What causes turbulence except bad weather?

Question

I am really scared of planes, please serious answers only from experts.

Answer 1

Turbulence is caused by air currents. Weather is usually a factor, but is not required.
Air currents are caused by the spinning of the earth, and because of this, can be at least somewhat predictable. Aircraft avoid areas in proximity (if they can) to the jetstreams, because there is inherent turbulence caused by the varying relative speeds of the air movements. Air will be disturbed near weather fronts, areas of industrial development, mountain ranges, areas of uneven terrestrial heating/cooling. In other words, pretty much everywhere.
Because of this, aircraft are designed with this in account, and safety margins are built in. Many of the features of an aircraft design are present to minimize the effects of turbulence.

Airplanes are nothing more than boats that travel through the air. More like submarines, I suppose, as they travel in three dimensions, rather than the two dimensional surface of a body of water, but the idea is the same. Just as water has currents that affect anything on it or in it, air is just the same. Those currents are harder to see, and thus harder to avoid, but they are somewhat predictable.

Answer 2

Most turbulence is caused from uneven heating of the earth's surface. A dark area on the earth absorbs more sunlight and heats up more than a light area. That heats the air above it more and that air rises faster than air over the lighter colored area. These rising columns also shear against each other and create turbulence between themselves.

Most, but not all, weather in general is caused by this same phenomenon.

Answer 3

Turbulence is caused by pockets of lower pressure air in an otherwise high pressure zone. What happens is the lower pressure air causes the wings to momentarily lose lift and the plane to drop like hitting a pothole in a car.

Answer 4

Think of air almost like water...you see air currents can be
just as difficult sometimes..Heated air will always rise but
cool air stays low so sometimes when you go from heated air to cooler air whether there is a gust of wind or not.there is
the possibility of a violent shift in the support of the weight of an airframe (airplane) .However a good pilot takes careful
notice of his weather reports while also looking at his flight route to make the necessary adjustments and deal with the problems he or she may face...have a good flight

Answer 5

The main cause of turbulence is when low pressure air is in the high pressure zones.. therefore it creates movement as the aircraft passes thru that density of air.

Answer 6

I would suggest you read "the real c" and "Chris H". Between them they have it pretty well nailed down. Let me add that turbulence is merely uncomfortable, not dangerous. Dangerous turbulence is rare, and pilots, especially airline pilots, avoid it whenever possible. Every pilot experiences turbulence virtually every time we fly. I would also remind you that, by far, the most dangerous part of your trip will be the drive to and from the airport.

Answer 7

Jetstream and clear air turbulence (winds)
If you are worried about the plane, it is made to handle situations like that...
Don't be worried

Answer 8

Other aircraft, wake turbulence.

Updraughts from hot land, thermals if you will.

Wind flow round ground objects, like buildings and mountains. The waves off mountains can get quite high and can reach a ling way down wind.

Answer 9

while the plane is flying and it enters an area of lower air pressure it will drop slightly causing the effect