You don’t need to become a meteorologist to earn your pilot certificate. That’s a good thing, because you could spend a lifetime learning meteorology skills. But, pilots do need to analyze and evaluate current and forecast weather conditions to avoid potentially hazardous flight conditions and the risks they present.
An amazing number of products and resources can help pilots to obtain weather information and preflight briefings. Speaking with a flight service briefer is still a valuable (and wise) resource, but it is by no means our only option. In fact, combining some online weather resources with a telephone briefing might provide the most complete analysis of general and hazardous weather, notices to airmen, and temporary flight restrictions—all essential to making an appropriate go/no-go decision and ensuring a safe flight.
The practical test standards do not specify which resources must be used. They do emphasize the requirement to analyze a variety of “aviation” weather reports, charts, and forecasts. So, relying solely on newspaper or television weather reports would not be a good idea for your flight planning activities. Most designated pilot examiners (DPEs) gladly allow their applicants to utilize what they’ve become accustomed to using during their training. However, some examiners have been known to provide sample weather products to further evaluate their applicants’ weather report or chart analysis skills. If you’re not sure what your DPE has in mind, it might be wise to ask in advance.
Be certain that you can identify and interpret the many symbols and codes used in aviation weather products. You won’t have to know each tiny detail of every tool, but have an especially good working knowledge of the ones you use regularly. Nothing is more embarrassing than not being able to correctly utilize the tools that you provided and claimed to have been using during your training. For example, if you present the examiner with the current prognostic charts, make sure you can describe the meaning of the variety of symbols used and how those various weather phenomena might affect your flight.
No checkride would be complete without an examination of aviation routine meteorological reports (METARs) and terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs). While most websites offer the ability to decode these into long-winded paragraphs of information, doing so will not impress the examiner. It sends a clear message you have little interest in learning the language of aviation weather reports.
Although a DPE might not fail an applicant who can’t read coded aviation weather reports, consider that the FAA does not provide decoded weather reports for knowledge tests. This implies that the agency expects pilots to actually learn the symbols and abbreviations these reports utilize. To some extent, becoming a pilot does require learning a new language; coded aviation weather is only a small part of that new language. It’s there for good reason. Embrace it!
Some of the other often-evaluated reports are the winds aloft forecasts, area forecasts, radar, pilot reports or pireps, airmets, and sigmets, to name just a few. It would serve you well to be able to locate and analyze these as well. Your examiner is not going to spend a great deal of time exploring every detail of these reports if you can quickly and accurately discuss them. The more prepared you are with your weather briefing and analysis skills, the shorter and easier this task will be. And this is true for much of the checkride.
Don’t skimp on your thorough preparation efforts, and you will be rewarded with a quick and pleasant, low-stress checkride.
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