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Private Pilot > Weather Theory > Flashcards

Weather Theory Flashcards

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Charter Pilot (Part 135) - Oral flashcards
1
Q

what causes weather?

A

a heat exchnage. The sun heats the earth unevenly

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2
Q

how does the FAA classify clouds?

A

low, middle, and high

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3
Q

status clouds

A

low level gloomy overcast (flat, layered, smooth)

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4
Q

cumulus cloud

A

low level puffy clouds (all updrafts)

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5
Q

define low level clouds

A

clouds 6500 and below

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6
Q

-nimbus

A

rain cloud suffix (cumulonimbus, nimbostratus = rainclouds)

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7
Q

-alto

A

middle cloud suffix

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8
Q

cirrus clouds

A

wispy high level clouds composed of ice crystals and dust

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9
Q

cirrocumulus

A

high level clouds that look a little thinner than altocumulus

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10
Q

define high level clouds

A

clouds above 23000 ft (cirra)

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11
Q

define mid level clouds

A

clouds between 6500 feet and 23000 feet (alto)

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12
Q

cirrostratus

A

high level clouds that appear as a halo around the sun

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13
Q

stratocumulus

A

combination of puffy clouds and flat layered clouds (stratus and cumulus)

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14
Q

min safe distance from clouds with vertical development

A

FAA recommends 20 miles. always stay away from clouds with vertical development (towering cumulonimbus clouds)

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15
Q

stable Air

A

Stratiform clouds, smooth air, fair to poor visibility, continuous precipitation

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16
Q

unstable Air

A

Cumuliform clouds, turbulent air, good visibility, showery precipitation

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17
Q

what is an airmass?

A

a large body of air of similar temperature, humidity and pressure

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18
Q

define the two types of air masses

A

high (Blue H) and low (Red L) pressure systems

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19
Q

low pressure air mass

A

moves counterclockwise and creates poor weather (think hurricane)

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20
Q

high pressure air mass

A

moves clockwise and creates good weather

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21
Q

4 types of fronts

A 
warm fronts (red semi-circle)
cold fronts (blue triangles)
stationary front (blue and red triangles/semicircles)
occluded front (purple triangles/semicircles)
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22
Q

3 ingredients that make up a thunderstorm

A

moisture, temperature inversion, uplifting action

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23
Q

what conditions are almost always associated with a thunderstorm?

A

when a cold front overtakes a warm front

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24
Q

poor weather is usually associated with

A

cold fronts

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25
Q

stationary fronts

A

occur when neither the warm or cold front is powerful enough to take each other over. usually results in rain for a long period of time (depicted by blue and red triangles/semicircles)

26
Q

occluded front

A

severe weather that occurs when a cold front overtakes a warm front and another cold front comes in behind. usually results in tornados

27
Q

low pressure airmasses and cold fronts

A

poor weather

28
Q

4 types of fog

A

radiation fog

29
Q

radiation fog

A

75% of the fog you experience. caused by heat radiating from the surface at night when cooler air comes in (brings the dewpoint closer to the temp) usually occurs in spring and fall

30
Q

advection fog

A

requires wind usually happens along the coastlines. occurs when warm moist air moves over a colder surface (water and land generally have diff temps making this occur at coastlines and in hardpack snow)

31
Q

up slope fog

A

requires wind. warm moist air flows up a slope and gets cooled then turns to fog and rolls back down

32
Q

precipitation induced fog

A

rain hits hot surface and evaporates creating fog

33
Q

two types of fog that require wind

A

advection and up-slope

34
Q

airmet tango

A

turbulence

35
Q

4 categories of turbulence

A

light
moderate
severe
extreme

36
Q

light turbulence

A

slight or light changes to altitude or airspeed

37
Q

moderate turbulence

A

larger variations in speed as well as altitude and attitude may occur but the acft remains in control

38
Q

severe turbulence

A

large abrupt changes in attitude and altitude with large variations in airspeed. brief periods where effective aircraft control is impossible.

39
Q

extreme turbulence

A

capable of causing structural damage and resulting in prolonged, possibly terminal loss of control

40
Q

turbulence vs chop

A 
turbulence = erratic
chop = consistent
41
Q

causes of turbulence

A

shearing wind, uneven dissipation of heat, terrain

42
Q

clear air turbulence

A

only occurs in the jetstream. does not occur in low level PPL flight. very severe turbulence

43
Q

microbursts

A

very strong concentrated downdraft. occurs beneath developing (towering) cumulus clouds. procedure make 5 degree bank to the left or right and ride it out. should be out in ten seconds

44
Q

3 types of ice

A

clear
ryme
mixed

45
Q

clear ice

A

caused by supercooled droplets that freeze on the wing. rapidly adds weight to the acft

46
Q

ryme ice

A

frosty, brittle like type ice. disrupts aerodynamic flow over the wing

47
Q

mixed ice

A

ryme and clear ice. worst possible because it disrupts airflow and adds weight

48
Q

how do you avoid icing conditions?

A

dont fly into clouds

49
Q

how do you escape icing conditions?

A

change altitude and find warmer air either above or below you

50
Q

CFIT

A

controlled flight into terrain (flying a plane into a mountain)

51
Q

what causes CFIT?

A

weather that keeps lowering the ceiling and pilots that lower their altitude and think it will get better (it usually gets worse as you close in on a mountain)

52
Q

how do i avoid CFIT?

A

make a go/no-go decision early. make a 180 turn early and divert.

53
Q

rotor clouds

A

downdraft on one side updraft on the other. avoid at all costs. they happen on the lee (downwind) side of the mountain. ALWAYS check the wind direction when flying near the mountains. never fly on the lee side of a mountain.

54
Q

lenticular clouds

A

look like stacked contact lenses stacked on top of each other. ALWAYS indicate that rotor clouds (or invisible rotor waves) are on the lee side. a standing lenticular cloud is the worst cloud to fly through.

55
Q

adiabatic cooling

A

expansion cooling. air being forced up will cool at a rte of 3C per 1000 ft

56
Q

standard lapse rte

A

every 1000 ft gain loses 1 mmHg

57
Q

standard temp/press

A

15C/29.92mmHg

58
Q

troposphere

A

lowest layer of the atmosphere. where all weather occurs. at the equator it extends to 60k and the poles it varies from 20-25k

59
Q

mesosphere

A

above the stratosphere, temp decreases as altitude increases

60
Q

stratosphere

A

starts above the troposphere. temperature is stratified. lower altitudes it is cooler, higher it is warmer.

61
Q

thermosphere

A

atmospheric temps increase with altitude. gases separate by molecular weight and the air is so thin (near vacuum) temps as high as 1700 degrees wont even read 0 on a normal thermometer

62
Q

dewpoint

A

the temp at which moisture in the air is visible

Private Pilot (8 decks)

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