Who likes turbulence? Thrill-seeking roller coaster riders? For the most part, as occupants of an airliner, we are not in love with it. So back to the question of turbulence, how bad is it?
What is turbulence?
We all know what makes turbulence. It’s the ‘air pockets.’ Conversations about pockets should probably be left to jean pockets and shirt pockets. Let’s see if we can work in a little physics talk. (doesn’t that sound easier than fluid dynamics?) To all my physicist friends, engineers, and of course Sheldon and Leonard, I apologize for any oversimplification and loose language.
Is air the same as water?
Whoa, wait, you say. Air is not water. If we walk through the air to the sandy beach, we are dry, but if our path takes us through the water, we are going to need a towel.
But air and water do have something in common. Air and water are both fluids. Yes, gasses and liquids are both fluids. Ok, we can buy into that, but why is my airplane bumping through the sky?
When fluid travels, the ride can be smooth or bumpy. If we look at a river moving oh so slowly over a flat bottom, we see a beautiful smooth surface. Now let’s speed that river up. Look at the shorelines. Can you see eddies and, dare we say it, turbulence? That fast-,moving fluid is going past something moving at a different speed, like the shore at a speed of zero, experiences friction and turbulence.
Now just for fun let’s speed that river up now and throw a bunch of boulders on the bottom. The picture above will paint the result. Now when my river of air flows over mountains, it will often create rapids in the air. So is the Captain saying turbulence is often a white water rafting ride in the air? Yes I am.
But those air pockets have to be real right? Well, the closest we get to air pockets is the turbulence generated by the sun shining on hot, bright sunny days. When the sun heats the ground, the warm air produced rises. Different areas heat more than others. Take a barefoot walk across the white pool deck in Phoenix in July. Now continue that barefoot walk out into the blacktop parking lot. It is going to be a very different walk in the parking lot. The air above the parking lot is rising faster than the air above the pool deck. Remember our river running past the shoreline in the river? This rising air is going to produce the same result, only vertically instead of horizontally. Want to see this rising air for yourself? Just watch a thunderstorm cloud building. You can see the cloud getting taller and taller right before your eyes. The air in that cloud is rising very rapidly.
The Jet Stream is indeed a river of air, and it can have a significant influence on the weather and turbulence.
Are you still skeptical about these “rivers of air” moving in the sky? Watching the Weather Channel will introduce you to the strongest and often most important river of air. The Jet Stream is indeed a river of air, and it can have a significant influence on the weather and turbulence.
What are you feeling?
Now that we know what the turbulence is and how it forms, we have to ask, who cares? Does it matter what caused this bumpy ride? The answer is yes. A big part of the discomfort passengers feel from turbulence is due to facing an unknown. Now that we know about turbulence, it is no longer a problem, right? Well, not so fast.
The effects of turbulence
Surely this turbulence can’t be good for the airplane. If that’s what is going through your mind, you are probably wrong. Except for very rare very strong turbulence encounters the aircraft is pretty unfazed by this bumpy ride. The wings have been designed and tested to handle the worst turbulence. Taking the Boeing 787 as an example, the wings flex in flight as lift is produced. For the 787 this amounts to about 10 feet of movement at the wingtip. Boeing then calculates the worst expected force (turbulence) the wing could encounter. They are required to test the wing to at least 150% of this worst-case scenario. During testing 787 Boeing bent the wingtips approximately 26 feet. I am talking about really bending the wing on a real airplane, not some computer analysis.
The boxes in the back, the pilots in the front, and the airplane are not bothered by turbulence.
If the turbulence doesn’t negatively affect the airplane, it must be a problem for the pilots. Also, not true. If I put my coffee in a cup with a lid, it is spill-proof, and I am good to go. My friends who fly for the cargo carriers don’t even worry about trying to get away from normal turbulence. The boxes in the back, the pilots in the front, and the airplane are not bothered by turbulence.
The turbulence must be a problem for someone. It is. The flight attendants have to work harder in an airplane that is moving. Sometimes this makes service slower, or the service gets suspended. We know passengers don’t enjoy turbulence. A nice full cup of hot coffee is no fun on a moving tray table. Trying to work on a laptop which is jumping around is going to wreck your productivity.
Turbulence restricts your ability to get up and move around the cabin, and as it intensifies, it also restricts the flight attendants. Strong enough turbulence can be responsible for injuries and illness.
What is being done about turbulence?
We know there is no way to get rid of turbulence. Our efforts focus on avoidance and preparation.
Over the 30 plus years I have been flying for airlines, the forecasting products have significantly improved. Most of this is thanks to technology advances. Having this knowledge, I can take measures to avoid known or forecast turbulence. At times, my flight is preplanned by dispatchers to avoid areas of known or probable turbulence.
Even with superior forecasting, it is impossible to predict all turbulence. At times turbulence is so widespread there is no way to go from departure to destination without experiencing some turbulence. Having an accurate picture of turbulence helps me minimize my encounters and prepare both passengers and flight attendants for what lies ahead.
What kind of passenger are you? Do you hate turbulence or tolerate it? Are you one of the lucky ones who can sleep through the bumps?
Comment below and let me know.