The Great British weather

Disclaimer: Not representative of normal British Weather!

The weather is a peculiar thing that us Brits never seem to be happy with. We love to complain about it but in reality there is absolutely nothing we can do. We can however learn how this planet throws up such contrasting conditions and use this knowledge to try and provide the passengers the smoothest and safest ride possible.

Meteorology, arguably the most important of the topics covered, is a monster, with the longest exam and six days to get through a list of learning objectives the length of an Airbus. It, like the other topics, is actually fascinating, but without a geography degree this very full on crash course in Met seems pretty complicated. Topics covered include altimetry, cloud spotting, humidity and wind among other things and once you sit down and get to grips with the content I find it surprisingly straight forward. That said there is still a lot of it and by no means to be underestimated.

Admittedly I have acquired some knowledge of meteorology from the amount of gliding I have done, which makes things a little easier. It also means that I have seen a few of the plethora of charts that can be used for deciphering the weather conditions at particular times. It's great now being able to understand these (and more), be able read them properly and do a little amateur weather forecasting in my spare time! The weather conditions are a very important part of gliding, and aviation in general, so having a good understanding not only makes you a better and safer pilot, but can make for some very enjoyable experiences. More on that another time! I am often asked about the best conditions for flying gliders. Well the picture above is just that! Lots of fluffy cumulus cloud and lots of blue sky for the sun to shine through. Just beautiful!

As the nights draw in and the day gets noticeably and depressingly shorter, the reality that our exams are only a month away is starting to hit home. I have definitely started to feel the pressure, even being on top of it all. Slowly but surely everything seems to be falling into place which is helping to carry that motivation through the long hours of study. Don't let that put you off though, as if you have a passion for aviation you will find ground school really interesting and actually rather enjoyable. Enough from me today, so Au Revoir!

Ps. Quite a few people asked me how they can follow the blog, so there is now a facebook page www.facebook.com/cwbpilot where you can follow the blog and where I will put additional interesting stuff. So please go and "like" the page to keep updated!