The trip back from Quebec City involved a stop in Burlington, Vermont to clear customs, borrow the “crew car” at the airport gas station (FBO), rent bikes along the lakeshore, and fly back to Boston at around 6:30 pm when the afternoon thunderstorms were supposed to be dissipating. Each leg of the flight was about one hour and we were in the clouds almost the entire time. The new airplane has a datalink with the National Weather Service’s NEXRAD system for finding rain showers, thunderstorms, and lightning strikes. As another demonstration of the power of U.S. government bureaucracy this datalink adds about $10,500 to the cost of the airplane. If you buy a battery-powered receiver to plug into your laptop and use without connecting to the airplane’s electrical system the cost is about $800. Consequently, just as with the GPS systems that would warn Cessna pilots out of the Washington, D.C. airspace, hardly anyone with an older airplane has this kind of datalink. On the second leg the datalink proved very valuable. The air traffic controllers in this region have a simultaneous display of air traffic and weather and you can ask them for vectors to keep clear of heavy rain but it is very nice indeed to see it all in on the airplane’s dashboard moving map.
As it turned out the rainstorms and lightning were still active in some areas of Vermont and New Hampshire. But with the datalink we were able to steer clear of anything worse than light rain. My old plane didn’t have the datalink and I probably would have chickened out and stayed on the ground until the FBO’s weather terminal showed the RADAR calming down.
I’m already missing the friendly people of Quebec. The Departure controller asked if I’d enjoyed my weekend there. I especially remember Eric Proulx, a farmer in the city market who showed us photos of his goats at the Ferme Tourilli, and gave us samples of his delicious Cap Rond cheese, which he says is available in one Boston store (I’ve emailed him to find out which one; he couldn’t remember at the time).
Oh it’s Lily again – i just left a comment down at The Incredibles bit.
You were in Chile?? I just watched The Motorcycle Diaries in Spanish – it was such a good movie. I’m not sure if you’re a film buff, but if you are, I’d DEFINITELY recommend it. It’s about Che Guevera’s first exposure to the idea of alterate forms of govt. Good soundtrack too.
If you are even in Norman Oklahoma, be sure to check out the National Weather Service.
Grab some a limeaide at Braums and check out your tornado experts at work.