Flight School (May 10, 11)

Thursday and Friday were spent learning about weather. Weather patterns really affect how planes fly in the atmosphere. Even a perfectly clear day can make it difficult for a pilot to navigate the skies. Thursday I spent all day studying the different weather patterns, clouds, storms and other hazardous types of weather like freezing rain. High and low pressure systems can roll through the United States and pilots must be aware or else suffer the consequences of being higher or lower than the altimeter indicates. A "standard" flight atmosphere is 15ºC or 59ºF with a barometric reading of 29.92 Hg at sea level. But, especially in the Cleveland area, no day is a standard day. Pressure systems can cause major changes that affect the flight instruments and how they function; basically, a prepared pilot needs to be aware of the weather around him/her. In order to do this, pilots must check the official weather before every flight by calling 1-800-WX-BRIEF, which will give you the official weather. You can also go online to get the same reading at www.aviationweather.gov/adds , but this does not count as "official" by the FAA. Either way, every pilot should call the weather service as well as check online to get the METARs, TAFs and NOTAMs for the flight and airports and check the radar and cloud coverage. Coming to the end of my lesson on Friday, we headed over to the hangar to take my first flight. My instructor had to do three touch-and-go's before we could fly together. Unfortunately, my instructor came back much later than intended and informed me that the plane would have to undergo maintenance before I could fly it. Hopefully I will be able to fly come Monday!