chaotic, but there is some semblance of order here.
Written by tb_neg on October 15th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting and Turbulence and Weather.
I’ve always liked FlightAware for tracking flight paths, and I’ve just discovered a new interesting feature they’ve recently added.
When you search for flights, but don’t know the flight number, you can enter a city pair, and it will show you a list of all flights for the day to choose from. They’ve just added a nice map that shows all flights in the air between the two cities, which makes comparing airlines approach to turbulence avoidance much easier. See a sample graphic, and try it on your favorite routes. Also see our previous posts on Northwest’s legendary turbulence dodging. [ One Two ]
Written by tb_neg on October 14th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting and Links.
Alaska Air will be be among the first airlines to offer Wi-Fi in flight, very soon via Row 44. You’ll be able to visit Turbulence Forecast while on your flight for the utmost in accuracy. Imagine posting a trip report while still on the trip. Alaska will equip one 737 as a test vehicle, and if the test is successful, they plan to roll it out to more planes. Virgin America will also be offering in flight internet in the future, as well as American and Southwest With all these airlines rolling it out, it’s hard to imagine most other airlines missing out on an opportunity to sell Internet access in flight.
Written by tb_neg on October 4th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting.
Neil Cavuto from Fox News shares a story about a plane ride that got unusually rough. As the turbulence increases though, something very special happens. I don’t want to spoil it, but this is a must read.
Written by tb_neg on October 1st, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting and Links and Turbulence.
Southwest Airlines, famous for booting people off of planes for wearing clothing deemed revealing proves it has a sense of humor by announcing a ‘mini-skirt’ sale.
Written by tb_neg on September 26th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting.
On that long transatlantic flight trying to kill time? Interested in turbulence? Why not read a Ph.D. dissertation on the subject? Free download at the link below.
The response of aircraft to stochastic atmospheric turbulence plays an important role in, for example, aircraft design (load calculations) and flight simulation (handling qualities research and pilot training).
Written by tb_neg on September 23rd, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting and Links.
It’s difficult to find a decent video of in flight turbulence for a lot of reasons. For one, turbulence can be unexpected, and no one is going to run a camera for the whole flight to capture a few moments. Another good reason is that people may not want to be holding a camera during a bumpy ride.
I came across this video from an interesting post on airliners.net discussing turbulence, and a member posted a video he captured on Frontier Airlines. If I had to guess, it would probably be considered light-moderate, but it would be very difficult to tell accurately from the video.
In his words:
Heres a video I shot of some pretty bad turbulence on Frontier 797 DEN-PDX, it was over Eastern Oregon which Ive heard is pretty notorious for bumpyness.
It was bad enough where we kept losing and gaining a little altitude, and the wings were rocking very hard at some points.
Notice the employee holding the upper cargo bins to keep herself from falling.
Btw, in no way whatsoever was I shaking the camera. It was actually that bumpy where I couldnt keep the camera still.
And the video:
Written by tb_neg on September 18th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting.
The Airbus A380, claimed to be “bigger and better” than the Boeing 747, may not be. Originally, Airbus had thought that the double decker A380 would carry 35-40 percent more passengers than the 747, which has been now changed. With a smaller passenger count, many of the advantages of the A380 go away. The most interesting problem with the A380 is a matter of wake turbulence. When waiting for takeoff, planes are normally separated by a minute or more, depending on size, as to not get caught in the vortex of the plane that had just taken off.
The problem is, is due to the A380’s size, it generates a large disruption in the air (see this picture for an example).
From the article.
Large jets will need a separation of an additional two nautical miles when trailing an A380, compared with rules for existing large planes such as the 747.
This rises to an additional four nautical mile spacing for light aircraft and airports won’t be able to squeeze in as many flights in the minutes after an A380 lands as they do with a 747.
Update: Post at CrankyFlier.com for more information.
Written by tb_neg on September 13th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Interesting.
Stay current with Turbulence Forecast Blog on these personalized pages:
