AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 88
P&E
WX WATCH
Trouble on top
Does cloud-free mean problem-free?
BY THOMAS A. HORNE
88 | AOPA PILOT March 2014
In thunderstorm season, I love flying on top.
With a clear view all around it's easy to spot cumulus
buildups as they gain strength. Yes, any intervening clouds can make locating and avoiding buildups
more of a challenge, but there's always the option of
a 180-degree turn to get away from trouble.
Or is there? There can be situations where this
may not always be the case. Indulge me here while I
tell you a story of one of my on-top antics.
When I was a newly minted commercial/instrument pilot I did a lot of time-building, and at one
point I ferried brand-new Cessna singles from the factory in Wichita to a burgeoning flying club-Century
Aviation-with bases at Leesburg, Virginia's Godfrey
Field; Dulles International Airport (yep, you read that
correctly); and St. Petersburg, Florida's Albert Whitted
Airport. It was the glory days of general aviation manufacturing-and for the Cessna Pilot Centers and other
franchise organizations run by Piper and Beechcraft.
The factories would sell the airplanes to the FBOs running the pilot centers and flying clubs and the FBOs
would sell the airplanes to customers, who in turn
leased them back to the flying clubs.
SARAH HANSON
FLYING IN on-top conditions is always held up as some
sort of Holy Grail. True, being above the clouds is
definitely preferable to slogging along in the soup,
where you're apt to get beaten up by turbulence or
slathered with icing (the areas near the upper limits
of cloud layers can be especially icy when temperature and liquid water contents are conducive). Flying
beneath the clouds often is no party, either, what with
low-level terrain-induced or frontal turbulence-not
to mention wind shear and the updrafts and downdrafts that accompany the vertical mixing within an
active air mass.
True, smooth air and great visibility many times
are hallmarks of on-top flying. Under visual flight
rules (VFR), all it takes is weather that permits you
to climb up through a cloud layer while maintaining
VFR cloud clearance, then later descend under the
same conditions. En route, you can fly VFR above an
undercast. Under instrument flight rules (IFR) you
can ask for a clearance to climb to on-top conditions-
or simply file for a cloud-free altitude-but once on
top, you must observe the flight rules for both VFR
and IFR flying.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014
Contents
President’s Position
Visual Approach
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Foundation Focus
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
B
Regional Events
Events
Test Pilot
Aerial Adventures
Pilot Products
Airport Stories
AOPA Sweepstakes
Aircraft Showdown
Bell UH–1B Huey: A Flying Symbol
No Runway? No Problem
Safety Pilot Landmark Accident: Know the Territory
New Perspective
Technique
Efficiency
Proficiency
Ownership
Frugal Flier
Wx Watch
Never Again
AOPA Action
Member Services
AOPA Aviation Finance
AOPA Foundation
State & Local Action
Insurance Services
Fly by Wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Visual Approach
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Foundation Focus
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - B
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Regional Events
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Events
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Test Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Aerial Adventures
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Pilot Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Airport Stories
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - AOPA Sweepstakes
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Aircraft Showdown
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - D1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - D2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Bell UH–1B Huey: A Flying Symbol
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - No Runway? No Problem
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Safety Pilot Landmark Accident: Know the Territory
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - New Perspective
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Technique
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Efficiency
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Proficiency
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Ownership
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Frugal Flier
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Wx Watch
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - AOPA Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Member Services
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - AOPA Aviation Finance
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - AOPA Foundation
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - State & Local Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Insurance Services
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 107
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Fly by Wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - Cover4
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