USAF Turbulence Categories

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AFH11-203V2/ARMY TC 3-04.14-2 13 AUGUST 2015 23

Table 2.2. Guide for Default Aircraft Turbulence Category Type.

Military Aircraft Turbulence Categories Aircraft Type Turbulence Category

OH-58 T-41 T-51 UH-1 AH-1 I

A-29* AH-64 B-2A (see Note 1) B-52

C-37 C-130 C-20 C-12 C-40B

C-5A/B C-9A/C CC18-180 CH-47CT-43A E-3B E-4B E-8 F-15

F-16 K C-135 T-1A T-6 T-38

T-53 TG-15* TG-16* U-25* U-21

UH-72A H-3 H-69 CV-22 (see Note 3)

II

A-10 C-17A C-21A C-27 C-32A/B EA-6B E-9 F-18 F-22 (see Note 1)

K C-10 MC-12 MQ-1/C R Q-4A U-2

UV-18A/B UV-20

III

B-1B MQ-9 IV

Civilian Aircraft Turbulence Categories Aircraft Type Turbulence Category

B-350 C-150 C-172 C-175 C-182

C-185 DA-20 PA-38 PAY-3

I

A-319 A-320 A-321 A-300

A-340(200-300) A-340(500-600)

B-200 B-727 B-737(600-900) B-747B-777 BE-20 C-208 C-310 C-402

C-414A C-421 CD-8 CL-600 CRJ

DC-8 (Super 62) DC-8 G-520 PA-18

Gulf stream IV/V L-13 L-23 MD-80

II

B-737-200 B-757 B-767 DC-8 (Super63) DC-10 DHC-6 E-145 JS-41 LJ-

25 LJ-35 LJ-55 LJ-60 MD-11

III

Note 1: Turbulence categor ies for aircraf t with auto gust alleviation systems are likely less

suscepti ble to turbulence than their com puted category.Note 2: For new or emerging airframes all turbulence categor izations should be forwardedto AFLC/MC/XZIG with suff icient lead-time to allow for gather ing data, calculating gust

loading/turbulence categor ies, and modifying the Turbcat sof tware pr ior to addition to this

table.Note 3: The CV-22 has as pects of f light that include rotor-wing operations and therefore

ob jective gust load calculations and turbulence categor izations are not possi ble for rotor phase of f light. Note 4: Aster isked aircraf t do not have an ob jective study to suppor t the category but are being worked at time of publication for future edition. Categor ization is best f it based on

available infor mation.In General: category from its default value.



24 AFH11-203V2/ARMY TC 3-04.14-2 13 AUGUST 2015

Table 2.3. Aircraft Turbulence Intensity Conversion Chart.

2.4.2.1.3. Weakne sse s. Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) is a transitory event resulting

from the for mation and collapse of unstable atmos pher ic waves and vor tices overtime. For this reason, turbulent areas on turbulence forecast products depict regions

where environmental conditions are most favorable for repetitive generation and

collapse of the atmos pher ic waves and vor tices res ponsi ble for the ma jor ity ofturbulence events.

2.4.2.1.3.1. Turbulence char ts are s pecif ied for Category II aircraf t with a clean

airframe cruising in level f light at the most eff icient cruising air s peed at a

2.4.2.1.3.2. The MIL-STD depiction used in these products degrades product resolution. The minimum resolvable feature on standard products is

approximately 60 nautical miles (108 k ilometer s). Higher def inition products

rendered as color f ills (see Figure 2.11) are dis played at signif icantly f inerresolutions as high as 2 to 7 nautical miles (4-12 k m) and may be used to execute

missions, es pecially in the lower levels of the atmos phere where mechanical or

terrain induced turbulence is more prevalent.



AFH11-203V2/ARMY TC 3-04.14-2 13 AUGUST 2015 25

Figure 2.9. Standard Regional-Scale Low-Level Mechanical/CAT Forecast Product,

Surface to FL180 Layer (25 OWS).



26 AFH11-203V2/ARMY TC 3-04.14-2 13 AUGUST 2015

Figure 2.10. Standard High-Level Turbulence Product (17 OWS).



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USAF Turbulence Categories