Dana is correct about setting up your plane for hands off before you enter the clouds. If you need minor wing leveling when encountering a bump or two just do that. So far my experience has been that the airplane usually does not need much if any input when encountering minor bumps when going through clouds when it is already set up properly before entering clouds, it normally corrects on it's own. I used to hate going into clouds so I would find a hole to circle through. Sometimes I found the hole was a little small after I was down in it, so I would start turning a tighter circle to get down below or pulling power so I could dive some in an attempt to avoid penetrating the clouds. Sometimes I would get into the clouds a little while in a tight turn , I did not like that feeling at all and that is a dangerous position to get yourself into. What bothered me was watching the clouds come at me as I entered them. On one of my trips to Sun n Fun years ago I needed to get above some broken clouds so I just set up a rate of climb, set the plane up basically hands free and then just looked at my instruments and ignored the clouds coming at me. I used that technique going up and down several times on that trip to and from. That was the beginning of my through clouds ascending or decending system from then on and it seems a lot more safe than trying to circle through a hole. If the hole is not big enough while you are circling down and then enter a cloud you and your plane might get all out of whack because you were intending to not be in a cloud, you may panic and cause you or your plane to do something that neither can withstand. As you can see if you think about it for a few minutes you will be much better off going through some clouds, pre-planned and under control rather than accidentally going into clouds out of control. What I do now in a decent when over not so broken clouds is as Dana stated, I pick a hole in my line of flight way out ahead of me' I set up my decent in an attempt to time it so I may be in the hole most of the time, but maybe go through the first side of the holes top edge of the clouds just a little bit as I am going down, then out into the hole straight ahead towards my destination then maybe back into the clouds at the bottom opposite edge. I set up for a nice slow relaxing decent, look at my instruments, not outside (I hate seeing those clouds coming at me), just listen to the sound of the plane, keep the sound the same, if you hear loud wind rushing noise and feel Gs on your body, that means you may be nose down or in a high g turn, that is why as Dana said, get your airplane under control before you enter the clouds, just set back and monitor things and relax while your airplane slowly finds it's way to the bottom of the clouds. All of the times I have done this is when there are enough holes here and there so I know the bottom of the clouds are not on the ground but at least a few thousand feet above ground level. I have always liked to fly high when I go places, if my engine quits I want some extra time to think about things before I have to commit !!
I like Danas suggestions, he is ritht on. Go out and practice this in clear air, you do not have to go into clouds to practice this, heck put a hook in the top, hang a little ball on a string centered in a little ring, keep it centered to know you are level, if the string touches the front of the ring you are going down, if it touches left side you are turning left etc ! Larry H. OK, forget it, didn't mean to mention it. Doesn't work for me, won't work for you, too difficult so don't try it. Just stay up there until you run out of gas then make a descent on the airplanes terms, not yours. When will I learn to keep my mouth shut. Dana Overall
