Page 11 - May 2019

sulked quietly, and turned the heading bug 5 degrees more right. There was no turbulence, nothing that would have even awoken a sleeping passenger, but he was right. My risk meter was broken. I had drifted from a position of being respect- ful of thunderstorms in my early years in aviation to a point that I was willing to go between cells, cut corners around cells, and generally “just get too close.” I had appropriate confidence in my ability to operate onboard radar and stay out of the convection (and associated updrafts and downdrafts), but the convection is only one threat on the long list of threats a thunderstorm can provide. The threat of lightning and hail are ever-possible with any thunderstorm, and distance is your best friend when avoiding these enemies. The FAA standard to remain 20 miles from any thunderstorm had faded through many “uneventful close encounters” with cells. I had drifted from that standard to the point where I got comfortable and flirted with disaster.
Want proof that being close to a thun- derstorm is no good? There are three PA46 owners I know who have sad tales to tell from thunderstorm experiences in 2018. These are certainly lessons you want to learn from others’ mistakes as opposed to your own.
Lessons Learned
The first is a Meridian owner who flew about five miles from “a small storm that didn’t look like much at all.” The flight seemed normal, and no one onboard noticed anything unusual in flight, but upon landing it was apparent that light- ning entered at a prop tip and exited via a static wick on the tail. While initially ap- pearing to be minor damage with minor ramifications, the extent of the financial and scheduling pain was soon felt.
Due to the lightning strike, the engine had to be removed from the airframe and disassembled so the parts could be demagnetized. This took four months, and even though insurance paid for part of the invoice, there were still large costs associated with “betterment” – a really nasty word in the insurance industry for any airplane owner who doesn’t keep large amounts of cash-reserve.
The second story is of a JetPROP pilot who flew in the clear between two cells at FL270. He remained in the clear, but then heard some unusual sounds while in
f light. Upon landing, there were dozens of pockmarks in the leading edges of the wings, tail and nose area. Hail had been thrown from the storm and he flew through the onslaught. The airplane will f ly again but with lots of repairs, $30,000 in new deice boots and a newfound ap- preciation of the power of a thunderstorm by the pilot.
The third owner story is a Malibu pilot who never even knew something hap- pened. But during the airplane’s annual, the entry and exit wounds of a lightning strike were discovered. The airplane
was repaired, but “avionics gremlins” continue to show up a year after the sus- pected day of the strike.
Each of these airplane owners will suf- fer the most financial loss when they try to sell their airplane. Buyers of airplanes are justifiably wary of airplanes that are damaged by lighting or hail. Damage history significantly lessens the value of an airplane.
Needless to say, the owners now steer clear of thunderstorms and would re- late that the downtime, financial loss and heartache was absolutely not worth
Short N Numbers
Rosen Sun Visor Systems
May 2019 / TWIN & TURBINE • 9