Flying in Springtime Weather with Garmin

From time-to-time flying is a challenge for a variety of reasons, but inevitably when it rains it pours (pun intended). One of my more recent trips took me to Austin, Texas to see a friend and colleague where I had the opportunity to put my “go, no-go” decision making skills to the test. Luckily, I had a G1000, Garmin Pilot, a GDL 39 3D and GDL 69 to help me out along the way.

The weather in the morning was less than ideal; lightning, thunder and even some small hail fell from the sky all before 9AM (hey – it’s springtime in Kansas!) While the weather was not flyable, I leisurely headed to the airport knowing I would be riding out the storm in the flight planning room for a while. I ran into a fellow flight instructor where we stood in the hangar together swapping flying stories for a bit. As we stood there, we looked to the Eastern sky and he said, “So, are you going to head out?”

(Insert loud clap of thunder here)

“I guess that answers your question,” I said as I walked back to the flight briefing room to look at the weather, again. He added, “This is what makes flying interesting and fun, the challenge of making the decision.” Fun? I thought to myself, we’ll go with that. 

An hour or so later, Garmin Pilot displayed a nice break in the weather and with a plan (and a back-up plan for that plan) I headed out. The G1000 painted a nice radar picture thanks to the GDL 69, simultaneously I fired up the GDL 39 3D so it would continue to display the weather information on Garmin Pilot. There was a nice line forming to my West but with any luck, I’d be well East of it for my trip South. After getting tossed around for about an hour in instrument conditions, the line began to close in to the South. Thoughts of “shooting the gap” crossed my mind as there was a slight break in the line of thunderstorms, but as a King Air flew through the same gap he reported a “quick build-up of ice” in the break.

It was time for the back-up plan. I asked ATC if I could fly direct to the Tulsa VOR, which was not a problem. About 30 minutes later, the line was moving faster (I was moving slower) and it was time for the secondary back-up plan. Using the rubber band feature within Garmin Pilot, I found myself now direct the ADH VOR, which would take me just around the tail end of the line.

My work wasn’t over. Based on the returns I saw on the G1000 and Garmin Pilot, the chance of hail somewhere in there was pretty high. Using the distance-measuring tool, I could easily tell how far I was from the leading edge.  Since small hailstones can be thrown from a thunderstorm 20 miles away from the cloud, I made sure to maintain my distance appropriately.

Once I cleared the line, things were smooth sailing and I got to relax – finally! But it goes without saying, this time of year it’s helpful to have access to a number of weather tools while in-flight. Thanks to the GDL 39, GDL 69, Garmin Pilot and of course my G1000, I was able to execute good decision-making skills which admittedly, was a bit “fun!” 

The post Flying in Springtime Weather with Garmin appeared first on Garmin Blog.