Well its a rough start. So far I was to depart on the 19th but due mainly to winds (50 kts on the nose) decided to postpone till today the 20th. Looking at the Winds forecast last night (still forecast to be 50 KTS on the nose) as provided by RR and the icing forecast I delayed departure till Sunday the 21st late last night. The winds would have increased my flight time an additional hour and 1.5 hrs not to mention the ice and TKS usage.
This rarely happens being delayed going to Germany with their many good but expensive IFR fields. Flying the reverse route its a bit more dicey cause the field is VFR only with no lights and a high MEA 4000 ft. Cant even ask for a visual approach let alone a contact approach. But still have not had to cancel any flights planned on a particular day. So flying here in Europe for 1.5 yrs its unusual to be sitting and waiting.
I think I’ll head off to the thermal baths and get a massage. Thats equivalent to women getting a manicure when stressed.
After a relaxing time at the baths looked up everything Rocket Route had to offer. There was a site called ogimet that was great. What I found was exactly as predicted. However I did not know that when I flight planned and filed.
This morning I woke up to clear skies and blustery winds which were forecast. Still 50Kts on the nose for at least part of the trip. I get to the hangar only to be told well we cant open the doors due to the wind and cant but the smaller planes out cause they cant handle such wind. Well considering the doors were facing downwind and the lee side of the building reduced the wind to about nothing I reasoned with them and I assumed responsibility for any damage. To make a long story short the roof didnt blow off and no planes were overturned. Yes it was steady 30 G 44 but it was down the runway give or take 20deg.
On the flight once into Austria the winds died to 35kts from 50 and with plenty of ridge lift made the trip in a little under 3 hrs as opposed to forecast 3hrs 25 min. Ogimet was right on with cloud tops. Didnt need my TKS at all.
So Rocket Route has all the weather you will need you just have to know where to look.
Happy Holidays one and all.
