Pilot Weather Wisdom

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…

Everyone planning a wedding hopes (prays) for fair weather, especially if the venue is outdoors. Luckily my middle daughter’s wedding two weeks ago was inside, but the glitch, it was perched 54 stories into Toronto’s skyline. (Yup, Dad helped with the price tag that came with this pricey vantage point). The two-week forecast foreshadowed rain…

I am trying to make a movie clip for an online ground school company using my weather book as a source. My son told me to use CapCut, which was painful, and it’s given me new respect for these online posters. It sure takes time! Yes there are booboos.

Here’s the link: They have a neat audio feature too. My credentials has one typo.

Toronto’s Royal Alexandria Theatre (a short walk from my condo) hosted a weather-themed play, Pressure. The allied forces led by General Eisenhower wanted to pounce on France’s Normandy beaches on June 5th, 1944. But British meteorologist, James Stagg, convinced the Allies to delay the attack by one day. Stagg knew the North Atlantic weather patterns…

Most aspiring pilots face the daunting task of building flight time required for those golden airline careers. Usually, this entails pilots paying their dues at small bottom-feeder companies whose reputations can sometimes be dubious and whose procedures may raise eyebrows. Like most pilots pining for that illustrious flying job, I decided to leave my cushy…

JETPRO is pleased to announce a training program for pilots owning and operating sophisticated aircraft who lack the benefit of an airline-like Advanced Qualification Program (AQP). It deals with pilots that may have overreached when buying an airplane, labeled Pilot Overreach Syndrome. Similar to when I purchased a lengthy sailboat and just learned to sail.…

I was just informed February 5th honors the weatherman (weather person). Who knew? Funny, I signed up for a free “backyard meteorology” course from Harvard University today. Why is a certified meteorologist taking such a simplified course? Not sure. Very few ever admit to when the weatherman is right, so happy weather person day, everybody.…

A few weeks ago I chatted with John Zimmerman, who runs a huge pilot shop/training center in Ohio. Here is the intro: As a former meteorologist and a 25,000-hour airline captain, Doug Morris loves to talk about weather—but he’s worried most other pilots don’t share his love. He talks about the most misunderstood weather concept,…

            After a recent talk, I received a copy of David McCullough’s well-researched book, The Wright Brothers. Most pilots think they know the Kitty Hawk story, but I learned I didn’t. Wilbur and Orville Wright determined early in their multitude of experiments that wind was a must. Wilbur (oldest of the two) wrote to the…

I just received a link to my recent talk in Ottawa regarding the B787, low visibility, and aviation in general. During the talk, I was told not to move around too much. I obviously didn’t heed this advice and moved about too much. Plus, I wish they had superimposed the questions asked onto the video.…

What a storm! When teaching weather, I frequently take the Socratic approach by asking questions. The most profound question I ask…if the surface winds are from the east, which way is the low-pressure system moving? Most of the time, I either get silence or the wrong answer. I must admit it is a loaded question,…

November 23 saw Captain D give a presentation at Carleton University (Ottawa) for CASI. It was nice to hang around bright, upbeat people. I was very impressed with Carleton and the engineering department. Someone needs to set up an affiliated flight school/program. For decades, the ILS (Instrument Landing System) has guided pilots to safe landings…

Airline schedules will be redirecting their flights southward as the days get shorter. You may be planning an adventuresome Caribbean cross-country flight, flying a biz jet or airliner to a sunny destination, or heading there on vacay. Flying within the Horse latitudes At around 30° north and south of the equator semi-permanent high pressure systems…