What’s new in the world of aviation weather products you ask? Well, the “Experimental Graphical Forecast for Aviation” (GFA) of course! As the title suggests, this product is in experimental form at the moment, but is up and running at AviationWeather.gov. The National Weather Service and FAA are asking for your help in surveying this […]
By CFI
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Posted in CFI Briefing, Weather Services
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Also tagged Aircraft, airport, CFI, FAA, FAA Exam, flight training, flying, instruments, learn to fly, pilot in command, Private Pilot, safety, weather
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February 29, 2016 – 9:48 am
Out here in the Pacific Northwest, there’s a saying: if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. Whether or not your weather changes as fast as ours does, knowing what to expect is still critical to flight safety. Radar helps us track weather nearly in real-time and make visual sense of what to expect […]
By ASA
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Posted in Ground School, Weather Services
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Also tagged Aircraft, airport, ASA, FAA, FAA Exam, feature, flight training, flying, learn to fly, Navigation, pilot in command, Private Pilot, safety, Test Prep, weather
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September 3, 2015 – 9:03 am
Let’s recap some of the important information we learned from Monday’s post on carburetor ice. As air flows through a carburetor, it expands rapidly. At the same time, fuel entering the airstream is vaporized. Expansion of the air and vaporization of the fuel causes a sudden cooling of the mixture which may cause ice to […]
By CFI
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Posted in CFI Briefing, Flight Instruments
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Also tagged aerodynamics, carburetor icing, FAA, FAA Exam, flight training, flying, icing, learn to fly, pilot in command, pitot, Private Pilot, safety, weather
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August 24, 2015 – 8:17 am
Today, we’re going to look at some flight maneuvers from one of our favorite books, the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Critical load factors apply to all flight maneuvers except unaccelerated straight flight where a load factor of 1 G is always present. Certain maneuvers considered in this section are known to involve relatively high load […]
By ASA
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Posted in Aerodynamics
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Also tagged aerodynamics, Aircraft, airport, altitude, ASA, communications, FAA, FAA Exam, flight training, flying, landing, learn to fly, pilot in command, Private Pilot, radio, safety, takeoff, Thrust
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Today we’ll think about the effect of temperature on the weather. We’ve covered how solar energy from the sun drives all atmospheric and geological processes on Earth, so now we’ll address it’s role in atmospheric stability. Words and pictures in this post come from the FAA’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Atmospheric Stability The stability of the […]
By ASA
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Posted in Ground School, Weather
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Also tagged aviation weather, dew point, FAA, FAA Exam, flight training, flying, humidity, learn to fly, Private Pilot, safety, stability, weather
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For a thunderstorm to exist, you need two very basic elements: moisture and warm, rapidly rising air. This is why in the spring and summer months with the warmer conditions you tend to see an increase in thunderstorm activity. According to NOAA, at any given time across the world there are 1,800 thunderstorms occurring all […]
By CFI
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Posted in CFI Briefing, Weather
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Also tagged FAA, FAA Exam, flight training, hail, learn to fly, lightning, Private Pilot, safety, thunderstorms, weather, writen exam
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Differences in temperature create differences in pressure. These pressure differences drives a complex system of winds in a never ending attempt to reach equilibrium. Wind also transports water vapor and spreads fog, clouds, and precipitation. This week, we have a post from the classic FAA text Aviation Weather (AC 00-6A) to describe how the atmosphere […]
February 16, 2015 – 9:25 am
This week, we’re thinking about weather briefings. This post comes from the FAA’s Aviation Weather Services, available from ASA in print, PDF, and in a combo-pak with Aviation Weather. Prior to every flight, pilots should gather all information vital to the nature of the flight. This includes a weather briefing obtained by the pilot from an approved weather source […]
February 9, 2015 – 8:40 am
This week, we’re taking another look at weather and focusing on its cause: the heating and cooling of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. More on what every pilot needs to know about weather can be found in the FAA handbook Aviation Weather (AC 00-6A). The amount of solar energy received by any region varies with […]
December 8, 2014 – 8:35 am
For today’s post, we have adapted information from the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge to introduce the subject of aircraft performance. Matters of aircraft performance will always be subject to the guidelines of your specific aircraft outlined in the performance or operational information section of the Aircraft Flight Manual/Pilot’s Operating Handbook (AFM/POH). The use of […]
By ASA
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Posted in Aircraft Performance, Ground School
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Also tagged altimeter, altitude, atmospheric pressure, density, density altitude, flying, instruments, learn to fly, Lift, pitot, power, Thrust
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