ANN's New Weather Columnist Is On A Critical Mission
Aviator/Instructor Scott Dennstaedt, who will soon be offering
ANN Readers essential knowledge about a critical aviation skill via
a new column on Aviation Weather, is on a mission.
Engine failure, electrical failure and instrument failure are
all non-routine events, but are part of a pilot's routine training
regiment. We learn and practice techniques so that when bad things
happen we can remain under control and survive. Even though these
events rarely happen our training prepares us for the
unexpected.
When it comes to flying
and the weather we really only have one and only one chance to do
it right. Oh sure, we can skirt the edge of adverse weather and
live to tell about it. Statistically, however, the odds are greatly
against us to survive a direct hit. Therefore, the rules of the
game are quite clear; stay out of the bad stuff and you will live
to fly again.
Scott notes that, "Even before I became an instructor, it was
apparent that the study of the atmosphere was not being taught to a
deep enough level. Even today, the extent of aviation weather
knowledge of many pilots is typically limited to memorizing the
answers to 50 or 60 weather questions. Trivia questions about steam
fog or the various stages of a thunderstorm are all very
interesting, but don't teach us anything about weather planning
technique or tools."
"There are many disciplines within aviation weather that are
missing from basic pilot training. I dare you to find any aviation
textbook that discusses numerical weather prediction, the crux of
all of our weather forecasts? What about other tools such as Nexrad
or concepts such as parcel theory? Are these left out because they
are way too advanced for the average pilot?"
The Reason for Chesapeake Aviation Training
Chesapeake Aviation Training is headquartered in Baltimore and
was founded not to attack the world of aviation training, but to
fill the many voids left out of basic aviation training.
The Weather or Not seminar series is the first of
many aviation weather seminars being offered by Chesapeake Aviation
Training throughout the US. The two-day ground training course
can't possibly fill in all the gaps, but is designed to plug a few
of them.
If you want to learn about a few unfamiliar weather topics to
broaden the scope of your aviation weather knowledge, then
Weather or Not will hardly disappoint you. The
material is very challenging so you have to come with an open mind
and fully prepared to learn some new techniques and new weather
jargon.
The seminar starts on a
Saturday at 10 am with an overview of weekend and includes a brief
discussion on the importance of aviation weather training. The
remainder of the weekend is broken into four segments that provide
an interwoven discussion of both familiar and unfamiliar weather
topics pertinent to aviation.
Then the fun really begins with an introduction to numerical
weather prediction (NWP). This segment provides the foundation for
the remaining three segments. Several representative weather
forecasting models are discussed. The focus of this segment is not
to demonstrate "how" numerical weather prediction works, but how to
utilize the products of numerical weather prediction for the
purposes of flight planning.
The Saturday afternoon segment covers Nexrad ground-based
weather radar. This topic is a bit more relaxed and much more
familiar to most pilots. Nexrad has a very high glance value and
you probably already use this for your preflight planning.
Moreover, Nexrad is becoming a very popular cockpit weather
tool. Even though this product is somewhat familiar to pilots,
there are many aspects that are not widely known or understood.
Understanding the image you are viewing is paramount to using the
product safely. The first day of the seminar finishes around 5
pm.
The seminar continues bright and early on Sunday at 8:30 am to
begin the next challenging topic, namely, parcel theory. Parcel
theory uses thermodynamic diagrams to determine the stability or
instability of the atmosphere. Additionally, thermodynamic diagrams
can be used to determine cloud top and cloud bases as well as
assess the freezing level and icing potential.
Finally, the seminar
finishes with a discussion of terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs).
This segment presents a behind the scenes look of how a
meteorologist constructs and amends a TAF. The seminar completes at
about 3 pm on Sunday.
The seminar is designed to be very interactive. Those attending are
encouraged to ask questions and participate in the discussion. A
complimentary light lunch is provided for both seminar days and a
dinner is normally organized for Saturday evening for those who may
be interested.
Weather or Not has already been held at the Sporty's facility in
Batavia, Ohio as well as in Baltimore, Maryland and Rapid City,
South Dakota. Future seminars are scheduled for San Jose, CA, Palm
Springs, CA, Charleston, SC, Martha's Vineyard, MA, Fort
Lauderdale, FL and Austin, TX. A minimum of 10 registrations is
necessary to hold the class. Early registration discounts may
apply.
ANN readers will not only be benefiting from Scott's
expertise, shortly, but we plan to audit one of these courses in
the near future and furnish an in-depth report... we'll keep you up
to date.