PILOT SPIN
Pilot Zone => Pilot Zone => Topic started by: Becky (My pronouns are Assigned/By/God) on July 05, 2017, 06:42:58 AM
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So we are a little under an hour by air from the 100% eclipse viewing window in central Oregon, said total eclipse to occur August 21 at 10:21 a.m., for about three minutes total observing.
I vote to stay home and get the 96% view, but my husband is invited by a friend (with a Cardinal) to fly down to the general John Day area (there is a small airport expected to be overrun with planes and campers at gouging prices for a site) and view the eclipse from the air, then fly home and Bob's your uncle. You saw the eclipse and didn't even have to land. 8)
The nearby Fossil Beds national monument is preparing for around 75,000 people, packed roads and roadside viewers, and I've read of $3k hotel rooms in Madras. People are coming from all over the world to sleepy central Oregon to see this eclipse.
I think it is a bad idea to try and fly around in skies that could be crowded with other pilots having the same idea. Plus, aren't eclipses watched most effectively from the ground?
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Seems pointles to "watch" an eclipse from any airplane that doesn't have a bubble canopy.
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So we are a little under an hour by air from the 100% eclipse viewing window in central Oregon, said total eclipse to occur August 21 at 10:21 a.m., for about three minutes total observing.
I vote to stay home and get the 96% view, but my husband is invited by a friend (with a Cardinal) to fly down to the general John Day area (there is a small airport expected to be overrun with planes and campers at gouging prices for a site) and view the eclipse from the air, then fly home and Bob's your uncle. You saw the eclipse and didn't even have to land. 8)
The nearby Fossil Beds national monument is preparing for around 75,000 people, packed roads and roadside viewers, and I've read of $3k hotel rooms in Madras. People are coming from all over the world to sleepy central Oregon to see this eclipse.
I think it is a bad idea to try and fly around in skies that could be crowded with other pilots having the same idea. Plus, aren't eclipses watched most effectively from the ground?
A couple of comments:
How would you watch the eclipse while flying an airplane? You need those special glasses, but you won't be able to fly VFR (visual) and you won't be able to see your instruments. Also realize that the shadow of the eclipse travels a a couple thousand miles an hour across the earth. You won't keep up with it any better than those on the ground.
As far as the difference between 96% and 100%, the difference is night and day. Anything less than 100% and you won't see the Corona, which is the real appeal of seeing a solar eclipse. Otherwise, you might as well go out during a daytime thunderstorm and watch a big cloud blot out the sun.
If the idea of watching a solar eclipse interests you, do what we are doing. Fly up a day ahead, find a motel (most of them are already sold out) and make a small vacation out of it. We are signed up for a canoe trip that will take us out to the wilderness during the eclipse. They say the wildlife gets really interesting. Birds flock to roost. Nocturnal animals get confused and wake up and start making "night noises".
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I plan on flying my Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to view the total eclipse of the sun.
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I plan on flying my Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to view the total eclipse of the sun.
When you're where you should be, all the time.
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Disappointed, I was expecting a pilot report on the Eclipse 500/550.
;D
'Gimp
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Ha, good replies, thanks, but I could strangle you, Lucifer, for putting that damn song in my head.
I agree the viewing of the eclipse would be awkward from a Cardinal, although the wings are further back. I hope the weather is clear; investing tons of $ in a three-minute, weather-dependent event is kind of funny. Although true eclipse devotees say there is nothing like seeing the "wave" as it begins and ends.
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It's gonna rain that day.
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It's gonna rain that day.
It is, somewhere. ;)
The problem is that making reservations in advance leaves you with a good chance of being stuck under the clouds, just about anywhere you go. The left coast (Oregon) is your best bet, particularly if you're instrument rated because you also have the option of going above the clouds if there are no higher layers, and the eclipse will be in the morning when convection is least likely to be a problem.
But anywhere you make plans to go in advance, you run the risk of not seeing the eclipse.
So I've decided to not decide on where to go until a couple of days in advance, when the weather picture becomes clearer.
Of course this thing has been built up so much that there is almost no chance of being able to see it from the ground that way. All the airports near the totality path will be completely packed.
It is possible to see the eclipse from the air. No you will not be able to keep up with the eclipse or even add more than a few seconds to totality for yourself. You do not need to wear eclipse glasses all the time, only when you want to glance at the Sun, and only before and after totality. During the total phase it is perfectly safe to look at the Sun, though I still wouldn't stare continuously at it.
What worries me most is that I think a lot of pilots will have the same idea, and the airspace along the totality path might be a real zoo and a midair waiting to happen. Seeing the eclipse from the air may be suboptimal and even a little risky, though I think the risk is manageable as long as you prioritize see and avoid.
But it may be the only way to see the eclipse unless you've already made your plans, and your destination choice turns out to be a lucky one.
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The fallacy with your plan to wait to make reservations is that there may not be any reservations to be had closer to the eclipse. On the other hand, I have my reservations, and if the weather looks "iffy", I can cancel them up to two days in advance and lose nothing.
It is, somewhere. ;)
The problem is that making reservations in advance leaves you with a good chance of being stuck under the clouds, just about anywhere you go. The left coast (Oregon) is your best bet, particularly if you're instrument rated because you also have the option of going above the clouds if there are no higher layers, and the eclipse will be in the morning when convection is least likely to be a problem.
But anywhere you make plans to go in advance, you run the risk of not seeing the eclipse.
So I've decided to not decide on where to go until a couple of days in advance, when the weather picture becomes clearer.
Of course this thing has been built up so much that there is almost no chance of being able to see it from the ground that way. All the airports near the totality path will be completely packed.
It is possible to see the eclipse from the air. No you will not be able to keep up with the eclipse or even add more than a few seconds to totality for yourself. You do not need to wear eclipse glasses all the time, only when you want to glance at the Sun, and only before and after totality. During the total phase it is perfectly safe to look at the Sun, though I still wouldn't stare continuously at it.
What worries me most is that I think a lot of pilots will have the same idea, and the airspace along the totality path might be a real zoo and a midair waiting to happen. Seeing the eclipse from the air may be suboptimal and even a little risky, though I think the risk is manageable as long as you prioritize see and avoid.
But it may be the only way to see the eclipse unless you've already made your plans, and your destination choice turns out to be a lucky one.
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The fallacy with your plan to wait to make reservations is that there may not be any reservations to be had closer to the eclipse. On the other hand, I have my reservations, and if the weather looks "iffy", I can cancel them up to two days in advance and lose nothing.
Except that you don't see the eclipse.
And yes, I'm well aware of that. In fact it's already too late to make reservations along the totality path. I'm not hoping for that. I'm going to try to get a reservation about 200 miles away from the path in the last few days, then fly into the path on the 21st. If I can't land anywhere to watch it, I'll watch it from the air. If I can't get a reservation anywhere close, then that is just the way it will have to be. Hopefully I'll still be around in 2024.