Turbulence?

Slow Motion

Hi guys

Don't post here as I am a nervous flyer and consider it a necessary evil as I love to travel, anyway was away for the weekend and for parts of both flights the turbulence was as rough as a badgers arse! So my question is what is it and how / why does it happen? I don't know if the answer will make me more or less afraid when flying but I hate not knowing what something that makes my life hell when flying actually is!

Thanks in advance for replies!

Fabio

It happens when cold air and warm air hit each other in at atmosphere causing a difference in air pressures and so the amount of lift the aircraft generates then changes with the flow patterns of the air pressure.

I think this is it anyway although someone else on here would be able to explain it better I'd say as I could be wrong.

Google it as well...

Flyer1

Great wiki article on it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence

There are also many type of turbulence. It's nothing to worry about really, just a real pain if you've a full glass of beer and it gets choppy.

Mr Benevolent

It's literally just air that is not still or moving smoothly. Could be two vertical layers of air meeting and 'rubbing off' each other. Near the ground it's probably due to warm air rising. Mountains cause it, weather systems cause it, cities cause it - it's part of aviation life. TBH, it's almost exactly the same as driving on a rough road. It's just that people don't understand how wings work and assume there's a problem.

diverdriver

Don't worry the aircraft won't fall apart from turbulence. There is a lot of turbulence in some clouds. But it can happen in clear air too. Like the others said, it's just moving air and has multiple causes. Think of the sea, always moving. Air is similar, just invisible.

I was hit by a big bump the other day, nearly hit my head off the ceiling.:eek: The worst thing about it was the fact that I was in the middle of talking to ATC at the time so there was a bit of a non standard word in the middle of the message. I hope it wasn't rude but ATC didn't comment. It might be on ATC live. I think I'll check later.

Turbulence is a fact of life in flying, just like ships roll in heavy seas.

Fratton Fred

warm air/cold air me arse. It is the pilots getting bored and having some fun with the passengers, that's all

you will also see them walking off the plane with a white stick and sunglasses and a copy of Flying for Dummies :pac:

Slow Motion

Fratton Fred wrote: »

warm air/cold air me arse. It is the pilots getting bored and having some fun with the passengers, that's all

you will also see them walking off the plane with a white stick and sunglasses and a copy of Flying for Dummies :pac:

You're all heart! You bollix

Thanks for the replies guys I think it actually helps, nothing worse than not knowing why something is happening! The sea analogy is particularly good as I did a lot of sailing and canoeing in my youth and can understand that very well!

pclancy

As I often suggest to people that are wondering why stuff happens in the air...take the plunge and try a flying lesson at your local aeroclub, once you have the controls in your hands it all feels so different and might help you get over your fears

John_Mc

diverdriver wrote: »

I was hit by a big bump the other day, nearly hit my head off the ceiling.:eek: The worst thing about it was the fact that I was in the middle of talking to ATC at the time so there was a bit of a non standard word in the middle of the message. I hope it wasn't rude but ATC didn't comment. It might be on ATC live. I think I'll check later.

LOL

pclancy wrote: »

As I often suggest to people that are wondering why stuff happens in the air...take the plunge and try a flying lesson at your local aeroclub, once you have the controls in your hands it all feels so different and might help you get over your fears

+1

Slow Motion

pclancy wrote: »

As I often suggest to people that are wondering why stuff happens in the air...take the plunge and try a flying lesson at your local aeroclub, once you have the controls in your hands it all feels so different and might help you get over your fears

Eh! I'll have a think about that, but at the moment I think I'd rather take a valium than the controls!

amen

good posts. in general the closer to the ground the worse the turbulence as it is mainly weather generated. One of the benefits of flying high is less weather and thus less turbulence.

Don't worry the aircraft won't fall apart from turbulence

in theory but if the turbulence was extremely severe it is possible though very unlikely.

Thats the only thing that would make me nervous about the A380. It failed it static load test on the wings by 2% but they were allowed to show via computer modelling that they could change parts of the wings to pass the static load but the wings were computer modelled to pass the test in the first!

diverdriver

Well of course it is possible but only in the most severe of storms that you might find in the tropics. Even then it's likely to survive although rather battered. As a rule pilots don't fly into the middle of tropical storms.

The ordinary everyday turbulence we face in this part of the world will never bring down an airliner.

Fratton Fred

Slow Motion wrote: »

Eh! I'll have a think about that, but at the moment I think I'd rather take a valium than the controls!

SlowMo, I used to be a very nervous flyer, but I fly regularly now and the more I fly, the less nervous I get. The more varied conditions you experience the more you get used to it.

What I found comforting as well, is looking at the youtube clip of the thomson airways 767 losing an engine on take off from manchester airport (A bird went into the engine). It carried on, flew around in a big circle and landed again. The clip has sound so you can hear the pilot talking to the tower and the whole thing is very relaxed and calm. when you realise just how much planes can take before they start dropping out of the sky the more you start to think that an awful lot has to go wrong before it starts getting dangerous.

Slow Motion

Fratton Fred wrote: »

SlowMo, I used to be a very nervous flyer, but I fly regularly now and the more I fly, the less nervous I get. The more varied conditions you experience the more you get used to it.

What I found comforting as well, is looking at the youtube clip of the thomson airways 767 losing an engine on take off from manchester airport (A bird went into the engine). It carried on, flew around in a big circle and landed again. The clip has sound so you can hear the pilot talking to the tower and the whole thing is very relaxed and calm. when you realise just how much planes can take before they start dropping out of the sky the more you start to think that an awful lot has to go wrong before it starts getting dangerous.

Cheers guv, will look that up! I actually fly quite often and the reason I get nervous was a very bad experience a few years ago (never bothered me before that). I was flying to the states and we had to land in the middle of a very nasty thunderstorm! lightning, turbulence was so bad that all the overhead bins popped open and luggage was falling on peoples heads, even the cabin crew looked terrified, ever since then if there is even a little bump I start to break out in a sweat!

thesweeney

When I was learning to fly in Florida during summer time...lots of thunderstorms = lots of turbulence...the one thing that used to freak me out was the turbulence. I had a really great instructor who told me to just enjoy it. Think of it as 'fun bumps' Still makes me smile and it worked. Its just mother nature bitching and moaning.

joey54

You'll probably think I'm weird but I love being on a turbulent flight! The best ones are with Aer Arann. I don't get nervous flying and sometimes, well for me anyway, I think turbulence just adds to the excitement of flying. I went on my first flight in my teens so I think this is why I find flying so amazing and exciting!