The last two evenings, I've managed to sneak away to the airport after work for some much-needed Sportsman practice. But once I got in the air, I found the sunset haze too much for me. I would have been fine as far as seeing the ground and guessing about the horizon are concerned. But what convinced me to pack it in was the fact that I didn't think I could reliably spot traffic. And I was not about to fly acro if I could not clear the area.

Do you folks think I'm being too much of a worry-wart? The surface viz was P6SM, but I think the in-flight visibility was worse than that. Also, I tried climbing above the haze, but I wasn't out of it by 6000'.

Tom P.

• RE: Acro in Hazy Weather,Patty_Wagstaff, 22:09z, 06-26-03
• RE: Acro in Hazy Weather,KendalSimpson, 01:17z, 06-27-03
• RE: Acro in Hazy Weather,TomParsons, 16:18z, 06-27-03

Tom

I know what it's like to fly in hazy weather. I have flown in plenty of it, both for practice and for airshows and contests. You are certainly smart to be careful watching for traffic! On the other hand, if you can do it safely, it's good training to practice in weather that you might have to compete in. Six miles vis isn't that bad, and if memory serves me correctly, you have to have three at the contest. It's more difficult to see the horizon, of course, in hazy weather, so you have to rely on timing of maneuvers in order to stop on a point, among other things. So, consider it good training for the future.

Best,
Patty

LAST EDITED ON 06-27-03 AT 01:20z ()

LAST EDITED ON 06-27-03 AT 01:17z ()

Hey Tom,
Being and feeling safe is always most important. With that in mind here's what I have found. When It's hazy there is usually one direction that has better visability than others so I try to practice maneuvers in that direction. Flying into the sun when its hazy is asking for trouble viz goes to nil. As long as your not looking into the sun traffic isn't as hard to pick out as you might think. The dark objects usually stick out fairly well against the haze. It is much tougher to fly the maneuvers with the haze but there will be contests where we will have to fly in those conditions. Maybe next time head for the best horizon you can find and just work on all types of rolls Point rolls, multiple rolls, rolls in oppisite directions etc... It might also be a good time to practice some inverted flight and inverted turns. Just my 2 cents worth but if you don't feel comfortable then your not having fun and thats what this is all about. So get out there and have FUN
Kendal Simpson
www.littletootaerobatics.com

Thanks for the advice. I do want and need the experience of flying acro in the haze, as long as I can do it safely. Maybe I will try flying away from the sun and doing figures that aren't direction-reversing (although that lets out much of the Sportsman sequence). Someone once suggested an exercise that might be useful here: a 45 upline, with a half-roll midway up, followed by a pull to a 45 downline, again with a half-roll midway down. Also, as Kendal suggests, my rolls could use plenty of help.

Instead of this NJ muck, I wish I were flying up and down the Avra Valley, where 30 miles viz is a bad day!

Tom P.

Hey, Kendal- anybody planning to get together at MSV or MGJ this weekend?