Pilot Weather Wisdom

Just posted this on Instagram and Facebook. Not bad for my first Instagram creation.

Another Air Canada video I better get myself spooled up as far as talking/teaching weather. I accepted a job to teach at Florida Tech this August. I will have two full time jobs in two different countries. What can go wrong?

This site has been neglected. I upgraded it about a year ago to accommodate videos. Here is my first one.

Anyone heading south? I’m heading to Punta Cana early this week for a 24 hour layover (third time this month) but not before I fly to Calgary and back. Just came across Pre-Covid videos as well as my pre-COVID enRoute articles. Seems enRoute is stuck in virtual land and hasn’t made it back the airplanes.…

This article recently appeared in Sporty’s Air facts section. It actually received a few comments. There are a two typos on their site but that’s show biz. Here’s the direct link Sporty’s Diagram found in Doug’s co-authored book: Pilot Weather: From Solo to the Airlines. It hints at an isothermal layer at the tropopause but…

While approaching Toronto from the west, we witnessed the terminator, where night meets day…aka the twilight zone. Also deemed the grey line, this moving line is a perk pilots at altitude get to see. We were at flight level 390 (39,000 feet). There is another terminator associated with aviation, which some label a hard-nosed check…

On a recent Tokyo flight, the weather charts depicted a tropical storm cutting across our route. This prompted a somewhat rare call to flight dispatch querying our routing. My opening line, “Couldn’t you get us a little closer to the storm?” ensued in silence. I quickly retorted with “kidding,” and we quickly got into discussing…

“Are you captain Doug?” asked the B777 first officer while in Tokyo’s Narita Airport. He then queried whether I had a copy of my Canadian weather book. You never know when a book sale will transpire. “Always bring copies of your book” suggested my publisher. That I do.

The Independent Publisher (IPPY) awarded This Is Your Captain Speaking a bronze for the transportation (Auto/Aviation/Railroad) category. They wanted a pic with my medal so I told my student first officer that he had to take a pic to pass line indoctrination. My book still hasn’t made it to airport bookstores so maybe this will…

I’m presently on a cruise with Anchorage as the starting point. According to the locals, it has been a dismal summer weatherize. Looks like the Aleutian low-pressure system is trying to hang on. My two weather books describe it as a semi-permanent, subpolar area of low pressure located in the Gulf of Alaska near the Aleutian Islands. The…

The 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards bestowed a bronze standing for Captain D’s book in the transportation category. Hopefully, this will generate sales, but more importantly give it exposure to finally get in airport bookstores, where it belongs! After all, how much can the travelling public tolerate countless editions from Danielle Steel et al? It’s…

Recently Avworld held a grand reopening of their aviation store when they moved next door and took over the infamous airport strip club. I was invited to sign books, but unfortunately the owners didn’t advertise the fact. I did sell 14 books and talked to great people over the course of six hours. There is…

If anyone wants to get their name on a Harvard certificate, take this online backyard meteorology course. It was at a grade-nine level, but Harvard produced some very informative videos put on by Professor Huth. The course is free, but there is a $60 USD fee if you want the certificate. It will be the…