Shawn
En-Route
Cruising around San Francisco today on a Bay Tour, wrapping up and head back down the coast @3500' in the SFO Bravo transition to KHAF for some lunch...
ATC: "Sklyane 598, traffic two o'clock, 747 heavy climbing'" (kinda hard to miss a 747)..."Traffic in sight"..."Skylane 598, caution wake turbulence" ..."Roger 598". He has taken off and is departing off to my right.
Now I am still several miles out from the 747, and he is now several miles to my three o'clock. I have been here before...in the exact spot no less with a departing 747 and had a few "wabbles" of turbulence from the departing aircraft. Looked like I was gonna be well above his glide path when I crossed his point...and he was so far out by this point...and knowing from my training that wake turbulence falls, figured I was good. Crossed his flight path and *BAM* all three of us in the plane get LAUNCHED into the roof, Stratus receiver and GPS antenna on the dash go flying and literally flip over and land upside down on the dash, everything in the baggage area was airborne. Just one quick slamming jolt, but dang we all got worked! Guess I wasn't as far above his path as I thought!
Moral of the story...pay attention to wake turbulence even in the air...it can leave you with a headache for the rest of the day!
...and on another note. I learned that my seat belt and shoulder harness does a great job from keeping me from going forward but not so much from going up!
ATC: "Sklyane 598, traffic two o'clock, 747 heavy climbing'" (kinda hard to miss a 747)..."Traffic in sight"..."Skylane 598, caution wake turbulence" ..."Roger 598". He has taken off and is departing off to my right.
Now I am still several miles out from the 747, and he is now several miles to my three o'clock. I have been here before...in the exact spot no less with a departing 747 and had a few "wabbles" of turbulence from the departing aircraft. Looked like I was gonna be well above his glide path when I crossed his point...and he was so far out by this point...and knowing from my training that wake turbulence falls, figured I was good. Crossed his flight path and *BAM* all three of us in the plane get LAUNCHED into the roof, Stratus receiver and GPS antenna on the dash go flying and literally flip over and land upside down on the dash, everything in the baggage area was airborne. Just one quick slamming jolt, but dang we all got worked! Guess I wasn't as far above his path as I thought!
Moral of the story...pay attention to wake turbulence even in the air...it can leave you with a headache for the rest of the day!
...and on another note. I learned that my seat belt and shoulder harness does a great job from keeping me from going forward but not so much from going up!