Category Archives: Wx

Flight into a Snowstorm

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Dave C

With all our recent snow this is good timing to prepare for the unexpected. The Air Safety Foundation has a good presentation about what happened to a high-time pilot who flew into a snowstorm. You can find the presentation here.

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New Weather Website

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Dave C

Here’s a link to the new ADDS website. For weather briefings, it may be the new place to be. ADDS is a free public service produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) under sponsorship of the Federal Aviation … Continue reading →

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Online Wx Tools for Pilots

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Dave C

Here’s another great entry from Air Facts: “Everyone has their list of favorite weather sites. Here is my top 10 list of useful weather websites that aren’t as well known as they should be (and they’re all free): 1. Graphical … Continue reading →

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Issac on the way

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Dave C

According to the National Weather Service, we’re looking at a wet weekend courtesy of Hurricane Issac. Here’s the latest precipitation estimation: Plan your flights accordingly!

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Scud Running

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Dave C

I was always taught that scud running should be avoided. But give a read to what John Zimmerman says over on Air Facts Journal: “Certainly, it is not easy–a safe scud-run demands precision and discipline. There are some rules that … Continue reading →

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Diversions

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Dave C

There’s a great read on Air & Space Magazine’s blog about how commercial carriers approach a potential diversion: “Fuel became an issue on one of my recent flights. We were flying from LAX to JFK, and it looked like we’d … Continue reading →

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Summertime Weather Prep

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Dave C

Air Facts Journal takes us through the mental preparation for summertime flight: “While the storms we most often deal with in our airplanes in the summertime are air mass storms, there are fronts and low pressure systems that spawn storms. … Continue reading →

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Super Derecho

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Dave C

Up until last weekend, I had never heard of a Derecho (pronounced de-RAY-sho). But if you’ve heard news reports storm damage on the East Coast, you probably have now. From AOPA blog: “The trouble starts when strong outflow winds from … Continue reading →

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Heat Alert & Density Altitude

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Dave C

In addition to staying cool in the cockpit, extreme heat brings another difficulty – increased density altitude. “Density altitude is the pressure altitude adjusted for non-standard temperature. Both an increase in temperature and, to a much lesser degree, humidity will … Continue reading →

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Think twice about trusting the NEXRAD

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Dave C

AVweb covers a story that deals with pilots flying with in-cockpit weather: “The “age indicator” on some in-cockpit weather displays can show a time stamp that’s off by as much as 20 minutes, the NTSB warned in a safety alert … Continue reading →

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