Ground: Weather
by Philip Greenspun; revised April 2005
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Objective
The student learns about available weather products, how weather
systems affect flying conditions, and practical use of the weather
computers in well-equipped FBOs.
Elements
- making decisions about
- wind correction
- supplementing visual references with VOR fixes
Content
- review of frontal systems and their effects, temperature/dewpoint spreads and lapse rates
- look at nationwide picture
- pick some airports at random and see if the cloud heights make
sense given the temp/dewpoint spreads
- instructor picks a pair of airports on opposing sides of a front
- instructor and student work together to research the feasibility
of a flight between those pairs
- instructor picks another pair of airports for a trip departing
today and returning in 1 day
- instructor picks another pair of airports for a trip departing
tomorrow and returning in 2 days
Schedule
- 0-90 minutes: discussion and planning
Total time: 1:30
Equipment
- WSI or Meteorologix terminal (at Jet Aviation or Signature)
- Jeppesen FlightStar or similar flight planning software
Instructor Actions
The instructor picks sample flights for research and discussion,
including flights to be made 1 or 2 days in the future.
Student Actions
The student checks the weather over the proposed routes and makes
go/no-go decisions.
Completion Standards
The student is able to interpret a METAR or TAF. The student is able
to use the core features and services of the weather computer.
Evaluation
Reading Assignment
AIM: Chapter 3 (Airspace) and reread Chapter 4 (Air Traffic Control).