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Fighting the Willow Fire in the western Sierra Nevada


Ed Cesnalis

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Hope you aren't flying around that stuff CT....the little FD will melt.

 

About 8 years ago, flying from Mammoth to Minden I became enveloped in smoke from a fire near Santa Barbara.  With higher mountains in all directions I found myself with no visual references outside of the cockpit, no ground, no terrain, no horizon, and no sky. Lucky for me I had just installed a 10" display with 3-d terrain and synthetic vision  :)

 

There was no quick way out and no-one to talk too at 10,000' but my situational awareness was high and I was comfortable. With my PCAS I even had traffic on my display.  Flying a clearance or a flight plan when there is no visibility is one thing but using synthetic vision to navigate terrain is another and a great safety net as well.

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Very dangerous situation you got yourself into.

 

Yup,  I think the smoke can be more insidious than clouds.  We have it now and 1/2 the day can be quite clear but when the smoke does come over to the east side it can happen both in front of you and behind you at the same time.

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Its been a wild summer.  I have been up to Seattle from SoCal a couple of times since June, and smoke has been the main flight planning issue.   This smoke makes its own weather, like a "cloud" layer that you have to go under or over or find a way around.  I have been under one that rained mud on my pretty bird!   WF 

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