Hello Spring, hello thunderstorms and windshear. Each new season brings new hazards to flight. As the air warms and the Jetstream moves further North, warm and cold airmasses begin to collide and make for very unstable and unpredictable weather. While the Winter seemed harsh and cold, Spring is the transition between that harshness and the hot muggy Summer flying season. It’s this transition period that requires pilots to stay even more up to date with changing weather systems.
Aside from simply reading a TAF or an MOS forecast, get to know your surface analysis chart as well as the prognostic charts for the clues that will define the conditions of your flight. Those red and blue frontal boundaries mean something, along with the isobars, of course. The unpredictable nature comes in how fast these fronts and weather systems are moving in or away from your route of flight.
Spring flying will generally see big thunderstorms. That’s the most hazardous flight condition we’ll encounter as pilots. With these thunderstorms come the great chance for windshear, hail, and microbursts. Now is a great time to review these hazards to flight.
Our fleet is also changing. We’ll soon have a second Archer, 8211C online and available for use. While this aircraft will be very similar to 41JA, the avionics will be different. 8211C features an Avidyne IFD440 GPS. The Trustee has uploaded tons of great tutorials on the Wiki for your early familiarization on this navigation unit.
https://member.jerseyaeroclub.org/jac/member/wiki/index.php/N8211C
Soon, 43JA will also be back online after some serious avionics upgrades as well. The Mooney will feature dual Aspen 1000 Pro Max units. Now we’ll be able to fly with a dedicated PFD or primary flight display as well as an MFD or multi-function display. The situational awareness will be on par with that of our Skyhawk and the Garmin G500 installation.
We’ll be able to get real time AOA, or angle of attack information, approach plates, terrain, and traffic split among two identical displays so as not to cram too much information into one unit and overwhelm the brain. The MFD is also a ready backup to your PFD should a failure occur. This installation will remove the vacuum system altogether as well as the ADF unit and RMI, or radio magnetic indicator.
Here’s a little primer from Aspen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khyc_I8xqMc
With most avionics, pilots tend to use very little of the capabilities inherent. Get to know these powerful units more by reading the various quick reference handbooks available online or watching some YouTube videos. You may be pleasantly surprised on how much easier these tools make your day to day flying adventures.
The JAC Safety team welcomes any and all feedback you may have for us. You are the eyes and ears of our club. If you see a way in which we can maintain a proactive safety culture as opposed to a reactive one, please share your thoughts and ideas to our email address, safety@jerseyaeroclub.com.
Fly safe, through continuing education, JAC Safety Team