2. Pilots & Weather Considerations
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
3. Pilots & Weather Considerations
What this seminar isn’t
– Weather 101
– How to read METARs
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
4. Weather Considerations
Personal Rules to LIVE by
– Bright Lines you don’t cross
Personal WX minima VFR/IFR
PAVE (pre-flight planning)
CARE (in-flight decision making)
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
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5. Weather Considerations
Establish weather criteria in the comfort of
your own home when you don’t have a
specific trip in mind
Recognize the difference between “legal”
and “appropriate”
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
6. Weather Considerations
Personal VFR Minimums
– Ceiling
– Visibility
– Max X-Wind Component
– Fuel Reserves (Day/Night)
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
7. Weather Considerations
Personal IFR Minimums
– Precision Approaches
Ceiling (above published mins)
Visibility (above published mins)
– Non-Precision Approaches
– Takeoff Minimums
– Fuel Reserves
– Freezing Level height above cruise alt
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
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8. PAVE
During Pre-flight planning evaluate:
Pilot
Aircraft
enVironment
External Pressures
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
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9. PAVE
In pre-flight planning the PAVE checklist
reminds you to consider:
Pilot: Health (IMSAFE - Illness, Medication,
Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotional
state) qualifications, capabilities, currency,
proficiency, IFR/VFR
Aircraft: Equipment, performance, load, fuel
capacity, runway surface and length,
operating ceiling, limitations
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
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10. PAVE
The PAVE checklist continued:
EnVironment: Weather, personal minimums,
terrain, over water, high altitude operations,
airspace and NOTAMs
External Pressures: Expectant host,
planned meeting, special event, passengers
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11. Elements in the PAVE checklist are
cumulative. A major problem in any area is
reason to cancel the flight but multiple minor
problems in more than one area can also
make delaying the flight a good idea.
A single problem in any area should be a
yellow flag to take notice but two or more
problem areas should be a red flag to take
action and change your plan.
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
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12. CARE
In flight monitor changes in the PAVE criteria
and consider:
Consequences
Alternatives
Reality
External Pressures
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
13. CARE
Once you’re airborne use the CARE checklist to stay
on top of factors affecting the flight.
Consequences: Consider consequences of
changing risk factors during the flight ( Pilot,
Aircraft, EnVironment, and External pressures)
and the decisions you make regarding them.
Alternatives: Have a back up when you can’t
continue as planned, remembering that your
alternatives will decrease as the flight progresses
and you burn the fuel that will allow you to take a
different route or divert
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
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14. CARE
The CARE checklist continued:
Reality: Maintain situational awareness and
deal with the actual conditions, not what you
hoped or planned would happen. Accept
change and take proper action
External pressures: Other people or
personal commitments cause goal oriented
behavior at the expense of making good
decisions.
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
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15. CARE
As with the PAVE checklist, items in the
CARE checklist are also cumulative. While a
single major problem in any area can cause
a complete change of plans, minor
problems in two or more items of the CARE
checklist should cause you to re-evaluate
the situation and take appropriate action
Pilots & Weather
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Federal Aviation
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16. Weather Considerations
The PAVE and CARE checklists are your
virtual co-pilot, the challenging voice in the
back of your head that causes you to
evaluate each flight management decision
you make and validate that decision against
a personal standard rather than just winging
it.
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
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17. Weather Considerations
Local Weather Stuff
– Lingering Marine Layer
– Santa Ana Winds
Turbulence
Mountain Wave
– Low freezing levels
Snow & Ice away from home
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
18. Weather Considerations
Would you be happy with the headline in
tomorrow’s newspaper?
Would you do this with 100 paying
passengers in the back?
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
19. FAASafety.gov
Register at FAASafety.gov
– Document your support for the program
Attend Safety Seminars
– Green Stamps in the Bank
NASA Incident Reporting
– Immunity for unintentional violations
– 5 year clock
– Must be able to document to be able to use
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
20. Flying is not inherently dangerous, but
to an even greater extent than the sea,
it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness,
incapacity, or neglect.
Thank you for attending.
Pilots & Weather
Considerations
Federal Aviation
Administration
Editor's Notes
Rich Martindell
http://www.wild-blue-yonder.com
619.253.7649
May 31, 2007
This flight originated in sunny San Diego on a Christmas trip to Oregon. Our fearless pilot did some things right and some things could have been done better, BUT in every case he used good judgment once he analyzed the situation. We’ll discuss these throughout the presentation.
As much as possible, we need to get the decision making process out of the subjective and into an objective set of criteia.
Weather that is “legal” by FARs may not be appropriate or safe for the situation a pilot is facing.
You set the minimums and you can change them based on the conditions if there is a good reason to do so. For instance, if you have been flying regularly you might feel comfortable lowering your minimums but if you haven’t flown for a while you definitely want to raise them. Also, minimums around your home field where you are comfortable and familiar with the area might be some what lower than what you’d want to live with on a cross country into a strange field.
Same as previous slide
Pilot, weather and environment are important considerations in setting personal minimums. Don’t let External Pressures override your sound judgment regarding the others.
The fearless pilot in our example knew his limitations and his aircraft’s capabilities. He was prepared to deal with the weather and fully understood that he needed to combat the external pressures of his family waiting for him in Oregon to celebrate Christmas. He left two days early for a one day trip to allow time to sit out bad weather. His trip up to Oregon from San Diego went perfectly and he was able to fly all three flights in one day. While he was in Oregon a front went through and dumped snow on his airplane as you saw in the opening picture. His mistake was to not clear the snow off the airplane as soon as it accumulated. While he was waiting for the weather to clear, snow melted and the water froze on the controls and in the starter for the engine. Once the weather broke he then had to thaw out the airplane so he enlisted the help of a local with a heated hangar. It took him longer to get going than he had planned so he only made it half way from Oregon to San Diego on the first day of his return trip. He stopped in Mojave, CA to spend the night. Again, he had time to get back to San Diego before he had to be back at work after the Christmas break.
This is local stuff for San Diego and Southern California. Other briefers can substitute information for their local area.