Posted on 06/03/2009 7:34:01 AM PDT by Clive
“Then you haven’t looked”
A pilot would know there is no such thing.
Nonsense.
You really want to stick to your bullshit story that you’ve flown an F-16 through a thunderstorm and that it is rated for such? I don’t know of a single aircraft rated for hailstones, tornadic winds, water concentrations, or the icing experienced in thunderstorms, much less a single-engine, light weight F-16. There are no such ratings given by aircraft manufacturers. Airplanes are rarely flown into thunderstorms but rarely on purpose and never with the idea that the aircraft has somehow been rated for it. Even the hurricane hunters have strict limits and procedures for flying into a hurricane.
You certainly want to avoid thunderstorms, yes, for all the reasons stated.
But yes, the Soufa has the appropriate all weather instruments for avoiding the otherwise unseen hazards (like hail), as does the Airbus. The engine (or engines in the case of the airbus) would not be affected.
Indeed, the primary reason for the second seat was to permit the pilot to fly the plane in bad weather and the weapons officer to shoot.
You are certainly at the mercy of G-d for unintended changes in altitude and direction, but over the ocean, at the altitudes in question here, it’s a calculated risk.
And yes, while not intentional, I have been stuck in some truely distirbing weather in many different aircraft, both military and general aviation (not sure that is what it is called in the USA).
It’s a matter of going slow as you can, maybe pulling in the flaps (depends on the plane), paying attention to your instruments, and leaving.
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