CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 12 Issue 2 - 34

CFI TOOLS
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
BY MACHTELD SMITH Can be Frightening
I LOVE WATCHING THE CLOUDS ON FIRE WITH
LIGHTNING AND HEARING THE THUNDER ROLL
AND ECHO THROUGH THE SKY. It's a fantastic
display mother nature puts on-especially when
safely watching the spectacle from a distance, on
the ground.
On the other hand, in aviation, especially
general aviation flying, a thunderstorm gets
our attention quickly and we'll wisely take a
wide path around them because, well, they can
swallow us up and spit us out in no time if we're
unprepared and get too close.
In preparing for stormy weather season there are
many great ways to employ strategies for flying
the weather. For example, observing weather
patterns several days out before a planned flight
will provide the big picture on how a system is
expected to move along the route of flight. Simply
watching the weather channel or reviewing
graphical forecasts online will do the trick. Sure,
forecasts can be imperfect, but they do help alert
us ahead of time to be prepared for a go/no-go
decision. Similarly, an outlook briefing the day
before the flight makes a lot of sense to again be
prepared for a go/no-go decision.
Of course, on the day of the flight, PIREPs are
our best friends in determining actual weather
conditions at altitude and between weather
reporting stations to help us decide to fly or
not. Better yet, ask pilots who have flown near
the planned flight route if conditions between
the forecast and what they encountered aloft
meshed-did anything change along the way?
Once, up in the air, we should also compare
the forecast to actual conditions. This means
looking out the window and assessing the
weather aloft to help improve our situational
awareness and be alert to the weather in our
flight path. Now is also a good time to pay special
attention to in-flight weather resources-like
air traffic control, onboard weather radar and
datalink, and flight service-that can help
asses if conditions are changing and how those
changes may affect our flight. If things start to
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Take the
Thunderstorm
Challenge
As a fun way to test your and your students'
thunderstorm avoidance strategy take the
Weather or Not: Thunderstorm Challenge
course. You can first review ASI's thunderstorm
weather strategy. Then, enter the interactive
scenario and get ready to fire up your Cessna
172 for a VFR cross-country flight from New
Jersey's Cape May County Airport to Erie,
Pennsylvania. Prepare to deal with pop-up
thunderstorms, deteriorating weather, on-board
and ATC radar realities, and fuel concerns. You
and your students will make critical go/no-go
decisions on a 300-nm route and experience
where your decisions lead. You'll even have the
option to try different flight paths to see various
decision outcomes. And, course completion
qualifies for FAA Wings credit. Good luck!

https://elearning.aopa.org/client/app.html#/courses/100013?embedded https://elearning.aopa.org/client/app.html#/courses/100013?embedded https://elearning.aopa.org/client/app.html#/courses/100013?embedded

CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 12 Issue 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 12 Issue 2