Make Cadet Training Count Aged between 15 and 17? ECSM Wing Wing NCO Course? Bronze DofE Expedition? Air Training Corps Basic Swimming Certificate? When you can tick these boxes, just a one-day course stands between you and a qualification equivalent to four GCSE’s. Build on your cadet achievements to earn your BTEC First Diploma in Public Service. Normally a two-year College course, this qualification is equivalent to four GCSE’s at grade A* to C and is Senior / Staff Cadet Training completely free to ATC cadets. For most cadets with 2 years service, only the Pilot Navigation completion of two short workbooks stands be- tween them and the BTEC First Diploma. Revision Notes and Questions Details of future “Workbook Workshops” can be found in Sharepoint on the Wing Calendar or con- tact the Wing Training Officer: Cadet ……………………………………. [email protected] 12 1 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Contents TAFs and METARs In the northern hemisphere, if you stand with your back to the wind, where is the higher pressure air? Weather information is passed to aircrew by Termi- Only essential knowledge and key revision a) On your left. b) In front of you. nal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) and Meteorologi- points have been included in this manual. c) On your right. d) Above you. Chapter 1 Units cal Actual Reports (METARs). Standard codes are You must have a thorough knowledge of its used for brevity. Where on this pressure diagram will the wind speed be contents before the examination. Vertical Distance and Speed greatest? Aircraft and Fuel The code CAVOK (cloud and visibility OK) means Read each page, then read the questions and Fuel Conversion the visibility is at least 10 km and there is no cloud a) A underline or highlight the correct answer. below 5000ft. b) B Pressure c) C Revise the questions and answers as they d) D TAF and METAR Decodes will constitute a high proportion of the ac- Chapter 2 Flight Planning tual examination questions (typically 23 out If the wind indicated by the isobars on a weather chart is 200 BR Mist FZ Freezing SN Snow degrees / 20 kts, what would you expect the surface wind to of the 25 questions!). Triangle of Velocities DZ Drizzle TS Thunderstorm be? Flight Planning HZ Haze FG Fog RA Rain Ensure your answers are correct before us- Fuel Planning FU Smoke SH Shower a) 175/15 b) 175/25 ing them in your final revision. - Slight + Heavy Safety Altitudes c) 230/15 Air Traffic Control Flight Plan d) 200/20 How does the met office pass information about airfield Chapter 3 Position Fixing weather to aircrew? Visual Fixing a) By using TAFs and METARs. b) By television. Radio Aids c) By radar. VOR/DME and TACAN d) By TEMPOs and BECMGs. Astro Navigation Radar Navigation The main difference between a TAF and a METAR is: Long Range Fixing a) One is a report, the other is a forecast. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) b) One TAF is more reliable. c) One never includes the wind velocity. Active / Passive Systems Conclusion d) One is for a longer time period than the other. If you saw the term CAVOK in a weather report, what Chapter 4 Map Reading would it mean to you? a) Visibility 5 km, cloudbase 10,000 ft. Aircraft Altitude b) Combat all-terrain vehicles OK. Contrast and Colour c) Visibility better than 5 km and no cloud below 10,000 ft. d) Visibility better than 10 km and no cloud below 5,000 ft. Map Scales Timing Marks In a TAF what would -SHSN mean? Chapter 5 Weather a) Heavy snow. b) Snow all day. c) Sleet. Water Vapour d) Light snow showers. Thunderstorms Isobars TAFs and METARs TAF and METAR Decodes Dec 06 Final revision – no changes since May 05 2 11 CHAPTER 5 WEATHER What is the major variable in the atmosphere that affects weather? CHAPTER 1 UNITS In which two countries would you expect to be told by air Pure air consists of 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen and traffic control to fly at a height of 300 metres instead of a) Water in all its forms. b) Cigarette smoke. 1000 feet? 1% other gases, however the major variable in the Vertical Distance and Speed c) Pressure. d) Temperature. atmosphere that affects weather is water in all its a) Russia and China. forms. What causes the air pressure at sea level? Despite metrification, most countries still use feet b) UK and Ireland. to measure aircraft height and altitude. Only in c) Australia and New Zealand. The air pressure at sea level is caused by the a) Depression. Russia and China are you expected to fly and d) USA and Mexico. weight of the air above us. With altitude, pressure b) The weight of the air above it. report altitude in metres. c) All the aircraft flying around. reduces and so does the temperature. Why must you be very careful if using an OS map to work d) The movement of highs and lows on the weather out safety altitudes? Despite still using feet to measure aircraft altitude, chart. Water Vapour most countries have adopted metres to show ele- a) The map does not cover a large enough area. When the temperature drops to the dew point, but is still vations on maps - the British OS map is an ex- b) The map is out of date. Air holds water vapour as an invisible gas, the above freezing, what kind of weather can you expect? ample. Great care is needed because an aircraft c) The elevations are in metres. warmer the air, the more water vapour it can hold. being flown in thousands of feet can be in a very d) The grid is based on kilometre squares. If the air is cooled below its dew point it can no a) Fog. b) Rain. dangerous position if a navigator reads a mountain c) Sleet. d) Thunderstorms. longer hold water as a vapour and droplets start to top as being 2000 feet instead of 2000 metres! An aircraft is flying at 2000ft above sea level, towards a hill whose peak is 1000 metres above sea level. If the pilot form. Dew, mist, fog or clouds will start to form. The 4 main reasons that air moves vertically are known as (One metre equals approximately 3.3 feet.) takes no action, will the a/c: the trigger actions. What are these? There are four ‘trigger actions’ which cause air to The calculation of safety altitude (above which we a) Hit the hill more than half way up the slope. rise, turbulence, convection, orographic uplift and a) Conduction, precipitation, thunderstorms, convection. must fly if there is any doubt about terrain clear- b) Miss the hill by 1000 metres. frontal uplift. In each case, pressure and tempera- b) Turbulence, convection, orographic and frontal uplift. ance) is the navigator’s number one priority. c) Miss the hill by 1000 ft. ture fall until the dew point is reached and at that c) Turbulence, conduction, orographic, fiscal. d) Hit the hill near the peak. d) Market forces, radiation, x-rays, frontal uplift. altitude the base of the cloud is formed. At high Vertical speed is measured in metres per minute in The Navigator’s No 1 priority is: levels clouds consist of ice crystals (cirrus) but The base level of clouds is normally the pint at which Russia and China, feet per minute elsewhere. most clouds are visible droplets of water. rising air has cooled to what temperature? a) Calculation of safety altitude. Most countries except the USA use metric units b) Keeping the a/c above safety speed. Thunderstorms a) 0 degrees C. b) Its dewpoint. for meteorological reports. c) Navigating with a sextant. c) 0 degrees F. d) Its condensation. d) Calculating a/c altitude in metres. Thunderstorms present a variety of hazards to an Aircraft and Fuel What are clouds made of? aircraft and are best avoided by a large margin. The units used for vertical distance and speed in most countries are: Some of these hazards are: icing, precipitation American built aircraft measure fuel in pounds or a) Visible droplets of water. b) Water vapour. (usually hail), turbulence, lightning and severe c) Scotch mist. d) Steam. imperial tons, whereas most others use kilo- a) Metres and metres per minute. downdrafts. Modern aircraft carry weather radar to grammes (kg) or metric tonnes. In theory, fuel b) Metres and knots. assist in avoiding thunderstorms and turbulence. What is the best thing for an aviator to do about thunder- should be measured by mass as the amount of c) Feet and knots. storms? thermal energy in one unit of fuel relates directly d) Feet and feet per minute. Isobars to its mass. Unfortunately, you cannot weigh fuel a) Avoid them by a wide margin. when an aircraft is airborne, so the alternative is to The country which is changing to metric units most b) Use the radar to go through the centre. slowly in aviation is: Isobars join points of equal pressure and help measure its volume. c) Pass downwind of them. meteorologists and pilots to understand how the air d) Stay on the ground. a) Russia b) USA is moving. In the northern hemisphere it circulates c) UK d) France clockwise around anticyclones (high pressure Which of the following is not one of the hazards to a/c areas) and anticlockwise around cyclones (low that is found in thunderstorms? What units of fuel would you expect to see on the gauges pressure areas). The easy way to remember this is of a Eurofighter (Typhoon) aircraft? a) Icing.