What weather are most pilots not willing to fly / fight in?

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by KamenRiderBlade » 01 Apr 2013, 06:26

Given how important air power is in modern military doctrine, there must be a few weather situations that most pilots wouldn't fly / fight in.

Obvious ones being:
Typhoon, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Volcano Erruptions

I'm assuming:
Hail Storms, Thunder Storms, Heavy Rain, Fog?

Is there any other weather or environmental situations a fighter pilot wouldn't fly / fight in?

For those of you who are or were real pilots, I would love to hear your thoughts.


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by lookieloo » 03 Apr 2013, 07:21

All that depends on pilot skill and aircraft capabilities. There are few weather conditions that modern fighters can't fly in if they have to. More relevant is how weather affects their ability to fight, a factor that is almost always overlooked. A hot day at high altitude is murder on takeoff performance. A slight breeze will make a noticeable difference in range. Haze, clouds, precipitation and dust can inhibit sensors (especially Mk-1 eyeball).


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by huggy » 23 Apr 2013, 07:10

In a peacetime environment, we don't fly in any of that, except for rain and fog.
Pretty unlikely you will fly through that stuff in war time, either.
Pilots my press harder, and work to go around... but when your decision to fly through that WX condition might mean you will damage a combat asset that cannot be used the next day, it is unlikely to occur.
Make sense?


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by PhillyGuy » 23 Apr 2013, 15:38

It's why on every DPRK operations plan they scribble 'wait until it's foggy' on it. ;)
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