Page 8 - Oct22T

or downdraft, I’d probably not be able to outclimb the downdraft. The night was pitch-dark except for the house lights and occasional road light. This was rural Louisiana. Below me was assuredly nothing but super tall pine trees. I’d lost control of the situation. Whether I hit convection or not was out of my control. I could only keep the nose pointed at Many and hope.
Glorious Lights
I was hunkering in the cockpit; my core muscles were tight, and my grasp on the yoke was tighter. I was brac- ing for the worst. But, the worst did not happen. After about 10 minutes of flying through the driving rain, I saw the rain-dimmed, blurry and glorious lights of the city of Many and hoped the runway lights would soon come into view. The runway lights did come into view, and I made one of the hap- piest landings I’ve ever made. I was on the ground with no bent metal.
I taxied to the tie-down spots and paused for a short while before open- ing the door to sideways, heavy rain.
Within seconds I was completely drenched. The tie-down ropes were gone (of course), and no chocks to be found. So, I jumped back in the Cessna 310 and set the parking brake. I grabbed my suitcase and ran to the FBO. Lightning f lashed all around, and I used the light from the lightning to find my way to the FBO door across the pitch-dark ramp.
Thankfully, the door was unlocked, and I began the process of realizing how wet I was in a dry place. I called hotels, rental car options and taxi services. There were no hotels with availability, no rental car options and no taxi services. And, you guessed it, Uber was not available. So, I looked to the couch against the wall and realized that would be my “home” for the night.
I watched the radar app on my phone throughout the evening, and there was no break in the weather. It rained hard for the next six hours with noletupatall.IbetManygot4to6 inches of rain that night, and the light- ning show was incredible. I sat on the
couch, laid on it, and then tossed and turned all night with broken springs and lumps galore.
But, I had survived the flight and survived the night. While the ameni- ties of the airport are few, the simple fact that they have an airport and an unlocked building was marvel- ous. I have much appreciation for the Many Airport.
The Takeaways
We have a law in the military called “the law of the 6 P’s.” It is no actual law but rather a guideline, strong advice or just wisdom. But, it is totally appli- cable to my situation. The Law of the 6 P’s is “Piss Poor Planning Produces Poor Performance.” My planning on this trip qualified. Not only was my planning poor, but my decision-mak- ing was too. I should have stopped for the night in Memphis and gone to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. But, no–Ihadtogethome.Ihadtopush the limits. I had to fly until I had “no outs.” No outs is what flying in an area of convection will provide you.
The FAA has produced really good wisdom concerning flying near thun- derstorms. The FAA’s advice is “avoid a thunderstorm by 20 miles.” That’s about as succint advice as could be given. You can avoid a thunderstorm by 20 miles if you simply decide you’ll never get closer. If you are a pilot with a regular case of “get-home-itis,” you have to set limits.
Decide today that you will not fly within 20 miles of a thunderstorm. Decide today that you will not get to a place where you have no outs nor where you are not the master of your airplane. I hope my confession helps you decide NOT to choose the path I chose. I dodged a bullet. Not because I was a good pilot, but because I was a lucky and blessed one.
Joe Casey is an FAA-DPE and an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a retired U.S. Army UH60 standardization instruc-tor/ examiner. An active instructor in the PA46 and King Air markets, he has accumulated 14,300-plus hours of flight time, with more than 5,200 dual-given as a flight instructor. Contact Joe at joe@flycasey.com or 903.721.9549.
6 • TWIN & TURBINE / October 2022