High Winds

Steve, Ben, CC and I just got back from a good couple days in Florida.  Steve was originally going to go with Ben for just two nights so that they could see the space shuttle launch.  But, since he had a solid block of days off we decided to turn it into a family get-away. 

As you probably know by now, I am an anxious flier.  It sucks and I hate it.  I really do.  My stomach turns, my mind races.  It sucks.  But, I did discover that the perfect remedy to anxiety is two beers.

Well, we left on Thursday morning, bright and early.  Our alarm was set for o'dark hundred and the first thing I heard when I awoke was the sound of wind...strong winds.  The first thought that entered my mind was "crap, this flight is going to suck."

Here is a picture of the sky as we were driving to the airport:



Take a look at those clouds, if you can see past the dirt on the windshield. The weather was not pretty.

While we were driving I was talking to Steve about winds.  As a bit of a back story, about 2 weeks ago the kids and I went to the airport to see Daddy take off for his trip.  The winds were CRAZY strong.  As a matter of fact, there were something like 9 go-arounds in 2 hours, or something like that.  Holy wind sheer!  So, I was recalling that day trying to get the dirty scoop on the behavior of winds. 

Isn't it funny that, at first, Steve actually didn't recall much about that windy day 2 weeks ago...just another day on the job for him, I suppose...I really had to jog his memory.

Anyway, the one thing that Steve told me that actually hit home, is something I will pass along to you.  Now, let me say that this is simply what I remember from the conversation, so don't consider this solid fact.  Steve told me that on that super windy day two weeks ago, he was just happy to get in the air.  The reason the wind is crazy nuts when close to the ground is because things get in the way, like buildings, hills, trees, ect.  These objects makes the wind swirl and spin.  So, what may seem like crazy strong winds when you get out of your car, won't really effect you all that much when you start climbing after taking off. 

That actually calmed me.  And you know what, when we got off the ground, the ride was a-okay.