PDA

View Full Version : Captain - I am having a major panic

sillything
06-19-2009, 01:29 PM
attack about getting on a flight in about 2 hours Wellington to Brisbane. The weather here is terrible, windy and heavy heavy rain. I am terrified of turbulence and my 3 children will be with me and I am so scared for them. What can I do to help myself?
Barb-SAN
06-19-2009, 01:50 PM
Capt. Hutch may be out flying right now...but for future reference when he does reply, here is the current weather for Wellington NZ... (my GUESS, is that while it is windy, it's probably not windy enough to close the airport to large jet traffic). If the planes are able to take off directly into that wind, it will help them take off faster.
Barb-SAN
06-19-2009, 02:05 PM
Here's the Google Earth picture showing both Wellington and Brisbane.
Barb-SAN
06-19-2009, 02:24 PM
Wellington Airport (One runway, 16/34)
Barb-SAN
06-19-2009, 02:32 PM
Also for Capt. Hutch's reference....
And, Sillything, I hope you will come back and give us more weather and turbulence information after your flight. :hug:
Barb-SAN
06-19-2009, 02:55 PM
Here's a crosswind calculation, using an online calculator at http://www.csgnetwork.com/avxwindfactor.html
Different planes have different crosswind maximums, so it would help to know what plane you will be flying on.
Captain Hutch
06-24-2009, 02:44 PM
Silly Thing,

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time for your flight, however from the wonderful info that Barb-SAN supplied, the conditions wouldn't be too bad for a "normal" windy, rainy day. The crosswinds are well within limits for airliners, and headwinds make for a shorter landing distance, which is nice. If the rain is too heavy for the pilot to see the runway well for his landing, he will go-around and then wait for the rain to subside somewhat before attempting to land again. Although it's nice to have a nice sunny day to fly in, most of the safety features built into the aircraft these days are made for extreme conditions, and we shouldn't get lulled into thinking it's not less safe to fly on those days when the weather is less than perfect.

I hope you had a good flight--please let us know how it went. Thanks,

Hutch :tiphat: