Approach articles from January 2008

Approach archives from January 2008

Navy forecasters: providing weather services online.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Navy forecasters have predicted the weather for naval air operations for nearly 90 years. The forecasters in Norfolk have operated from the same building for nearly half that amount of time. However, change is the...

Lightning strikes the Rhino.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We've all heard there's no such thing as a routine mission. Well, we were on one, or so we thought, but nothing was routine about this Friday the 13th flight or the way it would end with a Class-B-mishap visit from...

Forecasting desert dust: Southwest Asia is one of the most difficult areas in the world for weather forecasting, largely because of air masses from five regions surrounding the area.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dust storms in Southwest Asia, which includes the Middle East and Afghanistan, often cause problems for air operations and degrade laser-guided weaponry. The dust typically consists of fine particles easily...

Shoot the approach.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The weather forecast had been good for both my events. Flying conditions started out great and promised to remain so through the second flight. I debriefed my first student, got a drink of Gatorade, and went to the...

Snap, crackle, Pop.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... As I headed to work one sunny Lemoore morning, I noticed the winds were howling: sustained greater than 25 knots, gusting greater than 30 knots. These conditions made it out of limits for me to launch. Not in any hurry, I worked most of the...

Icing in Southern California.(WEATHER)
January 1, 2008... Mayday, mayday, mayday. Wolfpack 55" "Wolfpack 55. Maintain niner thousand. Wolfpack 55. Is there something wrong? Talk to me." "Wolfpack 55 going down." "Cessna 59er delta. Traffic right above you is an H-53, 6,000 feet, descending....

Mishap-free milestones.
January 1, 2008... Mishap-Free Milestones VR-46 22 years 9 months 100,000 hours VAQ-136 20 years 32,800 hours

Lay down the law.(Crew Resource Management)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As I studied to qualify as helicopter aircraft commander (HAC), I spent hours going over possible emergencies. I thought about a variety of engine failures, tail-rotor problems, icing, and more. If it was an...