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Originally Posted by RickI
sounds good Patrick. there should be some good operations somewhere in the Gulf.
just had a thought about kiting in sand storms, electrostatic shock. we sometimes have shocks over water. it can be more intense in snow. I imagine sand/dust might generate some strong discharges. do you have issues with that off airframes in dust storms?
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That's pretty interesting! I've worked around helicopters a lot, so I have some pretty good (and painful) experience with static discharge and "flying things."
Actually, the static (with regard to aircraft) isn't really an issue during sandstorms.
I'm originally from south FL. By that distinction, as I'm sure you can appreciate, I've flown through quite a few thunderstorms. Flying through heavy rain (even w/o lightning) is much worse! In heavy rain, the static being "wicked" off of the airframe makes the radios completely unusable at times.
We do experience static shocks around here a lot but I'm pretty sure that it has more to do with the dry air (the jolts don't appear to be any more intense when there are heavy visible particles in the air). I think it's more akin to what you experience up north during the winter.