Microburst Event Video at US Air Force Academy Airfield

[mekender]

http://youtu.be/b_WmjWAGkLI

Taking off with a 55kt tail wind is a hell of a thing...

[Darrell]

Huh, I hadn't heard a word about that... it do get a mite breezy here at times.

My workplace is under the flight path south of the Academy airfield. I get to see all those craft and more on a daily basis. They fly a couple of Twin Otters, cool airplanes. They're used for parachuting--I was watching them at break and lunch today. I forget what most of the single engine trainers are. There's been a recent (and recurring) stink about the noise generated by Academy aircraft as they fly over surrounding neighborhoods. The town has grown up around the Academy--when it was built, it was out in the sticks north of town. The town runs all the way to the north gate now, and past some. And yes, some people whine about the noise, but hey, the Academy was there first. They do try to accommodate, doing more of their training over the plains east of town. The whole I-25 corridor is rapidly urbanizing though, all the way from the Springs to Denver and points north.

[Aesop]

Doss Aviation maintains/operates the Piper Super Cubs they use for tow planes, and they stall at 38kts (43mph) with full flaps.
So a 55MPH microburst gust obviously made for an interesting day when parked/idling planes start taking off on their own.

[randy]

Looks like quick thinking and good reactions from the pilots involved. Reminds me of helping secure aircraft and getting hangar doors open (the wind pushing the doors in did more damage than the wind) at the local airport when Hurricane Ike came to visit Ohio (gusts over 75MPH, sustained not much lower than that).

Oh, as a side note:

From Me

To: Anyone that has built, or bought a home built in the vicinity of an existing airfield, particularly military, and now complains about the noise

Fuck you

Strong Message to follow

[Netpackrat]

It's normally better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, than in the air, wishing you were on the ground. With a few notable exceptions, like this one.

[Old Grafton]

Oh, as a side note:

From Me

To: Anyone that has built, or bought a home built in the vicinity of an existing airfield, particularly military, and now complains about the noise

Fuck you

Strong Message to follow

....Or a shooting range public or private, miltary or civilian.

[mekender]

It's normally better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, than in the air, wishing you were on the ground. With a few notable exceptions, like this one.

Yea, in that case, being in the air as far from the ground as possible seems like the best idea...

[arctictom]

Take offs are optional , landings are mandatory.
Think I have relayed this before , I was in a J3 on a taxi way with gusts to 25k and left the ground , wind is a pilots reminder that nature rules

[mekender]

Wait, so judging from the condition and size of the runways I am seeing on aerial maps, they dont get all that much jet traffic... So WTF are they complaining about??? The occasional prop plane gives them the vapors?

I live directly 8 miles from the end of the center runway at a major hub airport... The aircraft line up a mile south of me and come in directly above my back deck... The Western runway traffic comes in 2 streets away, the Eastern runway traffic comes in over the driving range at the neighborhood golf course which is right behind my neighborhood... From 6 to 7 am through about 10 to 11 pm every single day, each runway has a plane landing every 90 seconds or less so long as the winds are right... If the winds are the other way, then the departing aircraft come over head about once every 2 to 3 minutes.

I also live 2 miles from a major theme park... Every Friday and Saturday night after Memorial Day and every night of the week after July 4th through about Labor day, the light off a fireworks show at promptly 10pm.

I also live in a state where the only law against fireworks is that they have to be bigger than a certain length and the fireworks stores are all less than a mile from my house since they are all on the state border. Combine that with the fact that there is an abandoned car dealership on the back side of my neighborhood where the out of stater's like to park and party for the 4th of July and New Years and sometimes even Memorial Day, and you have a hell of a lot of noise every day. Oh and bonus points because around here the 4th of July and New Years start at LEAST a week early.

[Rumpshot]

Sounds like the party is at Mekender's place. Fireworks are legal in AZ, at least theoretically, but with fire season firmly established, they are not a good idea. Besides, all the fun fireworks are not legal.

Aircraft noise. Don't know if it is true or not. Heard about a young female lawyer that decided to close an airport. She bought an expensive house near the end of the runway. She started complaining to the airport every time an aircraft flew near her new home. More political actions were taken by her to cause the airport grief. Someone in authority at the airport recognized what was taking place and established a system that recorded her every complaint and had it legally attached to her title to the property. In effect, she was then documenting via the legal system why her property value was diminishing daily. When she finally realized what was happening, her house was worth practically nothing because of the location and the airport noise. Talk about being upside down on a mortgage.