24: Weather in Depth
You don’t have to be a meteorologist to manage a useful understanding of weather. Grasping micrometeorology, however, is quite helpful. That is our focus. Chapter 7 covered the basics of acquiring weather and what to look for—this gets more into the meat of the matter. Even so it scratches the surface of what entire books are written about. We concentrate on what’s useful to pilots of the world’s lightest powered aircraft.
by Jeff Goin | Jun 11, 2019 | 07: Weather Basics, 24: Weather in Depth, Log: Airline
This afternoon, flying into Nashville, TN, I noticed these clouds. A quick look at the local weather showed strong, gusty winds out of the northwest–perpendincular to this band of clouds. Ahaa, this is a relatively mellow, dry cold front; there’s no...
by Jeff Goin | Apr 30, 2019 | 24: Weather in Depth
Invisible eddy that eats us for lunch Rotor and mechanical turbulence are close cousins. Rotor is the rotational swirl that forms downwind of certain shapes, usually a persistent, strong rotational flow. Mechanical turbulence is a more random stirring of the air...
by Jeff Goin | Apr 21, 2019 | 24: Weather in Depth
Really this is more for soaring pilots who look for the least little indication that a thermal may be about to “pop.” And if they’re low enough to be looking for these cues, they’re only a few dozen seconds from committing to landing. Chapter...
by Jeff Goin | Apr 28, 2018 | 07: Weather Basics, 24: Weather in Depth
Thanks to John Blair, Dayton Powered Paragliding. It’s now super easy to get the local weather forecast using the web, 800-WX-BRIEF, TV, radio or even your VHF radio. Even so, at certain times of the year weather can change rapidly and you should continually...
