Since you asked

Dear Rod:

I am a low-time VFR pilot with a problem that is stopping me from flying to places I like to go. I checked all the needed information and got a weather briefing that indicated there would be VFR during my flight, with partial clouds, but no storms and no IFR weather anywhere. So I am flying at 3,000 feet and I see an overcast (or large cloud deck) above. Little by little, I have to descend, and eventually I have to do a 180-degree turn. The ceiling, however, has also dropped behind me now! How do I avoid the clouds? How can I find out how low the ceiling is ahead of me?

Kal

Greetings Mr. Kal:

Yours is an issue that every pilot has to deal with: How do you know what the weather will do? Despite your experience, weather forecasts are actually quite accurate nowadays. So it’s essential to get a good briefing before departure.

While en route, however, you should make a call to Flight Watch on 122.0 Mhz. Fortunately, these specialists do more than help you set your airplane’s clock. They’ll give real-time weather info and analysis. If you’re receiving flight following, you can always ask the controller for help in soliciting real-time pilot reports from airplanes ahead of you along your route. And make sure you listen to ATIS, AWOS, and ASOS broadcasts during flight, too. Keep in mind that the range of these transmissions may be no more than 25 nm below 10,000 feet (then again, the Airport/Facility Directory often provides phone numbers you can use to listen to these broadcasts before departure).

Remember that nothing is certain when it comes to weather prediction. That’s why, as a new pilot, when there’s even a slight chance of inclement weather, you’ll want to fly strategically. That means you should assume that the weather could go sour at any moment. Consequently, you should plan your route so that an airport is always within easy reach of your airplane, based on the present weather conditions. If the ceiling or visibility goes kaput, you land. Sure, this might involve a few doglegs, but these seldom add much to the flight’s total mileage. Besides, doglegs are a new pilot’s best friend. As you gain more experience, you’ll develop a better sense of how much trust to place in the forecast weather.

Dear Rod:

I just made my first landing at an airport with an altitude of more than 6,000 feet msl. My instructor said I might tend to flare at too high an altitude above the ground, and I did. I bounced, but I didn’t understand why. Can you help?

Shelly

Greetings Shelly:

Here’s one reason this might have happened. First, your true airspeed is higher at higher altitudes. As you approach the runway, you’re actually moving over the ground faster than you normally would for the same approach speed at a lower elevation airport. Your brain equates moving faster with being closer to the ground than you actually are. Therefore, your brain signals you to flare sooner—at a higher altitude—where the ground appears to move slightly slower, similar to the speed it would move when you’re landing at a lower-elevation airport. Unless you consciously compensate for this perceptual difference, you might add an entirely new meaning to the term, "dropping in" for an airport visit.

Dear Rod:

Is it OK for an instructor to intentionally modify (OK, falsify) my logbook records? Think of me as having only some of the required instruction time that he logged in my book. He’s a great instructor and I like him, but I don’t want to get him in trouble. And I don’t want trouble, either. What do I do?

Ms. L.

Greetings Ms. L.:

No, it’s not OK for your instructor to falsify your records—period! Tell him to stop doing this and have him make good on the incorrect insertions. Either change those records, or do the necessary flying to legitimize them. If he refuses to do either and seems unrepentant, then dump the chump. He’s exposing you (as well as himself) to FAA legal action should these falsifications ever be revealed. You deserve better.