Joe Swierupski 836988 Posted April 23, 2011 at 01:54 PM Posted April 23, 2011 at 01:54 PM In the years I have flown with VATSIM I thought I had experienced weather but LAST NIGHT took them all! I was flying as AAL383 from KJFK to KSTL and the en route weather was basically routine until I got into the KSTL area around 0130Z. As KC CTR descended me on the VHP.VLA7 STAR, I started to notice alot of buildups coming into the St. Louis area. As I got lower I could see lightning in the distance and I was heading straight for it. Around 11000 feet, everything went crazy! I lost all forward visibility in the cloud deck and my 737 was pelted non stop with HEAVY RAIN-the noise of the rain hitting the plane was LOUD. Just before APP vectored me to my downwind, all of a sudden the plane's wings rolled hard right and pitched down. I had to disconnect the AP and manually take over flying. My heading had also been affected and I was about 20 degrees off course. I thought this was really strange.......Active Sky does a good job of wake turbulence simulation, but there was nobody that close in front of me and I really had to struggle to get the airplane set up again to continue the approach. I didn't report it to ATC thinking it was "just another FS9 glitch". On the downwind leg for 12L the heavy rain continued (and I do mean heavy!) , only now there was turbulence and CONSTANT LIGHTNING, and I could NOT maintain my airspeed within 20 knots of the 210 I was shooting for, despite reconnecting the AP and AT. I started then to notice that the sky had turned a strange shade of gray I hadn't seen before and it was just plain eerie and very realistic. I started to hear that a few planes on the approach had gone missed-not good news because this meant the WX was bad the entire way in. Turning base to final in zero viz and more rain, I turned on the HUD and was very glad I did. When I joined the 12L LOC I was switched over to TWR and the controller asked me- "AAL383, can you see the TORNADO out there?" I honestly had NO CLUE what he had been talking about and I kind of blurted out -"Ah........no, we don't see anything, still in the clouds". When the GS was intercepted I went off AP and started hand flying the rest of the way in. I had been following a turbo prop in front of me about 7 miles ahead and when he reported going missed, I wasn't surprised. I had zero visibility on final until about 1000 feet and was constantly buffetted by turbulence. I had real difficulties flying final keeping up a targeted 150 knot approach speed-there were +/- 10-15 knot wind shears and constant changes of wind. Even with using the trusty HUD display, I was rolling all over the place and had real problems keeping the plane on the GS. I finally saw the RW lead in lights and managed to land uneventfully. During the taxi to gate, I noticed my hands were moist and I really was "wired"-this was the WORST WEATHER I had ever flown in! When I was done flying and the PC was shut down, I went upstairs started talking like a crazy person to my wife and daughter about the "wild weather in St. Louis". I described how intense and realistic it was, and just very, very challenging. You can imagine my surprise when I happened to turn on the Weather Channel just a few minutes later and they were reporting LIVE from St. Louis Lambert Aiport about a TORNADO and severe thunderstorms in the St. Louis area! Now I knew what the TWR controller was talking about! I don't know if the sim depicted my p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ing through this or not, but something made the plane fly like a bucking bronco and it wasn't wake turb from a Beech 1900. I wanted to share what this experience was like with everybody-amazing can't describe it. (and of course we wouldn't do this in RL!) Special thanks to the VATSIM KC CTR, APP, and TWR sector controllers-you were fantastic! I have to comment also on the great fidelity and realism that using ACTIVE SKY and FS9 offered-this is as good as it gets! One night to remember! Jswier, AAL383 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stein 1035507 Posted April 23, 2011 at 04:14 PM Posted April 23, 2011 at 04:14 PM Good story! I live out by KSTL and it was that bad! I was chasing one tornado for a while but never caught it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Pavlak 1058071 Posted April 23, 2011 at 05:38 PM Posted April 23, 2011 at 05:38 PM I have several friends who flew in this event and said it was the craziest and most awesome event they've flown on VATSIM. Great job guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Bertolini Posted June 13, 2011 at 01:14 AM Posted June 13, 2011 at 01:14 AM I worked Tower that night, was even crazy that some of you could make it to the ground! Michael Bertolini Instructor The Atlanta Center ARTCC http://www.atlantacenter.net RW Certified Professional Air Traffic Controller (CPC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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