RUDDER & WRENCH WEATHER / No one likes it Avoiding the dreaded 'T' word BY JP DICE are rare. No one likes turbulence. It is annoying and sometimes sickening for passengers. What can you do as a pilot to minimize the bumps? First, we must look at what creates the " IS IT GO I NG to be bumpy? " is usually my wife's first question when we get in our Mooney to take a trip. Aliece Dice's aversion to a bumpy flight has taught me a lot about turbulence avoidance and prediction that translates into my job as a corporate pilot. Turbulence is defined as an irregular motion of air resulting from eddies or rising currents. It can cause erratic movements of pitch, roll, and yaw. We've seen the stories on the news about passengers injured in turbulence or even damage to airframes, but still those instances bumps. Turbulence is created by a variety of factors including terrain, wind shear, thunderstorms, and thermals. Some is easily avoided, and some isn't. Thermal turbulence: Most of us have determined that turbulence in the lower altitudes where most piston aircraft fly can be avoided by flying early in the day or during the evening. The peak time for a rough ride from thermally induced turbulence is between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Why? Favorable conditions for low-level thermal turbulence include warm surface temperatures and uneven surface heating. The differential heating of the Earth's surface creates thermals or rising parcels of air. Paved areas reflect more radiation and vegetation absorbs more radiation. When I was learning to fly gliders, we would seek out 86 AOPA PILOT / July 2024