by Chris Lynt
E-mail : chlpatent@aol.com
My last trip out this summer, Jason was the pilot. VC Bird airport is often subject to very storng winds, even when the weather is clear. In stormy conditions, a microburst could occur. The revving of the engines would be consistent with the pilot trying to compensate for an apparent loss of airspeed due to the lateral effects of a microburst near the ground during takeoff.
From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst): “A microburst often causes aircraft to crash when they are attempting to land (the above-mentioned BOAC and Pan Am flights are notable exceptions). The microburst is an extremely powerful gust of air that, once hitting the ground, spreads in all directions. As the aircraft is coming in to land, the pilots try to slow the plane to an appropriate speed. When the microburst hits, the pilots will see a large spike in their airspeed, caused by the force of the headwind created by the microburst.
A pilot inexperienced with microbursts would try to decrease the speed. The plane would then travel through the microburst, and fly into the tailwind, causing a sudden decrease in the amount of air flowing across the wings. The decrease in airflow over the wings of the aircraft causes a drop in the amount of lift produced. This decrease in lift combined with a strong downward flow of air can cause the thrust required to remain at altitude to exceed what is available.”
