Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation
so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it
all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as
representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have
heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we
might never have considered before, or something that didn't
"stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for
the practical test.
It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers
become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our
ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those
strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow
them to soar magnificently through it.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are
always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's
tips.
Remember... when it comes to being good pilots, we're all in
this together.
Aero-Tips 01.04.06
There’s one user fee I wholeheartedly support -- a fee for
taking advantage of Flight Service Station briefings. The cost? One
Pilot Report (PIREP).
Surface weather observations describe only the lowest level of
the atmosphere, in the immediate vicinity of airports. Many
observations are robotic, lacking the finer details of human
description and insight. Area forecasts are too wide-ranging to
describe specific locations. Radar shows only precipitation, not
other hazards; satellite imagery depicts only the top of the
highest cloud layer. Observations are dated the moment
they’re taken, while forecasts are guesses and less accurate
the farther out. The only way to fill the gaps and overcome these
shortcomings is for pilots themselves to describe weather.
For the system to work, we need lots of PIREPs. Describe good
weather as well as bad -- wouldn’t you like to get reports of
better-than-expected weather as least as much as those of bad?
Consider filing a PIREP as your fee for taking advantage of the
Flight Service briefing network.
File a Pilot Report:
- As soon as practical in the flight, describing conditions near
the airport and in the climb
- Upon encountering any aviation weather hazard (reduced
visibility, thunderstorms, ice and/or turbulence)
- Hourly regardless of flight conditions
- Whenever you contact Flight Service for any reason
- If practical, describing conditions for descent, approach and
landing
Aero-Tip of the day: File useful PIREPs as the
“cost of doing business” with Flight Service.
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