Canuck
David Megginson
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 7,085
- Reaction score
- 3,903
I'm generally fine with turbulence at altitude, even if it's nasty, but the particular shape of low-level turbulence has a really-nasty effect on me: I become slow-witted and slightly disoriented. Over 15 years, the only solution I've found for this was earning my IR and getting above the clouds ASAP on every trip (or flying when the air is smooth).
I still pass flight tests and IPCs when I have to take them in low-level mechanical, so Transport Canada thinks I'm safe to fly (albeit with some mediocre grades). Note that I know how to handle the plane to avoid exacerbating the situation with pilot-induced oscillations (coordinated use of rudder, aileron, and elevator), I know how to avoid it based on season/time-of-day, I'm not scared of the turbulence, and I have my motion sickness under control. It's just that low-level mechanical turbulence, specifically, makes me less sharp, as if I'd had a bad night's sleep or a couple of drinks.
Is this a problem many of you experience? Have any of you overcome it, and if so, how? I'd love to be able to enjoy flying even down low on a summer afternoon.
I still pass flight tests and IPCs when I have to take them in low-level mechanical, so Transport Canada thinks I'm safe to fly (albeit with some mediocre grades). Note that I know how to handle the plane to avoid exacerbating the situation with pilot-induced oscillations (coordinated use of rudder, aileron, and elevator), I know how to avoid it based on season/time-of-day, I'm not scared of the turbulence, and I have my motion sickness under control. It's just that low-level mechanical turbulence, specifically, makes me less sharp, as if I'd had a bad night's sleep or a couple of drinks.
Is this a problem many of you experience? Have any of you overcome it, and if so, how? I'd love to be able to enjoy flying even down low on a summer afternoon.
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