Five Tips For Turbulence On Your Next Flight
Don’t lose sleep over your next flight! Turbulence is a natural state of the atmosphere and, fear of turbulence can be managed. Since the birth of aviation, turbulence has been the thing that we just have to deal with when flying. You either love it, or hate it. Most people just get use to it. However, for fearful fliers they sometimes never get use to it. There are five tips you can take on your next flight to help make it a smooth one.
The first tip, is to get the idea that bigger is better out of you head. When it comes to airplanes & turbulence it’s the climb performance of the airplane that matters. Why is this important? Well commercial aircraft travel within the troposphere which is our lowest atmospheric layer where all out weather occurs. Every aircraft has a service ceiling which is the maximum altitude that aircraft can climb to. Most commercial aircraft fly between an altitude, or flight level from 300-430. Flight level 300 is 30,000 feet. As the aircraft burns more fuel & becomes lighter it can climb to a higher altitude up to it’s service ceiling, or maximum altitude. Sometimes all it takes is a change of altitude of a thousand feet to get out of a layer of turbulence. The aircraft with the higher service ceilings have more advantages when it comes to changing altitude. Older aircraft are limited in how high they can climb. This is the reason why the size of the aircraft don’t matter. Some small 70 seat regional jets have better climb performances then older aircraft like the MD-80 that carries 150 passengers. To find out the service ceiling of your aircraft you can sometimes go to the airlines website, or to the back of the airline magazine were they have their aircraft fleet information. If you know the aircraft you will be flying already then you could also go online to research this information.
The second tip is to fly in the early morning, or late evening hours to avoid turbulence. This is because most turbulence is caused by the sun’s radiation as it heats the earth’s surface causing updrafts & clouds. This tip works most of the time, but not always. For example, if you have inclement weather in the morning such as thunderstorms, or a fast moving cold front in the vicinity then you will still get some turbulence. In the summer time it’s especially important to fly very early because most thunderstorm occurs in the afternoon.
Third tip is if you find yourself experiencing turbulence on a flight, it’s a good idea to turn your air vents fully open. If you have a row to yourself use all the air vents as this will help you from becoming dehydrated.
Fourth Tip is to use technology such as apps. There are a host of new apps out there for the iPhone that can help with fear of turbulence, or fear of flying. Some apps such as, ” Let Panic Go & Turbcast ” do a wonderful job for fear of flying, & turbulence.
The fifth & final tip is try to sit over the wing root section of the airplane. The wing root area is just right before the wing & at the edge of it. If you look out the window you should be able to see the wing area. The wing root area is the center point of gravity of the aircraft & happens to dampens the effect of turbulence a little better. It is also common to see the wing flex & bend a little so don’t worry if you see that. An airplane wing is built strong enough to handle a lot of stress. Hopefully all these tips will help you enjoy your next flight.