The Dreaded Turbulence

For many of us the worst thing about flying is also perhaps the most common. Mid-flight turbulence. As my buddy Adam appropriately stated recently, there's just nothing like flying smooth air, like you're just motionless floating in the sky. It's the best of flying, but usually only happens on flights over Arizona at about 5 PM on a clear late spring day. (although clear air turbulence is common too, and sucks.)

More commonly, you hear that mid-flight ding of the seat belt sign and end up white knuckling the bumps until either: 1) you land; or 2) the flight smooths out again for a solid block of 10-20 mins. and you can "relax" again.

One thing that does help is the knowledge that turbulence is ahead. It's the whole knowledge is power thing. When you know the cause of the bumps and shakes and about how long they will last, it's much easier to stomach them. The website Turbulence Forecast gives you that knowledge: http://www.turbulenceforecast.com/airmets.php. I'm tending to check out sites like this before I fly now, giving me the heads up that 1/2 way to Orlando we're going to be in for some rough air. The only sucky thing is when there is rough air before the forecast said it would occur. Super cell storm? hydraulics? Fuselage? That's when T passes me another Zanex.