Microburst at San Marcos Airport today

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blerpderp9@reddit

Anyone have an archive/copy of the clip? OG post is gone

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Bravo-Buster@reddit

What is the big tail on the left side, barely seen through the rain? It kind of just shows up once the storm hits hard.

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

The tail will act like a weathervane spinning it around. Similar to how anchored boats always end up pointed into the wind.

Looks like it's starting to roll backwards slightly at the end of the clip. Probably momentum from being spun around moving it into the wind first before the more expected direction

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airfryerfuntime@reddit

Yes, but it literally rolled like 50 feet in the direction of the wind. It wasn't just spinning around.

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

It spun at least 90° to the right unless you're trying to make some gotcha point about it flying away which is obviously not the case.

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airfryerfuntime@reddit

Wind is moving right, airplane moves left after turning 90 degrees. Are you blind?

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

The airplane rotates to it's right. Is it enjoyable to be this angry all the time?

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I know it could weathervane, but it looked like the nose moved over, not the back spinning. I don't know, it just didn't look right. With the camera panning, too, it's hard to see how it actually rotates.

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mrfingspanky@reddit

I think so too. It seems its moving forward at first in the wind.

Total noob here so idfk.

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Drenlin@reddit

Maybe it was only anchored on the right side?

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

The nose moving is caused by the tail weathervaning.

To explain in more detail. The main landing gear will be the pivot point on the ground since the front gear is free to swivel or just skids since the force on the tail will overpower the ground friction. It doesn't show this on the video well but that's how aircraft move on a tricycle gear on the ground.

Knowing it will pivot on the main gear. The nose moving over and the tail spinning are the same motion since they are connected. The nose goes goes/spins/moves to the left while the tail moves/spins/goes to the right.

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Peristeronic_Bowtie@reddit

i didnt notice this at first! but yeah it looks like the front moved instead of the back being pushed.

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

That's the same thing. When you spin a bottle, the top and bottom both rotate around the same point, right?

No different for a plane. It rotated around the main landing gear. Tail is pushed by aerodynamic forces to the right in this video. Consequently, the nose moves to the left.

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Scarecrow_Folk@reddit

The nose moving is caused by the tail weathervaning.

To explain in more detail. The main landing gear will be the pivot point on the ground since the front gear is free to swivel or just skids since the force on the tail will overpower the ground friction. It doesn't show this on the video well but that's how aircraft move on a tricycle gear on the ground.

Knowing it will pivot on the main gear. The nose moving over and the tail spinning are the same motion since they are connected. The nose goes goes/spins/moves to the left while the tail moves/spins/goes to the right.

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phaederus@reddit

Similar to how anchored boats always end up pointed into the wind.

Not just anchored boats; sail boats will always try to turn into the wind because sails are basically wings being affected in the same way an airplane wing is.

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Ramdak@reddit

We had this happen to a parked 737 (or Embraer, cant remember) at my local airport during a storm.

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Proud_Conversation_3@reddit

Pivots around the main landing gear, and the weight is in front of the main landing gear, so the wind acting on the tail causes the weight up front to gain momentum into the wind and it pulls the plane with it.

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fl135790135790@reddit

I love how your focus is on that, and not on the single prop that dramatically flipped over

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exbex@reddit

Looked like a latitude. They are very prone to jumping chocks and spinning in higher winds.

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itswednesday@reddit

Makes sense

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G3rmanaviator@reddit (OP)

They didn’t apply enough left rudder 😂

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Imlooloo@reddit

In cases like this where you know a storm front is coming in- is there any value in turning the aircraft noses into the expected wind direction? I mean it may lift off if not tied down at the point the 172 hits 60mph winds though.

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derekbox@reddit

Microburts happen fast.
I know where people strap tires and wood planks on top of wings to break lift. But again - microburst... with what time.

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hughk@reddit

If you remember that superyacht that went down in Sicily, The Baysian? That was some kind of microburst that knocked down a 56m yacht to the point that it flooded and the people on board were trapped. The whole thing happened in less than five minutes. Another yacht nearby had the storm but not the microburst. They had time to react.

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TFK_001@reddit

Not 100% it was a microburst, but I just learned thats the most likely hypothesis. Original witness reports were of a waterspout, which also sink yachts with ease, but Italian authorities said downburst was most likely a few months after the fact. I cannot find any radar loops of the incident, and I am on my phone so unable to access era5 reanalysis data, but from what I found in various articles, the conditions were favorable for supercells.

The NTSB has a page, but hasn't yet released the docket, and I am unable to find the MAIB report, but from what I found they reported thunderstorms getting closer and when they finally hit, the boat capsized in seconds. I believe the microburst hypothesis simply because downbursts and tornadoes are easy to tell apart on doppler radar, which I am unable to find but the authorities certainly referenced on the report.

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colinmcnamara@reddit

I’n blown away by this

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AVeryHeavyBurtation@reddit

That was a fuckin macroburst.

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TFK_001@reddit

Microbursts are actually more dangerous than macrobursts, especially for aviation. Microbursts are basically hyperlocalized macrobursts, which are both big masses of air falling to the surface, with the distinction at a width of 2.5 miles. Both can produce tornado strength winds, but the smaller sizes of microbursts can lead to a smaller distance for winds to change, leading to much higher low level wind shear.

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RiverFrogs@reddit

Just kept getting worse

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G3rmanaviator@reddit (OP)

Absolutely. Glad those folks decided not to get in their airplane and seek shelter instead.

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slim7700@reddit

I think likely they were securing the planes to the ground aka tie-down before the storm hits

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Sterling-Archer@reddit

Honest question: how would they tie it down? Are there anchor points on the ground in the parking areas?

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rain-100@reddit

Yes, very common to have ground hooks where aircraft are parked. Otherwise there would be a lot more videos like this rolling around the internet.

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zl1_atx@reddit

this is berry aviation no tiedowns at the front of that area and chalks wouldn't have helped here.

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rain-100@reddit

Yeah I didn’t see parking lines here, just wanted to point out that long term storage spots for planes do have tie downs in the concrete.

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slim7700@reddit

Yea, u can see the guy placing chocks by the landing gears of what seems like a piper seminole - I think ..

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Schpiegelhortz@reddit

CHOCKS

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gromm93@reddit

What?

They didn't even seem to try. It's like they opened the door, looked up at the incoming weather, and literally ran inside.

If they had tied it down, it wouldn't have flipped over, even in these conditions.

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ghjm@reddit

Looks to me like they were getting ready to fly it, then ran in to get out of the rain without bothering to tie it back down.

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MuchSong1887@reddit

What it looked like to me. Microbursts can happen in an instant.

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Dr_Trogdor@reddit

If you were in that plane and it blew away could you say you survived a plane crash?

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Chairboy@reddit

The logbook entry could be exciting too

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Sorry_Nobody346@reddit

Wow, that m microburst at San Marcos a airport today was intense! Stay safe out there, folks. #weatherdr

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Phil-X-603@reddit

Like the one which brought down Delta 191 😨

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kausthubnarayan@reddit

It went from 0-100 in the blink of an eye. Scary shit!

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thegoatisoldngnarly@reddit

Texas?

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SuckMyRedditorD@reddit

One wacky state weatherwise.

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baybridge501@reddit

KHYI

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SbrunnerATX@reddit

Austin - damn

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Gusearth@reddit

yep, somewhere between Austin and San Antonio

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Jasminez98@reddit

San Msrcos also known for the clear springs

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Necessary-Cost-8963@reddit

I think so. I coincidentally came across this post while scrolling. I live about 10 minutes from this airport. Around 7:30, we had a sudden downpour of rain with hail ranging from golf ball size to baseball size.

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Corriander_Is_Soap@reddit

A regulation baseball has a circumference of 9 to 9.25 inches (229 to 235 mm). A cricket ball's circumference must be between 8.81 and 9.00 inches (22.4 and 22.9 cm).

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tmoam@reddit

You need to add “watch til the end” in your title. That was unexpected.

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RedditMcRedditfac3@reddit

Is that one of them bye-planes I heard about?

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raylstock@reddit

I am the previous owner of this airplane. We sold it back in November. At the location where is was, there are no tie down lugs in the ramp. So sad. Got about 250 hours in this bird. She was a fine plane.

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ahuramazdobbs19@reddit

Props to that shrub for not giving in, though.

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Floppy_disks76@reddit

insert krusty krab training video music

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ToxicaEsposaa@reddit

I live about 7 miles from here. Came out of no where. Softball sized hail. Luckily we weren’t home with either cars. Whole neighborhood got messed up

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Somhlth@reddit

Softball sized hail.

And the odd small airplane.

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Jeyts@reddit

I'm 5 miles away and saw nothing even close to this.

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ToxicaEsposaa@reddit

Wow! I guess it was just a strip of bad weather. Few months back my entire neighborhood got hit with a bad wind shear (not sure if this is the correct name). Over 100 houses had damage to their roofs. Now this.

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Jeyts@reddit

Damn, I'm in the historic neighborhood and we've barely seen rain. I swear storms open like my house is goddamn Moses.

I hope you guys made it out okay. I hate dealing with roofers.

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mrfingspanky@reddit

Quick thinking on the part of the pilot in the background who steered their plane into the wind. Probably saving any damage.

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DesertRunnerX@reddit

Went to school there, seems every few years this or a giant hail storm takes out a bunch of GA planes there.

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Danielovando@reddit

Not the cessna!!!

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HailFredonia@reddit

It's fine. Just need to flip it back over and take off.

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DckThik@reddit

Damn lol

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BearFan34@reddit

how fast were the winds?

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av8geek@reddit

Didn't even bother to tie it back down.

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hughk@reddit

They didn't exactly have much time to GTFO the apron.

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PA_Blue9@reddit

Wow. At the beginning of the video I was like “Cessna bout to go for a wild ride”

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imref@reddit

Video needs Benny Hill music.

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Fluid_Maybe_6588@reddit

Seriously? You got a golf cart and a GPU just sitting there and you can’t even use it to tie anchor/down a plane? WTF?

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G3rmanaviator@reddit (OP)

Hah, maybe could have used the GPU to tie the golf cart down 😂

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Educational-Farm6572@reddit

That’s wild, I live in downtown San Marcos - near Texas State. We didn’t even get a drop of rain

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Mystery_Member@reddit

Spun that jet right around too, yikes!

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siltyclaywithsand@reddit

I don't know shit about planes, but microbursts can be real nasty. A friend of mine was driving from Reno to Vegas when one hit. She was towing a pop up camper for the first time that she had also loaded with some other stuff when one hit. It flipped the trailer and sent her over a cliff. Her SUV rolled a lot apparently. She didn't survive. The funeral home couldn't even cover all the bruises with make up. They caked it on, but you could still see the ones on her face. There was another driver in a mini van going the opposite direction that witnessed it and also lost control, but managed to stay on the road. They told the cops everything was fine and then very suddenly it wasn't.

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wyomingTFknott@reddit

Like a record, baby, right round.

Glad everyone's ok. I've seen a couple vids of that at airports that were really hairy. One with people in a small plane that basically had no choice but to take off from a standstill at the ramp and one ultralight that went downwind and only got out of it by the skin of his teeth.

Also one killed my mom's horse. I'll spare you the details. These things are just as destructive as tornadoes sometimes. I saw one from a distance once that fucked up some houses South of Phoenix and it was like the sky was falling.

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yeahgoestheusername@reddit

That’s why tie downs exist

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G3rmanaviator@reddit (OP)

Lots of tie downs snapped on other planes.

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OrbitalFaps@reddit

My plane was tied down at this airport and the ropes broke and the plane flipped upside down in the very corner of this video

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yeahgoestheusername@reddit

Dang. Sorry to hear that. It snapped the ropes. Wow.

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steinegal@reddit

Is it your Cessna on the left there?

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Mike__O@reddit

I'm upvoting this post simply because OP put the actual name of the airport instead of the identifier (complete with the K of course)

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walwor11@reddit

Doesn't look very micro to me!

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stmiba@reddit

Props to whoever tied down the twin (Baron?). That plane did not move at all while the Cessna flipped and the jet in the background went for a walk-a-bout.

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JMaximo2018@reddit

Seneca

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ametren@reddit

F

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BobbyBoogarBreath@reddit

It all happened so fast.

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energycrystal7@reddit

Holy shit. I own a house like a mile from there. It was usually pretty windy but damn

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CambrianShockwave@reddit

Seneca sat like a champ.

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BeachHut9@reddit

Light plane blown away?

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igloofu@reddit

/r/clipsthatendtoosoon

Seriously though, damn that was crazy.

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Proud_Conversation_3@reddit

Scrolled too far to find this

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Mad_kat4@reddit

What was that vertical stabilizer on the far left from though? That looked too big to be the Cessna's. Maybe off a dhc-6?

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gromm93@reddit

That was that jet that you see at the beginning of the video. Got spun around in the wind.

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Mad_kat4@reddit

Can't be, use that bush as a reference. Right at the end of the video there's a fin on the left of the bush. I'd it were that jet it would have to have moved upwind.

But it looks too big to be that Cessna's.

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billerator@reddit

Watch the video again, you can make out the jet swinging to the left of the screen.

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steinegal@reddit

It is the business jet in the background getting pushed around

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Mad_kat4@reddit

That would put it in the wrong place. Upwind and closer to the fence, in front of that twin prop not behind. If you watch it again a Vs appears on the very left edge of the screen if that jet in question rotated it would be in the middle of the screen and off to the right slightly.

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ATXoxoxo@reddit

Where?

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EVPaul2018@reddit

Bloody hell…

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Nihilus45@reddit

Holy crap....I thought it would be like one of those comical shots where someone turned the tap on directly above an aircraft...mfing storm that is

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WatercressNumerous51@reddit

I did my PPL training partially out of that airport.

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WatercressNumerous51@reddit

Our CAP squadron had this happen to them. The microburst actually tore the T-hangar they were in off the ground and tossed it a hundred feet. There were some injuries.

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AshenHS@reddit

/r/AbruptChaos

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spiritedfox995@reddit

"Cessna, you were not cleared for takeoff."

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kthnry@reddit

Anybody else remember an incident in Texas back in the 80s or 90s where a hurricane was forecast to hit Houston? A bunch of private pilots flew their planes to Austin for safekeeping. The hurricane path changed to miss the Houston airport but there was a microburst in Austin that wiped out a bunch of the refugee planes. Very sad pictures.

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"THAT WAS A FUGGIN PLANE!!"

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