Flying_Monkey
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- Sep 22, 2014
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Departing Palm Springs yesterday, surface winds were direct headwind 20G30 from the northwest. Palm Springs is notoriously bumpy especially in the afternoons, but I wasn't really expecting what we got. Immediately after takeoff we got moderate turbulence and were getting bounced around which I expected. About 2 minutes after takeoff we hit one severe turbulence bump and everyone's head hit the ceiling. Wife and kids all crying in terror. It caught me off guard and was the first time I've experienced air this rough. We climbed out of the bumps after 10 more minutes or so and didn't hit another huge one. Rest of the trip at 8500 ft was pretty smooth, although I went the long way around the north side of the mountains instead of through the Banning pass since I figured there would be lots of turbulence there too and my family would be more comfortable. It had me rattled and a little in edge the rest if the trip. Kpsp to KWHP.
This made me think- what can the plane really handle? How rough can it be before you start to worry things will just break? I keep below Va in rough air.
This made me think- what can the plane really handle? How rough can it be before you start to worry things will just break? I keep below Va in rough air.
