At the outset of Severe Weather Flying, author Dennis Newton reminds readers that this book is not about flying in severe weather, but rather how to detect and therefore avoid it, with advice on how to escape it if you become caught in it accidentally. Newton is a meteorologist, weather research pilot, engineering test pilot, ATP, and flight instructor. He speaks pilot-to-pilot in this valuable guide on how not to fly severe weather. He believes that given the knowledge, pilots can truly lessen their chances of being caught in thunderstorms and other extreme weather conditions. The emphasis is on types of weather that are potentially hazardous to flight; with each type of weather discussed, the author provides rational answers to a pilot's very sensible question, "And then what? How does this affect me?" He also discusses the capabilities and limitations of airplanes and equipment in avoiding and in dealing with severe weather. Meteorology can be a tough "language" and not always clear to the lay person. The author translates and brings across the most crucial principles pilots can use to fly more wisely in weather.
Covering weather fundamentals, the atmosphere, and the stability of the air, he then digs deeper into the individual aspects of severe weather situations: air mass and nocturnal thunderstorms, downbursts, lightning, icing, turbulence and wind shear. In print for more than 30 years, this book in its Fourth Edition blends in good coverage of detection equipment for the cockpit, and the weather briefing information available to the pilot for decision-making in flight planning -- even the enroute phase. Details on aircraft icing certification, critical aircraft icing information, and high altitude ice crystals are also included.