Soft Spot

The trip to the in-laws had gone about as well as those things can. We were airborne in a rented Piper Arrow II-the kind with the Hershey bar wings-headed back home. But first, we had to negotiate a line of thunderstorms. I knew they were there when I took off. But Ive always had pretty good luck in picking my way through them along this route without getting wet. So off we went.

Editorial Staff

Friday, March 20, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot, expecting to navigate around known thunderstorms, found their route persistently blocked, necessitating a direct encounter with the severe weather.
With assistance from air traffic control, the pilot made the critical decision to penetrate a "soft spot" in the line of storms.
The experience of flying through the storm was extremely turbulent, causing the aircraft's wing to visibly flex, but they successfully emerged on the other side and landed safely.

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The trip to the in-laws had gone about as well as those things can. We were airborne in a rented Piper Arrow II—the kind with the “Hershey bar” wings—headed back home. But first, we had to negotiate a line of thunderstorms. I knew they were there when I took off. But I’ve always had pretty good luck in picking my way through them along this route without getting wet. So off we went.