Weather hazards in aviation

 

          Let's face it, I'm a Cessna pilot- anything and everything is hazardous to me. But there's one thing in particular that I encounter more often than any other thing, and that as a pilot-in-training I didn't quite understand the severity of. Today I'm going to talk about clouds. 

         I think I speak for all kids when I say that at one point, we've looked at a big fluffy cloud and wondered what it would be like to touch it. Or moreover; walk on it. The logistics behind that did not stray me when as an adult learning how to be a pilot I couldn't shake the desire to at least touch it. I waited and waited and waited for IFR training to finally pop the question. And much to my surprise... No, I couldn't just fly through a cumulus in my 172, open the window, and stick my hand out. Turns out that if I flew through one, I would have to deal with the weight of what created that cloud in the first place. And a climbing cumulus can very easily break apart an aircraft with the degree of turbulence it produces. The reason this is hazardous, is because of the potential to not always accurately predict whether they carry a storm, and how fast the storm is producing (besides the obvious of not being able to see through one). 

Below I have attached an accident case study of an aircraft who did not due it's due diligence at night to avoid a cumulonimbus cloud:

          According to the NWCG, the cumulus stage of a cloud starts with a rising column of moist air to and above the condensation level. The lifting process is  characterized by strong updraft. Cellular convection implies downward motion as well as updraft. This takes the form of slow settling of the surrounding air over a much larger area than that occupied by the stronger updraft. During this stage the cumulus cloud grows into a cumulonimbus. There is extreme turbulence in and below these clouds, with intense gusts superimposed on the updraft and downdraft.

          One of the ways in which we can avoid big heavy clouds is by weather briefing before we fly, as well as filing a flight plan in the event of conditions changing. Never try to out-climb a cloud of this measure, and certainly don't mess with one at night. Try to stay below or around these conditions, and worse comes to worst- TURN AROUND. As I'm sure you've heard before "It's better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than flying and wishing you were on the ground".

Reference: https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms425-1/thunderstorms