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/De...dingTheSky.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.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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