Dilemmas At Dusk
While we train for the essential ability to fly approaches to minimums, that’s not always enough preparation for real-life weather, which can conjure up...
The Southern Plains
With lots of affordable rural land, an abundance of Class E airspace, and plenty of VMC weather, it goes without saying that a thriving...
Pacific Northwest
For those of us who dwell in the southern and eastern states, Seattle makes us think of craft beer, grunge music, sprawling Boeing factories,...
Winter Storms
When winter arrives, it’s nice not to have to worry about big thunderstorms, high density altitudes, and being bounced all over the place flying...
Reading Surface Charts
Last month, we discussed upper-air charts and how they shed light on your flight plans. Now, let's talk about surface charts. In the May...
Weather Encounters
The abstracts below derive from ASRS reports on Inflight Weather Encounters involving IFR. They illustrate a variety of real-world IFR weather problems and solutions....
Reading the Charts
Chances are you’ve looked over weather charts, whether at a dispatch office or on the Internet, and wondered how that pile of spaghetti becomes...
Southwest Weather
Without a doubt, the western United States offers the best VFR flying in the nation. This is partly why the military has its air...
Weather Accidents
The United States. “What a country!” as comedian Yakov Smirnoff once said. It’s equipped with first-class observation systems, sophisticated forecast models, and a lively...
Back to Basics
Pilots have to keep up with quite a bit of knowledge. There are regulations, procedures, chart symbology, various engineering disciplines, and many others. For...
Just a Little Fog
If you’ve ever faced a go/no-go decision with tantalizing blue sky above a low layer of fog, you know that departing IFR is an...
Tornadic Storms
Whether you’re in meteorology school or ground school, the tornado undoubtedly captures the attention. I’ve often noticed how a room goes silent when a...