AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2022 - 106

FLY WITH AOPA
ASI TIPS /
Guard against thunder
and lightning
Know where not to go
BY MACHTELD SMITH
to air masses, fronts, regional weather,
and high- and low-pressure systems.
Animations, videos, and visual cues
explain weather in a simple and effective
way. machteld.smith@aopa.org
airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/
airmassesandfronts
Ready for a thunderstorm
avoidance challenge?
CLOUDS ON FIRE with lightning, thunder
rolling through the sky-an impressive
display Mother Nature puts on that's
enjoyable to watch 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.
During stormy weather season
there are many great 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 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.
On the day of the flight, pilot weather
reports (PIREPs) are our friends in
determining actual weather conditions
at altitude and between weather
106
AOPA PILOT / August 2022
reporting stations to help us decide
whether to fly. 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 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-such as air traffic control,
onboard weather radar and datalink,
and flight service-that can help assess
if conditions are changing and how
those changes may affect our flight. If
things start to deteriorate, activate Plan
B, which may simply call for diverting,
landing, and letting the weather pass.
There are many great resources to
learn more about convective weather and
how to flight plan to avoid it, such as the
FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical
Knowledge (Chapter 12, Weather Theory)
and the Aviation Weather Center (aviation
weather.gov). You may also like ASI's
Weather Wise: Air Masses and Fronts
Safety Spotlight with sections dedicated
Test your thunderstorm avoidance
strategy with ASI's Weather or Not:
Thunderstorm Challenge online
course. Fire up your Cessna 172 for a
VFR flight from New Jersey's Cape May
County Airport to Erie, Pennsylvania,
and deal with pop-up thunderstorms,
deteriorating weather, on-board and
ATC radar realities, and fuel concerns.
Make critical go/no-go decisions and
experience where they lead. Then
choose different flight paths for
different decision outcomes. Good luck!
airsafetyinstitute.org/courses/
weather-or-not-thunderstorms
Weather or Not: Thunderstorm Challenge
and Weather Wise: Air Masses
and Fronts are sponsored by SiriusXM
Aviation
Updated program from ASI
An engaging, fun flight review
ASI's recently updated Focused Flight
Review delivers tailored lesson plans
and a meaningful, enjoyable experience
for pilots and their CFIs. A new " Beyond
the Basics " profile helps pilots learn
to safely maneuver in dynamic flight
environments. All profiles use newly
developed cross-country scenarios.
focusedflightreview.org

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/airmassesandfronts http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/airmassesandfronts http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/courses/weather-or-npt-thunderstorms http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/courses/weather-or-npt-thunderstorms http://www.weather.gov http://www.focusedflightreview.org

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2022

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