Pilots take no joy in
walking. Pilots like flying. - Neil Armstrong
During the spring months, the sun slowly begins it's
trek northward and the longer days become more obvious. The
days become warmer, the flowers begin to bloom and the frost
no longer appears on the windshield of my car in the
morning. When the spring equinox arrives, I can’t help but
thinking about how summer is approaching.
Why do we pick a spring or summer launch for our departure
date? It all has to do the weather. As we all know, spring
brings changes to all aspects of life. Warmer temperatures
and rain breathe life back into the outdoors. New seedlings
begin sprout, birds nest and the cycle of life begins once
again. But with these warmer temperatures and higher
humidity levels, the chances of severe weather forming is
higher.
The severe weather season is different throughout the United
States. Severe weather usually begins in the southeast near
Florida and Georgia as early as late February. As spring
advances, the threat of severe weather moves slowly to the
west, reaching the lower great plains of Texas, Kansas and
Oklahoma by April and May, and then begins a slow turn
north, reaching the high plains of North Dakota, South
Dakota and Minnesota by mid June and July. (However, severe
weather can form at anytime of year, at any of these
locations.)
If you look at the Eagle Flight route for 2005, you will
notice that we traveled east across the northern portion of
the continental United States during the first part of our
trip. This was so we could avoid much of the severe weather,
which includes severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and squall
lines that occur each spring in the southern United States.
By the time we headed west from Florida, the severe weather
had moved farther north, allowing us to travel back across
the southern portion of the United States, avoiding the
worst of the storms.
As for our world trip next year, that’s a whole new ball
game. The Eagle Flight team has been monitoring the weather
worldwide for the past year and will continue to do so over
the next year. For example, weather systems in the southern
hemisphere travel in opposite directions as they do in the
northern hemisphere and belts of thunderstorms almost always
exist near the equator! Our 2006 flight plan will hopefully
keep us out of the severe weather regions, but dealing with
unexpected weather is part of the game, and we look forward
to the challenges that lie ahead!
