Hi Richard and bob

Just preparing myself to sit the PPl exam but just having a bit of trouble with MET.. Just can't seem to make the time to actually take any interest into the subject what's so ever, I understand how important it is but to be honest as soon as go to want to study it I just shut the book and move onto another topic.. It my least fav topic and I know it will fail me in the exam..

Just wanted to see if you guys or anyone has any advice to try and get motivated with this boring topic.

Many thanks

Hi Mark,

Seems like you're just lacking a bit of motivation. All you need to do is think of the prize at the end of the road, being your PPL. Another outlook that may help you is to think about it in the form of a single flight. Imagine you're on a navigation exercise from, using my local area, Cessnock to Mudgee. Go through each topic in the Meteorology book and assess how it would impact that flight and what information you may be able to deduce from what Mother Nature is telling you.

For example:
- The METAR at Mudgee indicates that the temperature is 7 and the dew point is 7 with a slight breeze. How will this impact your flight? Well, you know that there is the likelihood of fog, so how would you plan for that prior to departure? You would probably plan for a suitable alternate as you aren't sure for how long the fog will last.
- Between Cessnock and Mudgee lies the Great Dividing Range. Say you've planned the flight at 4000 and the ARFOR states the wind is 270/25 at that level and at 7000 it is 270/35. On the trip, you notice there are dome shaped clouds on the lee side of a mountain directly in your path. What do you do? Keep flying your planned track? Well, you know there is a mountain and you know there is a steady wind blowing over it. Dome clouds (Lenticular Clouds) indicate the likely presence of mountain waves, which may cause strong down/up-draughts and possible severe turbulence, depending on where you are. So, you would divert around it.

If you take every piece of information in the Meteorology topic and relate it to a real world, and personal scenario, it may help you as you will see just how much the knowledge can aid you in your flying.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Dan

Hi Mark,

Have a tried watching a doco on the subject?

Try this one.


Cheers,
Mister W.

HI Guys thanks so much for your reply and sorry for the late reply. I have found to have a better understanding of the subject when I really put my mind to it, although not to mention how boring it really is. Have just be doing as much practice example questions as possible

Thanks mister W, will check out the video later on and hopefully it helps me out a little more.

Cheers Guys

Weather is so important to all aspects of flying it's essential to understand it just to be a safe pilot, regardless of the exam requirements. If you're not already there, it may be easier to get into once you're into cross-country flights as you'll need to know it then, and perhaps mention to your instructor that you're struggling to get into it and he/she may be able to incorporate some aspects of this into your training, such as pointing out certain weather events like Aviatordan was talking about. Once you're consciously looking for various types of weather and seeing the impact on your aircraft (updrafts/downdrafts, turbulence, crosswinds, potential icing issues etc) you may find it easier to get into.
Since my teenage daughter decided she wants to be a pilot when she's old enough, I also found that teaching and quizzing her on meteorology (asking her to identify cloud types, layers, winds, fog and their impact) as well as all other aspects of flying really helped reinforce and retention of my knowledge. I don't know if this is an option for you.

MET is so important and is the probably the subject you will use the most in your flying career,
If you go onto CPL you will learn to love it because it's the easiest subject!