AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - October 2019 - 18

WAYPOINTS

Sometimes you have
to say 'no'

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

Reminding ATC who's in charge
"WELL, HERE IT COMES," I said to video producer Josh

Editor in Chief TOM
HAINES has been
dodging eastern
thunderstorms
since the days
when just having
a Stormscope was
a big deal.

18 | AOPA PILOT October 2019

Cochran in the right seat and to Chris Rose, senior
photographer, sitting in the back of my Bonanza. "I
predict a re-route in our future."
My cue for that expectation was the handoff to
approach control at Roanoke, Virginia.
Previous experience told me that the Roanoke
controller would issue a new clearance off our northeasterly route to a nearly due north route across the
mountains to the Kessel VOR in the middle of West
Virginia before we would be turned more easterly
to Martinsburg, West Virginia. From there the IFR
clearance would have us fly northeast on V166 to
the Westminster VOR-right over our destination of
Frederick, Maryland, and then we would be cleared
direct back to the west to Frederick. Life in the shadow
of the Washington, D.C., airspace.
Apparently, Roanoke Approach has a letter of
agreement with Potomac Approach that any traffic
from the south headed for the D.C. area will be on
that route. I've often found that if I accept this route,
I can usually negotiate something more direct with
the next controller. A more direct route is not only
shorter, of course, but it keeps light airplanes away
from the Appalachian Mountains, a breeding ground
for thunderstorms and turbulence in the summer and
turbulence and icing in the winter.
However, this day a series of Level 3 and 4 thunderstorms had parked northeast of Roanoke and north
of Lynchburg. The new clearance to Kessel would put
us right through the middle of them.
The Roanoke controller did not disappoint. He
read me the revised clearance. I acknowledged it and
told him that the route would take us through the
thunderstorms. He responded that he was required
to issue that clearance, as if that was some sort of
comfort for me as we stared at the towering dark
clouds off our left wing and the green, yellow, red,
and magenta radar returns and yellow lightning
strike indications on various displays in the panel
and on my iPad.
After a couple of back and forths on the radio, I
finally replied, "The cleared route is not acceptable.
Let me know what else you have."
Pregnant pause on the radio.

And then from the controller, "OK, fly current
heading until you can go direct Martinsburg; report
direct Martinsburg. How many miles will that be?"
"About 70 miles," I replied and repeated the rest of
the clearance. Seventy miles would put us about over
the fix we had already been cleared to, followed by the
turn direct Martinsburg-as we had been cleared earlier. In other words, keep on keepin' on....
As we trucked farther northeast, though, an isolated
cell began to blossom just west of Washington Dulles
International Airport. Our northerly turn beyond the
immediate weather would have us pointed right at it.
Fortunately, the easternmost part of the system to
our north began to dissipate and was soon starting to
fall apart. An alley opened up between two areas of
green returns on the Nexrad that would allow direct
Martinsburg sooner and help us avoid the cell near
Dulles. Knowing that one should not use ADS-B In or
satellite-delivered Nexrad for tactical flying-strategic
only-I was hesitant to make the turn based solely on the
returns. However, I could soon see blue skies through
the alley and at 9,000 feet we would be on top of a few
lower clouds. So, being able to maintain visual conditions-always a good goal when flying in the vicinity
of thunderstorms-I made the turn and let ATC know.
The isolated cell near Dulles looked spectacular in
the evening light as we motored northward just west
of it-its bright white clouds turning golden as the sun
set. A helpful Potomac Approach controller allowed
us to cut the corner, passing through the Washington
Class B-which doesn't always happen-and soon we
were on a visual approach to Frederick.
As I've written many times, our controllers do a great
job and are generally really resourceful in helping us navigate around weather. I've lost count of the number of
times they've proactively given me vectors around areas
of weather before I even knew a problem lay ahead.
Occasionally, though, one must exercise pilot in command responsibilities and let them know that letters of
agreement drafted by a bureaucrat at HQ don't cut it
when flying in a dynamic atmosphere. In other words,
it's OK to say no when you have a good reason.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

@tomhaines29

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - October 2019

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