Dear Forum Members,


starting out as a Meteorologist and Aviation Weather Forecaster, I have recently-ish become an aviation meteorology instructor at a military aviation academy. The main purpose of meteorology lessons in pilot trainin being safety, I need to tell my students not only what makes the hazards, but how how they affect the different flying phases and how they are dealt with by pilots. Ever so often my students ask me "why do I need to know".

My students are complete beginners and fly VFR with a 2-seater propeller machine. Holding no pilot license of my own, I can only present generic information (as it were) to my students. First hand information from the flying community, however, would help to add value to my lessons. And that's why I am here.

For example, I would like to know
a) re visibility, why a pilot would need to know about the different ways of making fog (i.e. what distinguishes evaporation fog from advection fog)? After all, doesn't a fog warning come from the forecast? Does it really matter what type of fog you're looking at? If so, in what way? At what level does poor visibility become a real threat? What is the minimum distance a pilot needs to see in order to have a chance and avoid an obscured ground obstacle?

b) how a pilot assesses the icing risk (both engine and airframe).
My current approach is to tell people about supercooled water (for airframe icing) and adiabiatic cooling (for throttle and fuel icing), and tell them to stay clear -if possible- of the dangerous temperature zones (0 / -15 degC for airframe, -5 / +15 degC for engine).

What else could / should I say? Does a pilot calculate how much to climb/descend in order to exit the dangerous temperature zone (application of the DALR / SALR are part of our syllabus)?

c) how a pilot assesses the hazards that are not explicitly forecast, such as turbulence or crosswind, and what intensity they become threats? Is in-flight turbulence a problem? How do you identify the safest place to fly e.g. near mountains or in a valley, or the best path to climb out (after takeoff) or glide (in landing approach)?


So the main questions here are:
- what do you _really_ need to know
- and why

That's the information I am after.
Please feel free to comment. Any little bit will help.


Thanks


Grille