Aviation Language

ADDS (Aviation Digital Data Service)

KIDA  271653Z  24017G25KT  10SM  BKN041  09/M01  A2993  RMK  A02  PK  WND  22027/1642 SLP127

TAF
KIDA  271135Z  2712/2812  21015KT  P6SM  SCT090
            FM271500 22026G36KT  P6SM  VCSH  SCT040  BKN060CB
            FM280300 22016G26KT  P6SM  VCSH  SCT060  BKN100
           FM280800  2101KT  P6SM  BKN100

Do you understand?! This is one of many languages in aviation. There's many different things to use when you are planning a flight. This is only one. It talks about weather and visibility. The breakdown is as follows:

KIDA is the name of the airspace by the airport in my town.
271653Z is the date and time. 27 (the 27th) and 16:53 is the time. It's not military time. It's Zulu Time. It's the standard international time. In this case, 16:53 is 12:53 PM. (Zulu time is calculated by taking the 1653 and subtracting 16 from it. Then it's just military time from there.)
The wind is at 17 knots, in 240 degrees on your compass, which is about southwest. The gusts are at about 25 knots. As a student pilot, our school doesn't allow us to fly past 25 knots so this is discretionary.
There is 10 square miles of visibility.
The clouds are broken at 04,100 feet up.
The temperature is at 9 degrees celsius, and the dew point is minus 01 (to calculate if you need carb heat or not, these two numbers need to be within 11 points of each other. Today we will need carb heat in our helicopter to fly safely :D)
A2993 is the setting that you set your altimeter at in your helicopter, which is a device used to measure barometric pressure, and it's used to tell pilots how far up they can fly. You set your altimeter at 2992 which is the national average of the US. Then, it will give you the elevation that you are at. Then the altimeter will change off of the pressure of the day.
RMK and A02 are just the descriptions of the machine that was used to find the information for ADDS.

The TAF is basically the guestimates they have for the weather in the next few hours time.

Hm. Sounds like a lot to learn. And that's just the beginning of finding out your limitations for that flight you're about to go on. There's so much more!
Weather maps, Sierra, which is information for IFR conditions and mountain obscuration (so if a pilot can't see out the windows and are using only their instruments to fly, this will tell someone where the obstacles are...like big buildings in a big city? Yes! Is it scary to fly when you can't see and only rely on a machine to tell you if you're going to hit a skyscraper? Probably, but, FLY IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT :)), Tango (which helps pilots learn about any turbulance that may be occuring), Zulu Airmet (for info about icing in the air), and Pirep which is several pilots own accounts of the weather out there that machines didn't capture. The pilots report to the Air Traffic Control tower, and they record the information. These are only a few more things that pilots use to guide them in flight!

Currently, James is learning about weather. I read somewhere that when you study to be a pilot, students shouldn't just say, "I'm learning how to fly!". What would be more accurate would be to say, "I'm learning how to fly and I'm going to be a weather expert!!", because there is so much more to learn besides flying. Obviously as you can imagine, the weather is one of the biggest - If not THE biggest - factors in flying. Especially for helicopters as a small rotorcraft.

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

— Gunter's Second Law of Air Travel

The beginning!

The idea to start this blog came from three ideas.
1. To show friends, family, and anyone else who wanders upon it what I've been through, and my experiences and life.
2. To put out into the webspace a rare find about pilot school and beyond.
I've been searching to find a blog to show the experiences one goes through as they learn and grow as a pilot in school and as a professional working in the field. I did find one once, and then it disappeared. Disappointing!
3. And lastly, to see my progress as I grow as a person and to inspire myself by seeing what I have accomplished so that I have confidence to progress when things get hard!

Sounds all important, doesn't it? Meh, it should be fun.

To start, I'll begin by telling all zero readers I have right now, about myself. I am a 20 year old typical american girl. By no means am I perfect, OR innocent ;) I aspire to learn, I aspire to grow as a person, and I am very strong-willed. I am divorced, I've been through hard times, and I know what it takes to succeed in every aspect of my life. I love helping people and teaching people and feeling that gratitude with it. I am a genuinely happy person, and I am very honest and sometimes a little too outspoken. Oh, and stubborn. Yes, I am :)

I didn't wake up when I was 5 one day and decide that I was going to be a helicopter pilot. I struggled with finding what I wanted to do with my life since then, though. First it was a veterinarian, then an interior designer, then a web designer and computer programmer. Now, it's an entrepreneur, and also - you guessed it!
I struggled with finding happiness from about 18 to just recently. I couldn't fathom how I was going to get from my current place in reality, to the life that I want, doing the job that I was doing, and with no direction to go. I'd been married for two years and things just weren't what they were supposed to be. By no means does this mean that I gave up on anything easy, but my husband and I decided it would be best for us to get a divorce. This obviously as you can imagine, changed my life drastically. Then, I met this wonderful person who changed my life even more.
He shows me every day the best things about myself, and lets me realize on my own my true potential. He also introduced me to Helicopters as a career.

If I had gone back in time and told myself a year ago, that I was going to pull a massive student loan (two, actually) and go fly helicopters, I'd seriously tell myself to get the heck out! Even not knowing everything that it entails! And yes, I know there's more coming :)
I believe that anyone who wants to pull a student loan this big or even bigger (for the surgeons out there) is NUTS! But that's what I think it takes to make it. It takes considerable risk. But you must put yourself in a position where you MUST follow through, because sometimes that's what it will take to persevere through the massive undertaking.

That kid that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, his name is James. He's becoming a pilot, too, and I've been with him every step of the way (well, except the flight time) and I've learned so much. I definitely have an advantage over every student who is walking into that school for their first day of class. Unless Daddy taught them and they just want the certification. No, i'm doing it the old fashioned way, and I'll be a better pilot because I am going through all the schooling.
I am currently enrolled at Utah Valley University (UVU) and I start classes in a month, June 27th. My major is Aviation Science and I'm going for a Bachelors Degree.
My first classes are Aviation Law, and Air Transport Management.

Well, I'm ready for this ride--Or should I say flight. Are you??