Opinions about Stormscopes

I have flown in the Southeastern US with a Stormscope since 1980. I have never encountered greater than moderate turbulence and in most cases have enjoyed a smooth flight. With NEXRAD on board, I will penetrate weather if the Stormscope shows clear. Over the last 30+ years I have flown thru a lot of rain that the radar equipped aircraft won’t fly thru because the Stormscope shows clear. I use the Stormscope strategically to avoid areas of lightning. I recall one trip back to Charlotte from Dallas where the briefer had recommended a southerly route around a long fast moving frontal system that stretched west to east until the Atlanta area and then turned north all the way up to Canada. So that is the way I filed. The system was vicious with tops in the 50’s. My Stormscope indicated that the safe way was to the north of the line and I flew it in the clear and smooth air all the way to around Chattanooga. This required a route about a 100 NM north of my flightplan but at the same time it was more direct. Back in the early 1980’s, we didn’t have LORAN or GPS, but I had my KNS80 and could plot a direct route. ATC was continually asking when I could resume my flightplan route. Finally they asked if I was capable of navigating direct present position to Charlotte. I was happy and proud to say, not a problem.

Approaching Chattanooga, 200 NM to go, ATC advised that all the traffic (those who were radar equipped were taking a wide detour to the north and asked if I wanted to do the same. The Stormscope indicated it was quiet for the next 200 NM along my current route. Night had fallen by this time. I told ATC my decision was to continue on my course. When I had cleared the area of the weather, ATC asked how my ride was, and I answered was smooth but wet. After that report, all the radar equipped aircraft asked for direct routings though the same area.

Stormscopes are not good for picking ones way thru thunderstorms, but they are great for strategic routing decisions. With my Stormscope, I only had to land once because there wasn’t a feasible way around or thru the approaching line of thunderstorms. I just waited it out and resumed in calm air after the storms passed. Stormscopes show lightning and lightning occurs in two phases of a thunderstorm, the cumulus phase and the mature phase, both of which can have extreme turbulence associated with them, Radar, shows rain and displays during the mature and dissipating phase of a thunderstorm, the latter of which is not dangerous to fly thru. Radar misses the cumulus phase all together. In a single engine aircraft, radar is not a particularly good weather tool as the antennas sizes are too small and attenuation can present a deadly sucker hole. A twin with a good radar and antenna system can be very useful, but I would opt for having a Stormscope if I could only have one. Of course I would prefer both. NEXRAD in the cockpit with its inherent delays can also only be used for strategic planning, although when used in combination with a Stormscope, one has a better idea of where the storm is now and whether or not the rain is from a convective cell or not.

I fly with stormscope, radar and ADL120. I tend to use the ADL for strategic avoidance and the radar backed up by stormscope for tactical. Of the three, I find the stormscope the least useful but it does provide further input to give you a picture of what is going on. I am not sure that I would install if not already there but I guess other than an ADL120 it would be the cheapest option and provide some good info and much better than nothing.

If you go for the ADL, you could have a portable solution or install it fixed.
Portable you don’t need anything, a fixed solution would mean a minor change for a few 100 Euros (450 I think)

I tend to confirm NCYANKEE.. I have a complete WX950 Series II for sale (if nobody is interested in Europe it goes back to the US). Currently my bird has a WX1000E with NAV option. My previous aircraft had a WX11. Wouldn’t fly IFR/VFR without one. Next week I will upload some pictures I took on my flight I made last Tuesday with some serious convective weather West of Vienna.(position of CB’s was confirmed by ATC Airlines where avoiding also). ADL plus a stormscope must be the ideal combination…
Rain to fly through is one thing …flying through CB’s is another one…the latter makes you loose the wings……..What makes a stormscope usefull is the interpretation of the dot’s speed they appear spread etc…good for anticipating 70-200 Nm in advance..(A thing WX-RADAR is unable to do except in the very advanced/expensive ones like in an Airbus..with doppler option.)…

I prefer using the “visual stormscope”, but if there were embedded as they were 10 mins before these photos, RADAR and SS are great to have. You can still see the ice on the leading edge. Taken from FL280. Every aircraft over the southern UK was undertaking weather avoidance.

As promised, last weeks weather….all Heavies where avoiding the dotted stuff. Initially we where at FL100 had to go down to FL080 for icing…
On the right (over the mountains south of Linz around Mariazell) no strikes but CB’s in the end phase no way Jose to climb straight into icing conditions.
So in order to get the full picture a radar plot would have been ideal in this case…;-))

Not looking good in the Mountains (picture taken almost over Schwegat Vienna…we where radar vectored around it..)

Well indeed, Belgium feels more and more like Southern France while Hungary, Austria starts to feel like Belgium….I don’t get it anymore..

Character building weather

No need for test set to check your stormscope… you push the aircraft outside and switch the master avionics on…..