TEG916
Senior Member
The mission was KVCB to KTVL with a fellow pilot to see how the new (to me) Mooney M20F handles up high.
I decided to abort mission due to winds. I think I may have been safe to dip my toes in, but decided to change my destination just to be on the safe side. The surface wind in the valley was forecast to be a little strong but to die down before my departure time. In the mountains the surface winds were below 10KTS. What gave me concern is winds aloft were forecast at 25-35KTS up at 12K'. I thought this could cause down drafts, and turbulence considering some ridges and peaks are higher than 9K' in the area. The winds aloft at 9K were forecast in the teens?
Just curious what others would have done. Would you be comcerned with strong winds that are higher than the ridge levels when the winds at the peaks are manageable?
I decided to abort mission due to winds. I think I may have been safe to dip my toes in, but decided to change my destination just to be on the safe side. The surface wind in the valley was forecast to be a little strong but to die down before my departure time. In the mountains the surface winds were below 10KTS. What gave me concern is winds aloft were forecast at 25-35KTS up at 12K'. I thought this could cause down drafts, and turbulence considering some ridges and peaks are higher than 9K' in the area. The winds aloft at 9K were forecast in the teens?
Just curious what others would have done. Would you be comcerned with strong winds that are higher than the ridge levels when the winds at the peaks are manageable?
