Category: Uncategorized
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Are weather vanes oriented true or magnetic?
On a recent LAX layover, my F/O stood me up so I walked to Manhattan Beach where there is a pier with a small aquarium at the end. On its roof is a weather vane which triggered a thought…are weather vanes oriented to true or magnetic north? Did the builder wait until sunrise or sunset…
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Wall Street Journal article
Captain D was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Bad Atmosphere As a captain for Air Canada, pilot Captain Doug Morris has gotten plenty of practice this summer (politely) delivering bad news to passengers. Very often the blame is assigned to the weather. “Mother Nature can throw a lot of curveballs. She can challenge us,” said…
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Weather dodging outside the realm of ATC
They begin to “paint” on the weather radar and rear their ugly, ominous heads. Thunderstorms are on the horizon while flying in a remote area — perhaps over the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean or maybe cruising the thunderstorm-infested Brazil’s Amazon jungle. VHF radios are out of range, and HF (High Frequency) is nothing but…
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Sucker Holes
A non-aviator asked me what’s a sucker hole. Pilots learn not to fly through a hole (sucker hole) or near a thunderstorm, because it may fill in and get nasty. It’s a meteorological temptation. Having said that, I will take a “hole” over a wall of nasty clouds anytime. Holes can get a pilot out of…
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Australian Aviation podcast
I recently did a podcast with a large aviation firm, Australian Aviation. Plus they wrote a great article boosting my new book. I think both went well.
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Audiobook for This Is Your Captain Speaking is out
If you want to listen to a crusty 60 year old captain for over seven hours then click on the following pic. It took four days in the studio downtown Toronto to get it right. Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado and Chris Hadfield also recorded there.
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This Is Your Captain Speaking
Book #4 has arrived. Captain Doug Morris has been writing for his airline’s in-flight magazine for 24 years and answered a gamut of questions. This sequel to his bestselling book, From the Flight Deck: Plane Talk andSky Science, explains everything you wanted to know about airline travel, such as: Do airliners have keys? What do…
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Captain D (60 in 60 at 60)
July 7th saw me enter the realm of the 6th decade. When am I going to retire? In about two years. I have a book to promote this coming spring (2022). My tennis partner filmed me, but the first take was photo bombed by a maintenance guy that felt it necessary to sweep the court.…
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Psych 101—flying with weather fear
While editing my draft for Pilot Weather Wisdom and paralleling (no, not plagiarizing) what famous Robert Buck states in his iconic book, Weather Flying, I should talk about pilot weather psychology Years ago, when looking toward the sky, I read an article in an aviation magazine about an airline pilot that developed a…
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Book #5 (Pilot Weather Wisdom)
This future book hit its first wave of turbulence. FYI, Book #4 has been put on hold until next spring. “This is Your Captain Speaking: Stories from the Cockpit has entered a long holding pattern due to COVID. I wrote about 260 pages for book #5, thinking it could do with some tweaking but overall…
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Interview with Skywing World
There is a new virtual aviation book store in Toronto. These two young guys are keen for business. Yes, they are selling my book and I recently had a debut interview with Gabe, Skywing’s partner.
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Canadian Aviation Weather edition #3 has landed
Finally, the books arrived. I think the “nip and tuck” worked out well. However, I only printed 100 copies and I am nearly out. Don’t fret, another 200 are coming in 2 to 3 weeks. I think, I hope, I believe.
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Canadian Aviation Weather gets a facelift
CAW #3 will be available at the end of February. I hope. Due to miscommunication, printers breaking down and planets not lining up things were delayed about a month and a half. The new “nip and tuck” version will be full colour, have an extra chapter on altimetry, errors and typos fixed with a new…
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A little weather Quiz
I found this weather quiz I wrote about a year ago. Advanced Meteorology Quiz Global Weather: The area ten to fifteen degrees north and south of the equator associated with rising air, convection, and low pressure systems is: Horse latitudes Bermuda high pressure ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) Tropic of Cancer 2. Jet Streams:…
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Europe’s Volcanic Ash Fiasco
Studying at Purdue University for a Masters. Lots of papers. Here is one on the eruption of Iceland’s volcano in 2010 that brought European airspace to its knees. Abstract Iceland’s eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced “A-ya-fyat-la-yœk-utl”) in April and May of 2010 spewed volcanic ash high into an eastward-moving jet stream, paralyzing Europe’s airspace located…
Pilot Weather Wisdom 