Guest Goodole boy Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 So there I was yesterday sitting in my one man life raft putting a dip in and trying to pass the time...I looked up and saw the biggest clouds in the sky and the first thing I thought was...shit, it would be good to be flying through those clouds today...So I want to ask everybody whats the best sky surfing adventure you have ever had...cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rtstolwo Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I was flying from Indiana to Key West this spring break for vacation (and, believe or not, college credit for the "Ocean Flying" class ISU offers). It was a two day IFR trek down there in a Piper Arrow. The second day was from Dothan to Key West and the entire day there was cumulus as far as you could see. We were filed for 7000 and the clouds topped out at around 7050. It was awesome popping in and out of the tops like that but I couldn't help wishing we weren't IFR so we could actually do some surfing rather than flying straight down the airway. Then it occured to me...airways are 8 miles wide! I spent the remainder of the flight bobbing and weaving around the clouds. It was an amazing experience and the pictures are just as good. Probably not so exciting to you more seasoned guys, but to a guy with only 120 hours dodging clouds while flying himself to a week in Key West for college credit...I say it doesn't get any better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rtstolwo Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Oh yeah, one of those days we flew VFR over to Bimini in the Bahams, in case anybody was wondering where the "ocean flying" actually came into play. Haha, that was an exprience. Peacocks and Turkeys everywhere, even around the runway. Never thought I would have to worry about smashing a peacock on my takeoff roll! Good stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vetter Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 The coolest experience I've had was flying from Eglin AFB to Columbus AFB at 350 and .95. It was about 10 PM and we were flying right in between two massive lines of thunderstorms. Best light show seen to date. That said, it was also one of my most uncomfortable moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hydro130 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Booking out of Key West one night, Center asked us if we wanted to spin and watch a Saturn launch.... Very cool! Hydro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rtstolwo Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Damn, that is cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hydro130 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 And ingressing to Udon Thani, Thailand at night is NOT recommended with an inop WX radar when there is a massive thunderstorm on station. That's not the "fun" kind of cloud surfing; that's the "Crap, I think we're going to die" kind of cloud surfing... Hydro [ 18. June 2006, 12:36: Message edited by: Hydro130 ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 One day during a pilot training area solo in a T-6 (where you fly out to a MOA, tear it up for an hour or so, and then RTB), I got sent to one of the areas furthest out (Area 8, I think it was, out at Laughlin). The weather required to send a solo student out to a MOA has to meet certain criteria, and it was basically clear and a million, except when I got to my area, there was a single lone puffy with wispy arms and tunnels through it right smack in the center of it. After a quick and dirty pilot training style FENCE in, I pointed the nose at it, firewalled the throttle (or PCL or whatever the Navy made us call it back when they were in on the contract to procure it, only to completely balk and say "Um, actually we can get LOTS more years out of our craptacular T-34s") to get as much energy as possible, pulled 45 nose high right in front of it, rolled inverted on the way up over the top of it, pulling through, scraping the canopy across the top, and then rolled wings level on the other side, 45 nose low to another pull up and back around for more. That was fun. I spent the whole rest of my time there disregarding my planned profile of stuff to practice, to play around that cloud in my own personal 1100 shp, air conditioned, pressurized, fully acrobatic flying machine. That sortie alone was worth the price of admission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lovelacm Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Bravo, Rocker! Similar experience at CBM back in '01... West MOAs.. my <sarcasm>favorite IP</sarcasm> in the seat next to me... full tank of gas... huge column of cloud right in the middle of the area. The IP loosened up a bit and we had a blast. Cheers! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFCS_Actuator Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 My fam ride in a T-6 at Laughlin. There were lots of cumulous in our MOA, it was a CT sortie with no objectives for the IP, and we were the only aircraft in the box. Instead of "surfing" the tops, we went "canyon running" looking for holes or narrow sections betweeen clouds to punch through. It was 50 of the best minutes of my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techsan Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Surfed around this bad boy just the other day...just about 20NM away though. Top was at 550. Everything's bigger in Texas!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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