Earlier today, the NOAA's National Hurricane Center classified an area of low pressure following behind Hurricane Earl as Tropical Storm Fiona, bypassing the Tropical Depression classification. Hurricane Earl also has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm, making it the second major hurricane of the season. Currently, Earl has sustained winds of 135MPH and is expected to retain this strength as it approaches the US east coast. The models still have not agreed on a consensus for landfall; however, the NHC and other hurricane experts are giving Earl a 25% chance of landfall in the continental US, possibly in North Carolina by the end of the week.
The effect of Earl on general aviation could be significant, especially with what appears to be the next system, Fiona, following almost directly in his footsteps. Current models, even though disagreeing an an exact location for landfall, if any, all have Earl sweeping up along the east coast, affecting virtually every state from Florida through Maine and into Nova Scotia, Canada. Even if the hurricane does not make landfall, the disruption to the nation's airlines and general aviation flights would be wide reaching. Depending on how close to land the system moves, how much strength it retains and how wide of a wind field it generates as it approaches land, could result a wide swath of delays and possible devastation.
The biggest threat to general aviation aircraft on the ground from a hurricane is the winds. Planes tied down can break free of their tie-downs and be sent flying into other aircraft and structures. Most pilots are smart enough to remain grounded once even the outer bands of a storm begin to reach the airport environment. When discussing category 4 and 5 hurricanes, even airplanes in hangars do not have their safety guaranteed as hangars and hangar doors can not always withstand the non-ending onslaught of wind, rain and debris for hours on end.
For airports in the outer banks, near the coast or just off inland waterways, storm surges and heavy rains can also bring destruction to airports and aircraft. Flooded airplanes are at risk of corrosion and usually must be scrapped.
Systems such as Earl, which follow the coastline and affect thousands of miles of land can lead to obvious negative impacts on all aspects of aviation and must be watched closely by anyone with aviation interests in the area. Add in Tropical Storm Fiona, and the aviation industries eyes may need to remain on the tropics for more than a week. It may in the best interest of pilots and companies with general aviation aircraft in the eastern coastal states to monitor the situation on a constant basis and begin formulating plans to evacuate aircraft inland to protect aviation assets if the need arises.
(See National General Aviation and Chicago General Aviation for additional articles)
Comments
An article recently in an aircraft magazine describes a new "angled" tie-down ring and as well as a tail skid with both having 6-8 times stornger hold strength up to 140+MPH winds. THe rings and skid are for all PIPER and BEECHCRAFT planes, and found at www.aeromechtech.com. May want to look at it for Earl.
hangars,not hangers.hangars house planes,hangers are for clothes. It will affect,not effect
Thanks for the comment on the corrections! We don't have the benefit of secondary editors to proof our work so even proofreading it ourselves, simple errors like that can easily slip through. I've made the corrections and the article should update in a bit with the changes. I appreciate it!
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