Recently in safety Category

As much as people like to talk about it, it seems most really don't care much about the weather.  At least not enough to learn about it.  Every Spring and Autumn in Northern California, we tend to get some occasional thunderstorms. Without fail, someone always tells me, "we never get thunderstorms here."  When they say that, it tells me they can only recognize a thunderstorm when they see lightning.  And they don't watch the sky very often.

Most city-dwellers can get away with not knowing or caring about the weather like that.  If you're a pilot, you probably (hopefully!) know how to recognize a thunderstorm.  If you want to be a pilot, you'll have to learn.

The Summer flying season is here again.  As more light aircraft are getting increasingly sophisticated panel-mounted GPS systems, pilots are freer to navigate away from airways and radio navigational aids.  One of the most obvious things to try is to just fly a straight line to the destination.  It's called "GPS direct".  But I'll show some local examples from here in Northern California why that isn't always a good idea.  A GPS is still an enormously useful navigation tool.  But it requires delving deeper into how that GPS gadget works to get the best use of it.