Too Windy for Flying
The plan was perfect. Fly to Albuquerque, NM and help daughter Ingrid around her house for a day. Then fly to Flagstaff, AZ and drive with a rental car to the Grand Canyon. Camp and hike for a few days, then do everything in reverse to get back to Dallas. The flight to Albuquerque is uneventful except for some turbulence and a strong headwind as we cross the mountains east of Albuquerque and fly toward the Double Eagle airport, our destination. The next day starts with a surprise. The TAF (Terminal Area Forecast) for Flagstaff predicts strong and turbulent winds for the Flagstaff airport, with winds 22 kts gusting to 34 kts. See below the forecast for the period 16:00Z to 20:00Z, which corresponds to 10 am to 14:00 pm MDT (Mountain Daylight Time). The Z means Zulu. It refers to Greenwich time. Terminal Area Forecast for Flagstaff (KFLG) For the same period, the Garmin Pilot predicts headwinds for the route Albuquerque to Flagstaff at 30 kts. Some headwind had been forecast when we pla