[Closed] This storm? Will my flight be affected?

Oh, it'll be going alright !

It's nice and sunny in Aberdeen for when you get here (if that's where you're heading). 🙂

it'll be all blown out by then, the main problem will be the bits of cathedral spire scattered about the runway.

Runway is east-west at Exeter isn't it? Should be fine...

I thought they'd stopped running the Aberdeen flight?

Euain yes indeed.
Mr Nutt, indeed, or trees down on the route..
Jambo, I hope not otherwise the last 6 months have been a pigment of my emulsion. Maybe it was all a dream?

Is it direct or do you have to transfer through Manchester?

I took off in a storm in a Fokker 50 from London City Airport, so I think you'll be ok. Was a hell of a bumpy climb out so make sure you're well strapped in!

Give me a second - I'll have a look at the weather for your flight (Im an airline pilot)

wobbliscott - Member

I took off in a storm in a Fokker 50 from London City Airport, so I think you'll be ok. Was a hell of a bumpy climb out so make sure you're well strapped in!

Ahh ... Fokker 50, what a wonderful plane.

Right - Exeter only produce an aviation forecast up until midnight, but from other sources, the maximum wind in the Exeter area is 50 Km/hr, and is blowing down the runway.

The weather should be within the limits of the aircraft - the only issues will be damage to the airport infrastructure or aircraft from the strong winds.

The main London airports will be a different kettle of fish. The winds there are stronger, verging on the maximum allowable wind speed for ground movement of aircraft ( a higher limit than take off/landing) so this could lead to heavy cancellations.

Strong winds always lead to delays anyway. Aircraft on approach to land are separated by a minimum of 3 miles. In strong headwinds, aircraft take longer to cover the distance, meaning the landing flow rate is reduced. Airports like Heathrow work at capacity all the time, so this reduced flow rate will inevitably lead to cancellations.

Hope this helps.

Dantsw13, it does thanks. Can you update me later. xxx
Jambo, yup via Manc, which is normally the source of my troubles...
Not as bad as a fokker, 50, but FLYBE's Dash 8's are the airline equivalent of a rigid singlespeed on 100psi tyres..

How about a 12 noon flight into Bristol from Guernsey ?

will it be going do you think?

It may be going, but it may not be going where you want it to go.. somewhere in the Netherlands maybe..

I hope all the carnage has got out of the way for my 10.30am flight on Tuesday from LHR.

Stoner - the weather will have calmed down by then. However, whenever there are big delays/cancellations, it can take days to get all the a/c and crews back in the right place.

Fingers crossed, as this is all anticipated, disruption, whilst inevitable, can be kept to a minimum.

I'm supposed to get myself up to Tooting tomorrow morning for an orthopaedic appointment, now that I'm (sort of) walking again. Ooh er.

All flights to Tooting are cancelled.

cheers dan.
Not sure why Im that bothered, it's not like I even want to go on the trip 😉

It'll be fine. You'd be surprised at what they fly in 😉

It'll be fine. I've done loads of flying in high winds, including diagonal landings, blown off course when landing, and emergency throttle due to wind almost killing the props and I'm still alive.

Although I now have a tamizipam addiction.

Still glad I'm not flying tomorrow! I seem to miss all the really crap weather 8)

I find in or out of City airport bloody terrifying on a calm day!

City airport is a real one-off, with steeper approaches and take-offs than usual, and a very short runway.

Not sure about in the SW, but SE trains cancelling everything until midday, and London overground closure, inability of critical staff to get to work will have a big knock on effect on airports.

City airport is a real one-off, with steeper approaches and take-offs than usual, and a very short runway.

Well that was an anticlimax. Flights all running fine this morning. Not even that bumpy..

City airport is a real one-off, with steeper approaches and take-offs than usual, and a very short runway.

For little aircraft. If you want a similar experience in bigger planes then fly to Innsbruck - it's a fun approach to experience if you're not too bothered by that sort of thing, and the pilot certainly earns his money.

I've flown into Innsbruck, and whilst it is technically challenging, it doesn't require the steepness of approach that LCY does. It also has a 50% longer runway.

Toys - glad it all worked!!

I've flown into Innsbruck, and whilst it is technically challenging, it doesn't require the steepness of approach that LCY does. It also has a 50% longer runway.

Which is why they don't fly 737s etc. into LCY - the planes which do fly there are designed to perform steeper approaches and have shorter rolls. In terms of getting near the edges of the envelope of the planes involved I wouldn't have thought there was much in it.

Scariest landing (although not very by global standards) I had was Gibraltar. The new runway is made from reclaimed land and appears immediately out of the water without anything before it. So you look out of the window and see water getting closer and closer, the tarmac only appears a second before you touch down.

Scary landings eh? Try Saba in the Carribean, worlds shortest commercial runway, its on the only "flat" part of a volcanic island and the approach has you flying at a cliff face until the minute with a left turn to a stall landing.

Takeoff would benefit from an aircraft carrier catapult.

BA now fly an A318 into LCY, which is the shortest variant of the A3XX family of Airbus - so pretty much a stubby 737. It needed specially modified flight control software to allow the steep approach to be flown. The landing zone at LCY is very small, with no margin for error, requiring special training and frequent refreshers.

The challenge at Innsbruck is more lateral navigation, with the steep valleys. The missed approach is also particularly tricky if you have had an engine failure, as you need to maintain visual flight conditions until the valley becomes wide enough to perform a turnback. In normal conditions, the landing itself is more straightforward.

I've also landed at Gibraltar on many occasions. The main issue there is when the wind comes over the Rock, giving severe updrafts and downdrafts.

Landing at city is fine but taking off is always a bit disconcerting. I don't really notice the rapid altitude gain, but you seem to get to a certain point which isn't that high and then spend ages flying at the altitude which always makes me think somethings wrong and we're about to crash into Buckingham Palace.

Boardinbob - that's a pretty standard acceleration profile. The aircraft climbs in its takeoff configuration until all close in obstacles have been cleared, then accelerates almost level whilst bringing in the flaps, then resumes climbing.

The other factor at LCY is that you are flying under the LHR approach lanes, so will have a level flight segment until you clear them. It will probably feel very low!!

I knew it was windy at Heathrow this morning when even Cathay's and Singapore's wouldn't attempt landings.

Saba...

Now this looks like fun!
[img] [/img]

Going to Nevis in May. Might go for a wee look!

dan thanks for your input, always nice to get an actual expert. Cheers

[i]I knew it was windy at Heathrow this morning when even Cathay's and Singapore's wouldn't attempt landings.
[/i]

Errm everybody else was landing fine - are you trying to suggest Cathay and Singapore have better pilots than everybody else?? 😕

Toys19 - Pleasure!!

Er no they weren't. Between 0600 and 0700 there were many go arounds as it was 235 gusting to 80. As I left there was numerous diversion requests and all ground movement was stopped.

I only say Cathay and Singapore as I'm sure they have lots of experience of extreme winds and they decided to make approaches but ended up going round and holding again.

Fair do's. Thats BA's peak arrival time, and they had 2 GA total due to windshear, and no diversions at all. You sound like a pilot too, and were obviously there - thankfully I was still in bed!!! The highest reported wind on our pilot forum was 270/41G67.

No probs. ATC. As I left an emirates was diverting to Manchester and there were a few twitchy requests for weather updates.

It was the poor a318 from JFK. Couldn't get into city this morning.

I left at 0700 so after that I don't know what was happening.

D13,

Try Deptford Down at 3000' in a C130 for a short rwy! Also 12-15 degree approaches in a B200; absolute hoot! Happy days!

Not a good day for minimum fuel - you can't get much extra in a 318!!! From the anecdotal reports I saw, it was bumpy but manageable. Good job the wind was down the strip, not coming over the hangars!

I'm ex C130 too!!!

They switched to 27R for landing hoping they would be more sheltered. Didn't help much. Ground speeds were interesting on outbounds!

From gw and ss that is.

D13, how long ago did you leave? I thought Deptford was hideous to be honest! 😕

Ive been out 8 yrs. Never did Deptford - only did strips at the end, and most of those were in sandy places!!

Sand is a common sight now! At least Deptford's nice and green! I've moved on job-wise too, but ironically within earshot of DD!

D13: There's a big bash/carnage to say farewell to the K on 8 Nov. Won't be there myself tho'.

Yes, saw that, but Im in Japan singing Karaoke!!

I started on the K but was mainly a C130J man.

The last two Ks departed today. Never flew those just the J.

Narita?? Enjoy!

Hello again lovely pilots.
I'm worried about friday, flying aberdeen to manc 2:30-4pm and then manc to exeter 4:45-5:45

Met office for Exeter says gusting 57mph on friday at 6pm..
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/sw/exeter_forecast_weather.html

Will it be like this (same plane I will be in landing at Exeter Bombardier Dash 8).I'm puckering up at the thought.

Bump

My flight in to Manchester from Geneva this evening seems to be unaffected by stormageddon so far.

yer, its the 60mph cross winds at landing time in Exeter that has me worried..

Hi Toys19.

The forecast doesn't yet extend to lunchtime for EXT airport. But the MAN forecast for lunchtime tomorrow has been issued and there is nothing above the crosswind limits of the Dash for your landing at Manchester. There is only a small possibility of a shower for your landing time. I will have a look at the EXT forecast in the morning and report back.

I used to do the internal flights with the predecessor of FLYBE and can tell you that the guys are used to this weather and well practiced form doing 4 landings a day, 18 days a month!

cheers tomkerton, I've been flying this route every monday and friday since last april and it has been very reliable. I would really appreciate an update tomorrow. Its not the perceived danger that has me worried, its the horror of not getting home in time to see my babies..

Was it Jersey European?

Worked for Brymon followed by BA Citiexpress. Left in 2006. Take people on holiday now.

Brymon! blimey.

ooh, can someone tell me what to expect for my Frankfurt to Heathrow flight at stupid o clock (06:00) tomorrow morning?

BECMG 1406/1409 14016G26KT
TEMPO 1408/1410 7000 -RA
BECMG 1410/1412 6000 RA SCT008 BKN012
PROB40
TEMPO 1411/1417 3500 +RA BKN008

Which means at Heathrow there will be a 16gusting 26 knot wind by 9am with a good possibility of light rain from 8-10am. After 10 the rain will increase in intensity.

Your flight may be a bit bumpy towards the end but generally no problems for the BA or Lufty boys.

Cheers Tom, all those jumbled letters and numbers up there..... you're just making it up aren't you.. 😀

What's going on here?
Has STW been hacked?
This appears to be a thread where the OP has asked a question and got informative replies from actual, rather than armchair experts.
Surely this is not the sort of standard we need on here.
This thread urgently needs a mini cab driver from Bolton telling us how he thinks that you should land a plane in high winds with a reply from a big hitter telling him that he's got it all wrong 😀

Morning toys19

EXT have issued a forecast only as far as 3pm but it shows a 25 gusting to 43 knot wind from the south up until 3pm. The runway is east/west and therefore the wind is indeed, as you predicted, all crosswind. 43kts will be above the crosswind limit of the dash, I can't remember what it is, probably something like 35kts. However the aviation forecasts are worst case so it's common to see that and it not be quite so bad on arrival. And you're arriving a couple of hours after the forecast runs out so I will check again in a few hours. Not wishing to second guess the Captain but I should have thought that (s)he will load fuel for two attempts to land at EXT and then fuel to divert to an airfield where the wind is more down the axis of the runway. That's what I'd do anyway!

Tom thanks. I found this link that says 32kts crosswind.
The forecast for 6pm (landing at 5:45) is for even faster winds.. [img] [/img]

This link for dash 8 q400 http://www.qva-airways.org/pilotcentre/aircraftops/dh8d.htm

They will still try EXT I should think. Try to get you home for the babies!

Blimey..
There are no others nearby with N-S runways. Bristol is east west with similar predicted southerlies, Newquay is virtually east west. Cardiff is NW-SE runway with similar wind also..

Birmingham is a possibility, runway is 150 degrees. Not too bad a drive south.

Yeah or Southmapton is NNW-SSW.. Same drive from soton as BHX.

Would love to know how you get on. My email in in my profile if you're away from a computer or on here!

Cheers
I hit the ABZ lounge at about 12:30, so should have wifi there..
I picked this up from here http://www.checkwx.com/weather/EGTE
I think this shows the forecast till 18:00

TAF EGTE 140800Z 1409/1418 14018G32KT 8000 -RA BKN014 TEMPO 1409/1413 15025G42KT 3000 +RA BKN008 BECMG 1411/1413 19025G44KT 9999 NSW SCT020 TEMPO 1413/1418 3000 +RA BKN010

wind 25 gusting 44?

Yes - you're getting good at this.

So that means that between 11 and 1pm the wind will pick up to southerly direction 25g44 and remain so until the end of the forecast period - in this case 6pm. NSW means no signifiacant weather (no precipitation) and the cloud base at 2000ft

The last bit means Between 1pm and 6pm there will be temporary showers with reduced visability associated.

This forecast makes it a good likelihood that you will get into EXT IMO.

Coolio, so 44kt gusts are ok? I might hit the gin and valium just to be sure...

Only 44kts? Call that wind?

[img] [/img]

Oh it will be quite bumpy so the gin and Valium are a fine plan but the gusts are only temporary, the mean wind is forecast at 25 which indicates the overall mean wind. The 44 is the worst possible case and hopefully it will be only 32kts when you arrive. Fingers crossed!