I should have written a ‘Never Again’ story about that experience.
we took off at 4:00 PM
That was my “Never Again” experience, A SIGMET had just ended 2 hours before we took off, after passing goffs and heading towards Barstow we hit the worst Turbulence and Micro Bursts imaginable. Before I knew it I was in a downdraft going 2500+ FPM on the VSI(pegged) full power 65 knots, as we approasched the ground, I40 was about 500 below us as I was preparing to land on the highway, I began remembering what my instructor had told me about what goes up comes down and vice versa, all of a sudden I was rocketed back up to 8500 ft with the Power OFF 2500 FPM on the VSI (pegged again) doing everything I could to stop from exceeding VNE, I was doing 130 knots Indicated in a very steep climb, with the yolk pulled All the Way Back, this happened 3 times in about 10 minutes while passing the Granite Mountains and it seemed like an eternity, we were completely out of control on more than a few times during this ordeal.
I have a 2500 ft dirt strip at my house in Mohave Valley at the River in AZ, we fly back and forth constantly and I only fly across the desert in the MORNING, Off before 10AM or we wait, All Summer Long. I seriously doubt that I will ever experience that again, for it truly is a once in a lifetime event.
A friend of mine and his wife were flying home from Vegas at the same time the same day, hit the same crap, and his Wife has never flown again.
You know what is said about a pilot bag of experience & luck.
https://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/inst_reports2.cfm?article=4561
Well, I am (and, I suspect, many others are!) most pleased that you survived that experience!
I flew in the Mountain West area FRom Jan 1975 until September 1981, and never had an experience like that one.
Mostly, my flights were routine.
HST, I was a Navy pilot FRom 1964 until 1981, and given the experiences I had in the Navy, “routine” may be a matter of perspective.
I thoroughly enjoyed the flying I did, and I miss it every day!
I Learned About Flying From That: Riding the Wave
The ups and downs of mountain flying.
By Clyde Davis August 11, 2014
Nice job keeping your head during something like that! I'm happy that you survived to tell us the tale.