Air Facts
MAY 28, 2025
An approaching system threatened to bring widespread low ceilings, embedded thunderstorms, and wind shear across much of the southern U.S. An approaching system threatened to bring widespread low ceilings, embedded thunderstorms, and wind shear across much of the southern U.S. Thats when the tone of the trip changed.
iPad Pilot News
JUNE 27, 2025
To learn the finer points of atmospheric stability, wind shear, and potential cloud layers, there’s nothing better than a Skew-T log (p) chart. This is a complicated subject, but many pilots think composite reflectivity is most useful for flight planning (but is not what most TV stations show). Get the app here.
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Pilot Institute
MARCH 6, 2025
Pilots are required to check for NOTAMs along their relevant routes or locations before the start of a flight. NOTAMs are very important in that they can provide information that can cause a pilot to change their flight plans, such as Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) or an airport that has become temporarily unavailable.
Pilot Institute
JULY 11, 2025
Understanding what you’re flying into will only prepare you for smooth flights ahead. Identifying occluded fronts on charts is important for flight planning and safety. For example, as a cold front passes, surface winds may shift from southwesterly to northwesterly, while winds above may continue from the west.
Pilot Institute
MAY 26, 2025
Wind Shear Wind shear happens when the wind suddenly changes speed or direction over a short distance, which creates turbulence. This is why wind shear is described as either vertical or horizontal, depending on the direction of the change. What happens when you fly through wind shear?
Pilot Institute
JULY 4, 2025
Moisture, instability, lift, and wind shear are needed to form and sustain a squall line. Weather radars and reports can help you plan ahead to avoid squall lines. Wind Shear But on top of all of that, there’s another piece of the puzzle that can help sustain the squall line. Aircraft components aren’t safe either.
Learn to Fly
APRIL 11, 2024
While aviation training tends to focus on the go/no-go decision, equally critical are the continue/divert decisions that happen quite literally throughout the flight. Wind—Is the direction and speed conducive to the runway alignment at both the departure and arrival airport? This tends to result in extreme conditions.
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