Snake River

[Scott Musser]

Had a nice trip home in the 206 this morning from Boise. There was a large cell over Ontario, so we diverted north to McCall then home.

Got some nice pix of the mountains northwest of McCall and then the Snake River Canyon south of Melmaloose. Lots of snow still left.

 

[lowlevelops]

Looks like it's still winter in the first pic!

Nice pics Scott.

 

[Scott Musser]

Amazing what a little elevation difference can do. Those pictures are only a few miles apart.

Here's my flight track from this am...

 

[Splashlanding]

It sure is nice to have weather on board, years ago and not many I might add, that would have been an E-ticket ride there..

Ki

 

[Scott Musser]

You are so right. It's easy to forget what it used to be like. I'll never forget my first trip with Nexrad radar.

I had bummed a ride to OSH with some friends in a King Air back in 2001 or 2002. I'm went whole-hog on the system from Anywhere Map, complete with sat phone.

We wouldn't have made it home as quickly without it. There were extreme buildups from north to south. Of course with the onboard radar, you only see the immediate future. I was in right seat and fired up my new toy and was able to see the big picture, showing that if we went this direction, we could get around it and be assured that there was no issue after that.

That really is the huge improvement with onboard Nexrad. Being able to see your whole route and make long term strategic decisions about what you're going to do.

 

[Splashlanding]

Scott,
Thats funny, I bought the same set up with the sat phone.
I had the first Garmin gdl 49 after that, total junk but the first Garmin 430 weather set-up. It would give me a reply and then get confused, take the weather off my screen and give me a reply 250 miles behind me!!!

Thank goodness for XM. Things are sure more reliable, it gives me more time to go around the rain..
Ki

 

[FLHusky]

I went the same route; got to know the support folks real well. It is not perfect now; yesterday afternoon coming out of Miami the typical summer Florida was dotted with thunderstorms. Taking off, I had a good plan and then XM weather did not refresh for 45 minutes. Weather Watch helped me with a new strategy to get north to Orlando but it brought back memories trying to "read" the clouds. Finally XM came up and it was like finding an old lost friend. It only fails when you need it.