Mike D
Well Known Member
I know we all think it. I am a safe pilot and there is no way this would happen to me. Well, this morning I was almost proven wrong. A little embarrassing but I will share.
I departed KDWH (Hooks airport, Houston TX) at 8am to do some test runs on the new P-mags. The sky was clear and no clouds (not a single one). Dew point/temp spread was 5 degrees and it was increasing. So all seemed okay. Right?
Took off and flew out beyond the class B to climb up to 5500 (8K d-alt) and start my runs. I am keeping an eye out for other aircraft and watching the EFIS and engine instruments. I am conscious of my surroundings and am noticing a slight haze build. I think to myself, ?maybe I should cut this test short. I have to get to work and I don?t need a hazy landing?. But in no way did I think this was an emergency. So I reduce the throttle and start a 500ft/min descent. Seemed like a good and proactive idea. Engine was hot from the runs and did not want shock cooling, so I did the standard descent.
Well, by the time I hit 4500 ft, (2min after descent start) visible clouds were all over the place. It was now scattered. I thought, ?this does not look good?. So I increased the descent to 1500ft/min. and circled a clear area. 1 min later it was broken and I was still above the clouds. Pulled the throttle, and lowered the nose and pulled some G?s to drop like a rock. I threaded through a hole and was on the bottom at 1200ft AGL and 10mi from 11R (Brenham, TX). Landed with 1300ft overcast and 0.5 on the hobbs.
Recap ?The sky went from clear to completely overcast in a matter of less than 10 min. I have never seen anything like this. I could literally see the clouds form like in a time lapse video, but this was real.
So, I almost became a VFR pilot stuck on top. I had 3-hours of fuel, and within the hour the clouds were high enough and again broken up. But I had no way of knowing the clouds would break up.
Lessoned learned:
In hind sight I was not in an emergency situation. I could have waited it out on top. If pushed, I could have gone through it, as I have done this before with an instructor. But I sure felt the pucker factor. Mostly because I was surprised how fast the clouds formed and had almost cut me off my clear view to the ground.
Let me know what you think or how you would have handled this.
I departed KDWH (Hooks airport, Houston TX) at 8am to do some test runs on the new P-mags. The sky was clear and no clouds (not a single one). Dew point/temp spread was 5 degrees and it was increasing. So all seemed okay. Right?
Took off and flew out beyond the class B to climb up to 5500 (8K d-alt) and start my runs. I am keeping an eye out for other aircraft and watching the EFIS and engine instruments. I am conscious of my surroundings and am noticing a slight haze build. I think to myself, ?maybe I should cut this test short. I have to get to work and I don?t need a hazy landing?. But in no way did I think this was an emergency. So I reduce the throttle and start a 500ft/min descent. Seemed like a good and proactive idea. Engine was hot from the runs and did not want shock cooling, so I did the standard descent.
Well, by the time I hit 4500 ft, (2min after descent start) visible clouds were all over the place. It was now scattered. I thought, ?this does not look good?. So I increased the descent to 1500ft/min. and circled a clear area. 1 min later it was broken and I was still above the clouds. Pulled the throttle, and lowered the nose and pulled some G?s to drop like a rock. I threaded through a hole and was on the bottom at 1200ft AGL and 10mi from 11R (Brenham, TX). Landed with 1300ft overcast and 0.5 on the hobbs.
Recap ?The sky went from clear to completely overcast in a matter of less than 10 min. I have never seen anything like this. I could literally see the clouds form like in a time lapse video, but this was real.
So, I almost became a VFR pilot stuck on top. I had 3-hours of fuel, and within the hour the clouds were high enough and again broken up. But I had no way of knowing the clouds would break up.
Lessoned learned:
- Watch the weather and react as soon as it starts moving toward uncomfortable. Don?t wait until it is uncomfortable.
- Don?t get blinded by what seems to be an emergency. There are other options than the one you are focusing on at the moment.
- Carry my cell phone because I don?t know anyone?s number without it.
- Get to really know my equipment. An emergency is not a good time to learn. If the GPS had gone out I would have been in trouble. I have a VOR and a second GPS but I don?t use those often.
- Finish my IFR training, because you never know when you are going to need it.
In hind sight I was not in an emergency situation. I could have waited it out on top. If pushed, I could have gone through it, as I have done this before with an instructor. But I sure felt the pucker factor. Mostly because I was surprised how fast the clouds formed and had almost cut me off my clear view to the ground.
Let me know what you think or how you would have handled this.