reading recomendations: soaring and meteo

[RReis]

Hi all

I'll start working towards my pilot glider license next month and am
collecting reading material. I would tip into your knowledge on
advising a good book on meteorology for glider pilots.

cheers!

Ricardo Reis

[Chris Nicholas[_2_]]

I suspect that the country you are in might influence recommendations. As
you have not mentioned it, are you assuming everyone else will assume you
are USA based?

Chris N

[Ricardo Reis]

On Feb 1, 12:18*pm, Chris Nicholas > wrote:
> I suspect that the country you are in might influence recommendations. *As
> you have not mentioned it, are you assuming everyone else will assume you
> are USA based?
>
> Chris N

I'm in Portugal, Europe :)

[Chris Nicholas[_2_]]

I am not sure what would help you most with passing Portuguese
examinations, but in the UK the level of knowledge you need for our
met exam is probably more than adequately covered by “Meteorology &
Flight” by Tom Bradbury (he was a very competent glider pilot as well
as a professional meteorologist), available from the BGA – see :
http://www.bgashop.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=9 .

(I have not read it myself, but others have spoken well of it. I don’t
know if it covers modern web-based sources for forecasting.)

My own reference book is “Meteorology for Glider Pilots” by C. E.
Wallington available from Amazon. It is older, and certainly does not
cover modern web-based sources. It is very detailed and academic in
approach. Again, the author was a very well known glider pilot as well
as a professional meteorologist

Another source (again, sorry I have not read it) is “Understanding
Flying Weather” By Derek Piggott, sadly out of stock at the BGA, but
may be available elsewhere. A Customer review said: “ Good enough to
get you going. This book is a good starter on aviation meteorology as
applied to gliding and free-flight. If you know very little about
thermals, fronts and the effects of the sun on the weather, this
should be a useful starter.”

Hope this helps, and perhaps some others will provide more first-hand
information.

Chris N.

[johngalloway[_3_]]

"Understanding the Sky" by Dennis Pagen (ISBN 0-936310-10-3) is the
most practical and clearest book on soaring weather I have read.

The whole book is online in pdf format although I am not sure whether
it should be. I am happy to have bought a hard copy and hope that
anyone finding the link useful will do so too.

http://blog.rodbailey.com/uploads/DennisPagen-UnderstandingTheSky.pdf

John Galloway

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:54:08 -0800, johngalloway wrote:

> "Understanding the Sky" by Dennis Pagen (ISBN 0-936310-10-3) is the most
> practical and clearest book on soaring weather I have read.
>
> The whole book is online in pdf format although I am not sure whether it
> should be. I am happy to have bought a hard copy and hope that anyone
> finding the link useful will do so too.
>
> http://blog.rodbailey.com/uploads/DennisPagen-UnderstandingTheSky.pdf
>
> John Galloway

I have a copy of "Meteorology and Flight" (Tom Bradbury) and came to it
with knowledge gained from three decades of Free Flight model flying,
i.e. detailed experience of picking and using thermals while standing on
the ground, and minimal knowledge apart from that: I could just about
understand a synoptic weather chart.

I found the book easy to read and understand. It has excellent "3D"
sketches illustrating weather systems. I have the 3rd edition (printed in
2000) so, although it deals with satellite weather pictures, it says
nothing about online weather resources apart that provided by the UK Met.
Office at the time. This was basically the same information that was also
available on paper or via fax.

Its biggest drawback for anybody outside the UK is that it was written
for British glider pilots. In particular:

- all units are knots/feet/millibars which might be a problem if,
like many Europeans, your glider has metric instruments.

- The contents of 2 out of the 3 appendices are entirely UK-centric.
The 3rd, which describes the codes and formats used in METARs and
TAFs, should be useful anywhere.

- it describes the British Met Office's 214 (Low level forecast)
and 215 (spot wind) forms. I don't know how these compare with the
equivalents in other countries. Sorry

Bottom line: I'd recommend it for anybody who can live with the drawbacks
I've listed.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Ricardo Reis]

Thanks for the feedback, I will check your suggestions.

cheers,

rreis

[bill palmer]

Turbulence (a new perspective for pilots), by Peter F. Lester,
http://www.amazon.com/Turbulence-Perspective-Peter-F-Lester/dp/088487141X
Jeppesen says "it is the most comprehensive, understandable book available on turbulence as it pertains to aviation. It will help you recognize the conditions that cause turbulence, so the effects can be avoided or minimized. This book provides answers to questions such as: What is turbulence? What does it look like? How long does it last? What causes it? Where is it found? What are its indicators? What are its typical dimensions and intensities? "

I say, it was much more than that. Its coverage ranged from wind eddies around barns to upper level standing gravity waves and the flow of air around the jet stream to how to spot turbulence and the conditions that are right for it. Provides great insight many aspects of weather.

As both an international widebody captain for a major airline, and a glider pilot, I recommend this book for pilots of any aircraft type.

It's not a test prep book, but it will help you understand the atmosphere and also help by understanding why clouds are shaped the way they are, thus indicating what's going on there. Something every glider pilot can benefit from (well, every pilot - period, for that matter).