I was very sad to hear the news this morning that Dick Collins passed away. As I was learning to fly in the 1990s, Dick became an inspiration to me both as a writer and as a student of the weather. As a newly minted private pilot, I read as many of Dick’s articles...
Month: April 2018
Newest enhancements to WeatherSpork – version 4.3.0
WeatherSpork just got even better! WeatherSpork version 4.3.0 is now available in the App Store. In addition to a few bug fixes, we are excited to tell you that we raised the roof of WeatherSpork to FL450. You’ll now enjoy in the Route Profile view a depiction of clouds, wind and en route advisories...
Just raised the roof on WeatherSpork!
With WeatherSpork version 4.3.0, you now have the option of selecting FL450 as the upper limit on the clouds and weather display. The upper limit on earlier releases was restricted FL200. This will allow you to see winds (speed and direction) as well as clouds and advisories (G-AIRMETs and SIGMETs) that extend higher in...
Cross track distance from fly-by waypoints
When you’ve defined a proposed route in WeatherSpork you may notice that it picks a number of “proximity” fly-by stations (airports) to include along that route. These show up on the Map view as rounded square icons like those shown below. But how far is KMSV off of your great circle route from KBOS...
New static Imagery from the HREF model
With WeatherSpork version 4.3.0, we’ve extended the static Imagery to include aviation forecasts from the High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF) model. The HREF is updated four times a day and provides a forecast lead time of 36 hours at one hour time increments. In WeatherSpork you can find these in the Imagery view right...
Release notes for v4.3.0
Route Profile view now supports altitudes up to FL450. Route Profile view now includes cross track distance (XTK). Bug fixes and usability improvements. Added HREF Model to Imagery view....
An introduction to Model Output Statistics or MOS
A majority of certificated pilots have never heard of Model Output Statistics or what is referred to as MOS (pronounced moss). MOS isn’t new and has been around since the 1960s, but is just starting to be leveraged by many pilots. Back in 2016 the FAA added a brief description of MOS to the...
Dangers of airframe icing in stratocumulus clouds
Normally pilots look forward to improving weather conditions after the passage of a cold front. The cold, dense air behind the front becomes negatively buoyant and sinks which tends to dry out the air. Moderate northwesterly winds will often prevail on the cold side of the front making for moderate mechanical turbulence sometimes extending...
Thunderstorm planning with WeatherSpork, Part 3
Part 1 and Part 2 of this three video series showed a window of opportunity to depart Savannah, Georgia during the morning hours between 14Z and 15Z arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina before 17Z. Was this guidance on the money? Watch Part 3 of this video series to see how it all played out. And...
Thunderstorm planning with WeatherSpork, Part 2
Part 1 of this series of three videos focused on how to use WeatherSpork to find the best time of departure for a trip the following day given a threat of thunderstorms along the proposed route. Part 2 of this series takes place on the morning of this flight. Watch this 20 minute video...
Thunderstorms a threat? Use WeatherSpork to plan your departure, Part 1
It’s that time of the year again. Snow is finally beginning to melt in the northern tier of states and temps in the deep south are topping 90 degrees on a regular basis. Moreover, G-AIRMETs for for airframe ice begin to morph into convective SIGMETs. WeatherSpork is your best tool to find that perfect...
Release notes for v4.2.16
Minor bug fixes and usability enhancements....
A shortcut from the Route Profile to Airports view
In WeatherSpork we will be adding a number of shortcuts to cut down on the number of clicks or taps needed to navigate to other important guidance within the app. Here’s a video that demonstrates one such shortcut to get to the Airports view for a specific station identified as a fly-by airport in...
Don’t forget the big weather picture!
One of the slickest features of WeatherSpork that many of our members are raving about is the vertical depiction within the route profile and meteogram views. The route profile like the one shown below is an incredibly useful tool to visualize how the weather will impact your route in four dimensions (fourth dimension being...
Release notes for v4.2.15
Minor bug fixes and usability improvements....