Flying in Rain

I had a cruise out of Tampa, just before Christmas. I had thought of flying my 6A down but when I checked the weather, it was showing green all across mid Georgia. I know having XM weather on my 496 you can avoid the Yellow and Red (unless you want to die) and for the most part you can see thunderstorms ahead and avoid them during the Summer months.

Nevertheless, I decided to drive the 16 hours to Tampa. I did encounter some heavy rain in Georgia. I have encountered some light rain showers flying under the clouds last Fall. But if you are VFR flying under the clouds, I was wondering how heavy is too heavy for safety or do you have to go IFR?

Allan Stern "My Girl"
RV 6A

Caveat: I am a weather wuss and proud of it.

I do not have on board weather

I have only encountered sprinkles during my journeys.

On a return trip last year I saw rainfall that I thought was light (green on XM?). Chatting with ATC they called it moderate. So I am currently under the impression that if I can see it I avoid it.

Too cautious? Maybe...but I am alive.

I frequently fly through light rain showers, and have done so for decades in a variety of airplanes. It's a great way to get an airplane wash! (IFR, it's just something that you have to do once in awhile.) the key for me if I am VFR is that I maintain VFR visibility conditions - I have to be able to see what is going on around, and make sure I can see traffic. if the rain shaft is opaque, then it is a cloud - to be avoided!

Although there are no absolutes, I find that green stuff on the XM is generally easy to fly through; often-times, it is virga, or just moisture in the clouds. Yellow is to be avoided, especially if it adjoins orange or red on the XM - it represents th edge of building stuff which is changing too fast to trust the XM as a navigation aid!

IFR, I fly through rain all the time, much of it heavy enough that you won't see a thing outside the cockpit. But I still maintain clearance from anything (on the XM NEXRAD) even remotely orange or red - if the yellow adjoins it, I go around. I am a "Wx Wuss" as well - no need to get yourself all scared in the cockpit!

Paul

small steps......

start out with local flights. xm is a great tool if there are metars in the area. temp/ dew point spread is also helpfull. isolated rain showers forcast should be ok. if you cant see thru it dont fly thru it. the only way is to start taking small steps first. be safe. fly more. turbo

Every cross country flight that I went on for the first six months of my planes life was through rain at one point of the flight. The first time I was a little nervous but I got used to it. But I must be able to see the ground and through the rain and I am on Flight following.

Rain

I'll pass on some advice an instructor gave to me. If you are VFR, don't fly into rain that you can't see thru. Based upon my experiences, I'd say it is pretty solid advice.

Another thing to think about when flying in the rain is that it is hard on your paint. Prolonged exposure to heavy rain at cruise speeds will work on your leading edges. Not a bad idea to slow your plane down.

DaAV8R said:

.... Not a bad idea to slow your plane down.

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and reduce RPM to help keep the paint on the prop.

Paint Stripper

Low Pass said:

and reduce RPM to help keep the paint on the prop.

Click to expand...

If you haven't experienced this, listen up! I have seen about half the paint stripped off the back side of a prop from flying through some heavy rain - not in an RV and well before having XM or a strikefinder/stormscope to stay clear. Of course there are many other reasons to stay clear of this severe of a storm too. Reasons that a rattle can will never take care of!

Be careful out there - there is a lot to be said for CAVU.

JMHO

As a 13,000+ hour airline type...(not that means anything)...
We avoid yellow when we can (red always) for pax comfort and common sense. And that's in a 150,000 lb 737. With Vertical Profiling Dopler Radar. With a two person crew that flies in weather every week.
Small planes (excuse me, REAL planes) aren't really designed for heavy weather. Will it do it? Probably. But why chance it? It's just not worth saving a few minutes or hours. I try to be weather 'smart', basing my decision at the time on all current information while staying conservative but not afraid.
Your milage may vary.

737-700 for the mortgage
C-310 for need
RV-7 for life!

Mariners Prayer

Allan Stern said:

I had a cruise out of Tampa, just before Christmas. I had thought of flying my 6A down but when I checked the weather, it was showing green all across mid Georgia. I know having XM weather on my 496 you can avoid the Yellow and Red (unless you want to die) and for the most part you can see thunderstorms ahead and avoid them during the Summer months.

Nevertheless, I decided to drive the 16 hours to Tampa. I did encounter some heavy rain in Georgia. I have encountered some light rain showers flying under the clouds last Fall. But if you are VFR flying under the clouds, I was wondering how heavy is too heavy for safety or do you have to go IFR?

Allan Stern "My Girl"
RV 6A

Click to expand...

Remember this if you please.
Dear Lord please protect me because your ocean is so big and my boat is so small. This works for A/C also. I know I've been scared before.