WEATHER A SEVEN LETTER WORD!

TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY

THAT IS THE QUESTION

My apologies to Mr. Shakespeare for ripping off Hamlet. I have been accused by my friends, and enemies, of flying since the day I hand cranked the Wright Flyer. While not being quite that old, I have flown for a long time.

I started my flying career in a 172 as a passenger. The pilot was my neighbor and 3rd Chairman of Delta Airlines. Ever since that day as a teenager I knew I would fly airplanes. I went on to obtain my glider and power ratings which leads us to todays column, WEATHER, which can be a nasty 7 letter word.

We are preparing for our last trip to San Diego for the summer. It is imperative for anyone who lives in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area to travel to San Diego to regain their sanity from 105 plus degree days for 4 months, and those in San Diego call us Zonie's.

We have a unique feature in Arizona in the summer called the Monsoon. The flow aloft changes from a westerly flow to a northernly flow July through September. This brings moisture from Mexico into the Southwest. I have been very fortunate that I have had only 2 flights over the years where the weather was a concern flying from San Diego back to Phoenix. When flying to and from Phoenix-San Diego we have an 8 mile wide corridor to fly in. The north side is restricted airspace and the south side is Mexico. There is not much room for maneuvering. My first problem trip was thunderstorms with a squall line moving north to south. I had XM weather and the squall line was visible in flight. We had to skirt the Mexico-US Boarder to beat the weather. This year on July 17, it was IMC from San Diego to Phoenix. We worked out a flight change to go through the restricted areas north to Blythe, CA. These restricted areas are usually cold on the weekends and holidays.Yuma had thunderstorms that we could not vector around. ADS- B weather helped me plan our deviation along with the excellent Marine controller at Yuma Approach. Upon arrival in Phoenix we were then talked down through the clouds by Luke approach until we broke out from 9,000 to 4,500 feet AGL and proceeded to land at Phoenix Deer Valley (DVT) which was under visual flight rules. Our alternate at Scottsdale was IMC and traffic was backed up shooting the approach.

Richard Collins wrote a column years ago to go up and take a look if possible but to always have an out. Following this philosophy I have been able to make many trips that I did not know would be possible until I took a look.

I have learned more about weather being a glider pilot than I ever did being a power pilot. This knowledge has enabled me to better understand the situations along my route of flight. This week, Labor Day, we are planning to go to San Diego for our last trip  of the summer. There is a large tropical depression located over Mexico in the Gulf and another in the Pacific moving south to north. For the first time in my flying career it looks like we will take 4 wheels instead of 3 and drive to San Diego. I hate driving and the trip will take around 6 hours versus 1. 9 hours flying each way. It is a tough decision but I think the right one. I do not fly in thunder storms and icing. If things change Friday morning we can still fly but my mindset is now on driving as getting back could also be a problem. 

This trip also has some secondary aspects for me. I have a decision to make whether to keep the plane and along with it costs for hangar, insurance, maintenance and $6.40 aviation fuel. I’m sure it’s a lot nicer flying to San Diego every 2 weeks instead of driving. I could also fly the airlines for the same cost of my fuel bill but would not be able to bring my beach chairs, umbrella and cooler. It is another thing to evaluate after this trip is complete.

I will finish this column when I return and let you know how things turned out.

It is now Friday morning of Labor Day weekend. We could have flown to San Diego this morning but the weather in San Diego is predicted to be lousy all weekend. No fun being in San Diego in a hotel room, shopping center or movie theater. Therefore we decided to cancel this trip. It is a bummer for us, but the right thing to do. I do not like to drive anywhere but to the airport. After commuting the time involved driving versus flying my plane we have decided to keep our plane as long as I am comfortable flying. Three canceled trips this summer for weather and fires were disappointing but that is life.

Most of our winter flying will be in Arizona and Las Vegas as Scottsdale is not a place I want to leave October through May due to our beautiful weather.