Suggestions for commuting to Melbourne

[pmccarthy]

Meteorology may be a weakness of RAA training compared with GA. I don't know that, but remember that meteorology was a big deal in my GA training many years ago. Having said that, lots of GA pilots seem to get themselves into unexpected IMC situations.

[facthunter]

Met. forecasts are never guaranteed. It's just something pilots have to cope with. Like a plane disabled on your destination runway.  IF a forecast has wet and dry  bulb figures you can assess fog and cloudbase aspect possibilities. if your knowledge is sufficient. This applies while inflight on receipt of upgraded data .  Nev

[Garfly]

As to whether weather theory offered in basic flight training is or 'should be' sufficient, I can but quote the opening lines of this Air Safety Institute film "Weather Wise: VFR Flight Planning."

 

"Most of the time weather is the biggest variable in flying.  But when it comes to figuring out what the weather's actually going to do, and what that means for a potential flight, many of us have relatively little real-world training to rely on. 'The majority of the training experience for most pilots is in the local area focused on manoeuvre based training ... and so for that practical exam you know that what you're working towards is a single cross country flight and that's essentially the extent of it.'  "

 

And as to whether Meteorology is a 'weakness' in the RAAus curriculum, this raises the question, just how deep an understanding of the science of weather might be deemed enough; just how much theory is most likely to contribute, in practice, to safer piloting decisions.

 

Being a 'weather-wise' pilot and having an academic understanding of meteorology are not one and the same thing. (Though any knowledge, per se, is unlikely to be a burden.)

 

As in all things aeronautic, practical experience is vital and yet, one could graduate as a pilot without so much as seeing a cloud close up, let alone facing complex grey-area, life-or-death weather decisions.  That's the point.

 

 

 

[facthunter]

The best way to handle bad weather is avoid it. Recognise the signs and act before you can't . You almost NEVER have to fly a recreational plane.  That's human factors. Weather to GO. whether to keep  going . How to have a way out. Can you fly the plane when you can't see out of it. (Navigate it clear of hills etc.) Nev