Post by Dave Athay on Apr 5, 2012 19:01:59 GMT -5
No outside factor has as profound effect on a flight as the weather. As a pilot, it's absolutely essential to understand how the weather will affect every single flight you do.
If you've got a schedule to keep, it's critical to understand the winds aloft over your route.
The dynamically updated "real-world" weather feature in flight sim doesn't always follow actual reported weather, but in my experience, it's close enough that it's worth your time to use the weather products real pilots are using.
Go to aviationweather.gov/adds. There's a lot of information here, and as a flight sim pilot, you really don't need most of it. The three sections you WILL need, however, are "METARs," "TAFs" and "Winds/Temps."
"METAR" (pronounced "mee-tar") stands for "Aviation Routine Weather Report," and "TAF" ("taff") means "Terminal Aerodrome Forecast."
METARs are updated every hour, a few minutes before the hour. All they tell you is observed weather conditions at the moment. Nowadays, this is done almost completely automatically by sophisticated machines capable of measuring wind, temperature, dewpoint, visibility, cloud coverage, and even discriminating between different types of precipitation. Cool, huh?
TAFs are a FORECAST, updated every 6 hours or so, for the next 24-30 hour period.
You can get TAFs and METARs from the same form at the same time, so just click on METARs for now. Type in the identifiers for the airports you're interested in, separated by a space. Check the box for TAFs, too. Since you probably won't understand the raw format, click the radio button to the right for "translated." Submit the form.
You'll see the raw code at the top of each section, and then a more user-friendly explanation of what it means. If you want to be able to interpret the raw code yourself, the Aeronautical Information Manual (free on the FAA website) explains it in detail.
So there you have it. Understanding the weather conditions at your departure and destination airports is important when it comes time to decide which runways to use, and what approach/departure procedures to fly. If weather is really bad, you might not even make it in to your destination. Better to know that before you leave!
The part between takeoff and landing is important, too. The main factor to consider here is wind. Use your "back" button once, then click the "Winds/Temps" tab.
You'll see a map littered with little line symbols that look like feathers or musical notes without the heads. Take a look at just one of them. The long line indicates the direction of the wind at that location. The little tick marks indicate the end of the long line that points INTO the wind. This becomes more intuitive when you look at the higher-altitude charts that show the jetstream.
The tick marks indicate how hard the wind is blowing. The longer ticks each represent 10 kts of wind. A short tick is worth 5, and a shaded-in triangle is 50 kts.
The chart defaults to show surface winds. Choose a different altitude from the drop-down menu to see the winds at that altitude.
Imagine a line representing your course on the map for the altitude you'd like to fly. Check the maps above and below that altitude to see if you can get more favorable winds. Generally, you're better off cruising as high as you can. But if you can get a stronger tailwind or a lighter headwind by cruising higher or lower, it might be worthwhile to take advantage of it.
There are various ways of calculating your headwind/tailwind component. But for our purposes in flight simulation, a rough guess is usually sufficient. This chart will help you determine if you'll be able to complete your flight on time, and what adjustments in cruising speed might be required to do so.
Play around with this website. There's a lot of good information. The more you practice, the better you'll be. Keeping a schedule doesn't happen by accident.
Please add your comments or questions below. Good luck!
Dave
If you've got a schedule to keep, it's critical to understand the winds aloft over your route.
The dynamically updated "real-world" weather feature in flight sim doesn't always follow actual reported weather, but in my experience, it's close enough that it's worth your time to use the weather products real pilots are using.
Go to aviationweather.gov/adds. There's a lot of information here, and as a flight sim pilot, you really don't need most of it. The three sections you WILL need, however, are "METARs," "TAFs" and "Winds/Temps."
"METAR" (pronounced "mee-tar") stands for "Aviation Routine Weather Report," and "TAF" ("taff") means "Terminal Aerodrome Forecast."
METARs are updated every hour, a few minutes before the hour. All they tell you is observed weather conditions at the moment. Nowadays, this is done almost completely automatically by sophisticated machines capable of measuring wind, temperature, dewpoint, visibility, cloud coverage, and even discriminating between different types of precipitation. Cool, huh?
TAFs are a FORECAST, updated every 6 hours or so, for the next 24-30 hour period.
You can get TAFs and METARs from the same form at the same time, so just click on METARs for now. Type in the identifiers for the airports you're interested in, separated by a space. Check the box for TAFs, too. Since you probably won't understand the raw format, click the radio button to the right for "translated." Submit the form.
You'll see the raw code at the top of each section, and then a more user-friendly explanation of what it means. If you want to be able to interpret the raw code yourself, the Aeronautical Information Manual (free on the FAA website) explains it in detail.
So there you have it. Understanding the weather conditions at your departure and destination airports is important when it comes time to decide which runways to use, and what approach/departure procedures to fly. If weather is really bad, you might not even make it in to your destination. Better to know that before you leave!
The part between takeoff and landing is important, too. The main factor to consider here is wind. Use your "back" button once, then click the "Winds/Temps" tab.
You'll see a map littered with little line symbols that look like feathers or musical notes without the heads. Take a look at just one of them. The long line indicates the direction of the wind at that location. The little tick marks indicate the end of the long line that points INTO the wind. This becomes more intuitive when you look at the higher-altitude charts that show the jetstream.
The tick marks indicate how hard the wind is blowing. The longer ticks each represent 10 kts of wind. A short tick is worth 5, and a shaded-in triangle is 50 kts.
The chart defaults to show surface winds. Choose a different altitude from the drop-down menu to see the winds at that altitude.
Imagine a line representing your course on the map for the altitude you'd like to fly. Check the maps above and below that altitude to see if you can get more favorable winds. Generally, you're better off cruising as high as you can. But if you can get a stronger tailwind or a lighter headwind by cruising higher or lower, it might be worthwhile to take advantage of it.
There are various ways of calculating your headwind/tailwind component. But for our purposes in flight simulation, a rough guess is usually sufficient. This chart will help you determine if you'll be able to complete your flight on time, and what adjustments in cruising speed might be required to do so.
Play around with this website. There's a lot of good information. The more you practice, the better you'll be. Keeping a schedule doesn't happen by accident.
Please add your comments or questions below. Good luck!
Dave