Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024

tlglenn

tlglenn

Line Up and Wait
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Ted
Rather than dealing with traffic on the ground getting to and from a viewing spot I was thinking of making use of general aviation to get to and from an airport in the path and watching from there. Could be a fun gathering.

In my case I'm thinking Texas between Mexico and DFW. I've drawn a line in my EFB from Eagle Pass (5T9 Maverick County) to Sulphur Springs (KSLR).

Kerrville (KERV) and Gillespie County (T82) seem like candidates for someone approaching from the direction of El Paso.

Related: https://pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/foreflight-eclipse-map-layer.145408/
 
I was thinking we'd just wander out in the back yard. Prime, dead-on in the center thing for us :)

Jim
 
I'm honestly rather annoyed that Sun&Fun scheduled their airshow a DAY AFTER the eclipse. The eclipse's "path" was well known for a few years now and Florida is quite a ways away from the optimal course.
I'm seriously considering delaying or completely avoiding sun&fun this year because I'd rather witness a historical eclipse (which will not occur on US soil until 2044 and 2045!).

Rant over.
 
Leyrah said:
I'm honestly rather annoyed that Sun&Fun scheduled their airshow a DAY AFTER the eclipse. The eclipse's "path" was well known for a few years now and Florida is quite a ways away from the optimal course.
I'm seriously considering delaying or completely avoiding sun&fun this year because I'd rather witness a historical eclipse (which will not occur on US soil until 2044 and 2045!).

Rant over.
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What’s the appeal of the eclipse that it’s worth giving up sun and fun for? It gets dark for a few minutes during the day and that’s it. I just don’t see the appeal of planning a whole vacation just to experience a few minutes of darkness caused by the normal cycles of earth and the moon.
 
kmacht said:
What’s the appeal of the eclipse that it’s worth giving up sun and fun for? It gets dark for a few minutes during the day and that’s it. I just don’t see the appeal of planning a whole vacation just to experience a few minutes of darkness caused by the normal cycles of earth and the moon.
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I could wait a year to experience Sun&Fun again, I will have to wait 20 years to experience another total eclipse. A once-in-a-20-year event is by definition quite special.
 
kmacht said:
What’s the appeal of the eclipse that it’s worth giving up sun and fun for? It gets dark for a few minutes during the day and that’s it. I just don’t see the appeal of planning a whole vacation just to experience a few minutes of darkness caused by the normal cycles of earth and the moon.
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We saw it in 2016 (correction: 2017). There’s an enormous difference between 99% and 100%. We also saw the annular one last October. It was underwhelming, to our surprise.

The full eclipse was a surprisingly emotional event for us. It’s surreal to be out in the country and hear all the insects going - and then it goes completely quiet. It cools off quickly and the light is very different from twilight.

If you can see a full one, I doubt you’ll regret it.

As for airports along the way, I can guarantee they’ll be packed. Plan to get there early.

I’ve heard of some people flying during the eclipse and it sounds like it wasn’t as impressive as they thought.
 
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Jim Rosenow said:
I was thinking we'd just wander out in the back yard. Prime, dead-on in the center thing for us :)

Jim
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It's also local to me. But springtime in Ohio ain't known for the sun.
I have thought about flying above the clouds, if it won't be clear within 100 miles.
 
tlglenn said:
Rather than dealing with traffic on the ground getting to and from a viewing spot I was thinking of making use of general aviation to get to and from an airport in the path and watching from there. Could be a fun gathering.

In my case I'm thinking Texas between Mexico and DFW. I've drawn a line in my EFB from Eagle Pass (5T9 Maverick County) to Sulphur Springs (KSLR).

Kerrville (KERV) and Gillespie County (T82) seem like candidates for someone approaching from the direction of El Paso.

Related: https://pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/foreflight-eclipse-map-layer.145408/
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KERV and T82 may be jammed up a bit. If TX will have clear skies I’m thinking Hondo or Uvalde. I’m coming from south Louisiana. Fortunately anywhere from the border to Lil’ Rock is a reasonable day trip for me. I attempted to book a room at a Hilton owned resort in NW San Antonio a year ago and a normally $450 room was $1200. I decided to be light on my feet so not to risk getting an extremely overpriced hotel room and get weathered out for the eclipse.
 
i
Llewtrah381 said:
We saw it in 2016. There’s an enormous difference between 99% and 100%. We also saw the annular one last October. It was underwhelming, to our surprise.

The full eclipse was a surprisingly emotional event for us. It’s surreal to be out in the country and hear all the insects going - and then it goes completely quiet. It cools off quickly and the light is very different from twilight.

If you can see a full one, I doubt you’ll regret it.

As for airports along the way, I can guarantee they’ll be packed. Plan to get there early.

I’ve heard of some people flying during the eclipse and it sounds like it wasn’t as impressive as they thought.
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I want to second this. I've experienced totality twice, and it's unlike anything else I've ever experienced. I brought skeptical-but-willing friends to Wyoming for the 2017 eclipse and all of them have moved heaven and earth to be in the 2024 path of totality. There's a whole 5 days of Sun and Fun after the eclipse
 
Kenny Phillips said:
It's also local to me. But springtime in Ohio ain't known for the sun.
I have thought about flying above the clouds, if it won't be clear within 100 miles.
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I hear ya, Kenny! Fortunately KBJJ is in the back yard too

Jim
 
Mt Pleasant, TX, KOSA, is another option. The FBO is very friendly, the ramp is pretty good-sized, and there’s a really good aviation museum on the field - with all of the aircraft flyable
 
I have a second home (and hangar) right in the path of it. I’ll be there via my Arrow. Bloomington IN.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
We saw it in 2016 (correction: 2017). There’s an enormous difference between 99% and 100%. We also saw the annular one last October. It was underwhelming, to our surprise.

The full eclipse was a surprisingly emotional event for us. It’s surreal to be out in the country and hear all the insects going - and then it goes completely quiet. It cools off quickly and the light is very different from twilight.

If you can see a full one, I doubt you’ll regret it.

As for airports along the way, I can guarantee they’ll be packed. Plan to get there early.

I’ve heard of some people flying during the eclipse and it sounds like it wasn’t as impressive as they thought.
Click to expand...
Agreed concerning full vs annular. As far as crowds, I heard during the 2017 one all the airports were going to be packed, yet they were not where we were (western SC).
 
My wife and I experienced the 2017 event from the air,at 11,500'. The RV-12 is perfect for this mission. Definitely a bucket list item checkoff for me.
 
The eclipse is forecasts to be right over our house in Canada so ideally I can watch from the backyard. But weather may spoil that idea so just in case, I booked hotels along the route of the eclipse, from Texas to eastern Canada and I’m ready to fly there if needed. If y’all do a gathering in Texas, let me know as we may have to go. Texas certainly is much sunnier then Ontario that time of the year.
 
Baked Potato said:
Will sport pilots in the path be forced to land during the duration of the eclipse?
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Not according to the 14 CFR 1.1 definition of "night":

Night means the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time.​
 
Leyrah said:
I'm honestly rather annoyed that Sun&Fun scheduled their airshow a DAY AFTER the eclipse. The eclipse's "path" was well known for a few years now and Florida is quite a ways away from the optimal course.
I'm seriously considering delaying or completely avoiding sun&fun this year because I'd rather witness a historical eclipse (which will not occur on US soil until 2044 and 2045!).

Rant over.
Click to expand...

"Completely avoiding"? You do know that SNF is 6 days long, right? I usually head there on Monday, but this year will go on Tuesday specifically because of the eclipse. Not a big deal, there are plenty more days in the week.

kmacht said:
What’s the appeal of the eclipse that it’s worth giving up sun and fun for? It gets dark for a few minutes during the day and that’s it. I just don’t see the appeal of planning a whole vacation just to experience a few minutes of darkness caused by the normal cycles of earth and the moon.
Click to expand...

If you think it just "gets dark", then you clearly haven't seen one. It's weird. Like otherworldly weird. And fascinating. Highly recommended, and no I can't even really explain why. And as others have said, 99% isn't enough. It has to be 100%. I flew to see the 2017 eclipse with my wife and daughter, and we all thought it was one of the coolest experiences we've had. So this year, we're going to do the same thing.
 
I wanted to fly to Niagara Falls for it. But both the likely insanity of that destination along with a poorly planned meeting at 5:00 that evening far from the eclipse line will keep me from experiencing it.

Here’s a video of what you may encounter if you aren’t the only plane who thinks of the airport you pick for eclipse viewing. My favorite is the guy who apparently didn’t want to run out of gas, so he hopped out to pull his plane by the tail.

 
RussR said:
...If you think it just "gets dark", then you clearly haven't seen one. It's weird. Like otherworldly weird. And fascinating. Highly recommended, and no I can't even really explain why. And as others have said, 99% isn't enough. It has to be 100%. I flew to see the 2017 eclipse with my wife and daughter, and we all thought it was one of the coolest experiences we've had. So this year, we're going to do the same thing.
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I thought it just "got dark" before I ever actually experienced it. Now I know better.
 
BTW, why not just start from a airport outside the total path and take off, getting above the clouds and having a perfect view from the air?
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
BTW, why not just start from a airport outside the total path and take off, getting above the clouds and having a perfect view from the air?
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I did that with my young nephew a few months ago for the annular eclipse. We probably would've had a better view from the ground with a telescope setup, but the trip was more of a memory-making adventure anyways.

It also helped that the annular eclipse was about 30 degrees above the horizon. I think the total eclipse will be about 60 or more degrees above the horizon which is a hassle for those of us flying high-wing aircraft.
 
My house is in the 100% totality coverage area and the Killeen (ILE) and Lampasas (LZZ) airports are inside the 100% area, too. There are several other airports in the totality path, such as Burnet (BMQ) and Horseshoe Bay (DZB). The ability of these airports to handle an overflow of parked airplanes is extremely limited, except for ILE, which has terrible services. Good luck finding parking and fuel if you fly in...

I experienced the last total eclipse and it was pretty spooky. The shadows disappear, then it gets dark and the temperature drops 20 degrees.
 
Just so happens my daughter has drs appointments at Cincinatti Children’s in Ohio that morning I’ll be driving to. Her last appointment starts at 1345 local so we may drive a bit farther north to be a part of it.
 
I am required to work that day because of the eclipse, and am located in the path of totality in Indiana. I would prefer to fly to somewhere with more reliable weather like Texas to see it, but Indiana will have to do. KHNB and KFRH are two nearby airports in totality here. I wonder if the eclipse day may be the busiest they have ever been. I think KHNB is starting to plan for a big event, food trucks, etc.

We saw the 2017 total eclipse in Illinois, you don’t want to miss it. Seeing the solar corona without needing glasses was very interesting. Being in totality makes all the difference, if you are you will be able to take your glasses off for a short time and get the view of your life.
 
Something unexpected to watch for before/after/not in complete totality: the shadows of the leaves on trees were a bunch of luminescent crescents. It was bizarre. For the annular one, the shadows were a bunch of luminescent rings.
 
In addition to seeing the corona of the sun and the flaming red solar prominences around the edge of the moon, there's another spectacle that is unlike any other celestial event. If you are located on high ground with a commanding view of the surrounding terrain, you can see the shadow racing across the ground at 1,763 miles per hour average (the actual speed depends on location). That's enough to bowl you over as the shadow crosses your position. It is beyond amazing! I've been to 3 eclipses and won't miss next year's event either. Here's my video from the 2017 eclipse I watched from a ranch in central Oregon:

 
Baillie12 said:
My wife and I experienced the 2017 event from the air,at 11,500'. The RV-12 is perfect for this mission. Definitely a bucket list item checkoff for me.
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I’m kinda thinking along these lines, for the 4:09 event. It’s right near 2:00 in afternoon, S IL. Just loiter 3-5000 AGL, out of the way some. When it’s over, bug out towards home.
 
No services, but Reál County, 49R, I think is close to the middle of the path.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
BTW, why not just start from a airport outside the total path and take off, getting above the clouds and having a perfect view from the air?
Click to expand...
If the weather is bad, this will be our "plan B", but it will be much better to view from the ground ( I fly a Mooney and looking up to the sun isn't as easy as something like an RV-12).
 
Saw the 1984 eclipse at Piedmont Park in Atlanta and it was remarkable. A beautiful, clear spring day and everyone was there to party. In 2017, we flew over to Anderson (KAND) in was parked midfield with a perfect 360 degree view. Moments before the totality, a cloud drifted overhead which was disappointing to me. The fella that came to SC from Long Island in his Falcon was slightly more annoyed!
I tell people who’ve never seen one that it’s the many little things that make it uniquelike how light filters though trees— instead of round blobs of light, you’ll see a circular shape with a ‘bite’ out of it.
Everyone should experience it at least once.
 
I caught an eclipse in Hawaii 30+ years ago. Just dumb luck, happened to be stationed there in the military. But I was young and dumb, so I don't remember much except what a circus people turned it into.

Example: there was a skydive fatality during the eclipse. The jumper became separated from his harness during free fall.

For this one, am thinking it would be smart to land just outside the zone of totality a few hours prior, gas up, then proceed to a viewing airfield in the zone.

Question: any safety of flight issues associated with flying through the partial eclipse? IE do you have to wear the special glasses at all times, or only when looking directly at the sun?
 
Ed Haywood said:
Question: any safety of flight issues associated with flying through the partial eclipse? IE do you have to wear the special glasses at all times, or only when looking directly at the sun?
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No issues, except maybe getting distracted by it. No need for glasses unless you want to look at it. No different than looking at the full sun.
 
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AOPA April magazine has a section on airports in the path of totality that are planning special events.
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Good to know what places to avoid. Not that I'm a party pooper but I want to watch the eclipse then head out to Sun&Fun.
 
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