Learning to Fly: Beware of the Jet Vortex
August 19, 2010 by Action Warrior
Filed under aviation college
Sometimes there are many flying dangers that aren’t as obvious and that you can’t see. One of these dangers is called the jet vortex. Basically what the jet vortex is like a mini cyclone of air traveling at a rapid pace in a circle. The vortexes are usually just five to twenty feet wide. Although the vortexes are small in area, if you fly a small plane into a vortex the experience can be quite dangerous. Imagine how the power of a cyclone destroys property. The same is true if you are flying and your plane flies near a vortex.
Where can you encounter a jet vortex when flying? The most common place to encounter a jet vortex as you learn to fly is on the airport field near where jet planes have just landed or just departed. When jets are near an airport, the wind from the jet engines often creates small jet vortexes which do not harm the jet plane but can turn a small plane upside down in the worst possible situation.
Jet vortexes are not only on the ground, however, and that’s why they can catch a student pilot unaware. Often these vortexes are at higher altitudes creating the possibility that a small plane can encounter the vortex. Usually vortexes higher up do not cause problems because they dissipate more rapidly than vortexes on the field.
How does someone learning to fly avoid vortexes? Avoiding them is usually automatic on the ground because flight controllers are aware of this problem and do not allow small planes to take off too soon after a jet plane takes off. In addition, if the wind permits, flight controllers often direct small planes to take off from different landing and take off strips than jets. This practice helps eliminate most of the jet vortex problems small planes can encounter.
It is important for those learning to fly to be aware of potential problems with jet vortexes and to be cautious flying near or landing near jet planes in motion. Although the risk is low from having a problem with jet vortexes, precaution should be taken to avoid them. During classroom training, your instructor will provide you with all the details you need regarding the peril of jet vortexes and will advise you of other precautions you can take so that you will avoid as much as you can encountering a jet vortex problem. Just being aware that jet vortexes can exist is the first step for avoiding these invisible forces that could result in flying problems for you.
