Funny story for you with humor that only a pilot may understand. I was checking the ASOS at my home airport on the way in tonight and I heard something interesting on the radio:

Automated weather, time 2156 zulu, winds 290 at 9, visibility 10, sky clear, light rain, temperature 22, dewpoint 16, altimeter 30.22

Sky Clear and Rain? I’m confused. I’m not sure where the rain came from? I sure didn’t see any. Now here is the really funny coincidence, as I was listening to the radio on the way home, Creedence Clearwater Revival came on singing, “Have you ever seen the rain?” Now if you aren’t familiar with the lyrics, let me quote the chorus for you:

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
Comin down on a sunny day?

No, CCR, I haven’t seen the rain come down on a sunny day, but it sure wasn’t for the lack of trying.

Now, to turn this into an educational experience, I’m going to add a quick lesson. How do you seriously know when an ASOS might be reporting inaccurate or corrupted data? You can look for a “$” sign at the end of the METAR report. Here’s an example:

260256Z AUTO 19007KT 8SM FEW080 22/19 A3002 RMK AO2 56010 T02220194 LTG DSNT NW-NE SLP158 $

You know from the $ sign at the end of the report that maintenance is needed on the weather station system making this report. That is the station’s way of saying, “I’m in need of some attention.” You don’t know what is broke but you know that something may be inaccurate. I would recommend trying to find another surface observation in the area and compare it to the other to make sure they are reporting somewhat similar weather.

Fly Safe.

I just saw this video and had to share it. Apparently, a Cessna 150 landed on a highway in Florida after one of it’s cylinder’s seized up. After making repairs, the owner got FAA permission to take off on the highway! The owner told police that he would need 600 feet for takeoff. I bet some instructor his proud of his short field takeoff instruction!

Here is the link to the story: http://www.wesh.com/news/16634189/detail.html

The weather is pretty bad here is Ohio this weekend. So time to get a good book and read. What better to read than an aviation book? Especially one that you can learn from. I was looking over my “flying” bookshelf and found this book. I read it a couple of months ago but thought I’d share it with you.

Every month when my issue of Flying Magazine comes in, usually the first section I read is “I Learned About Flying From That.” If you are not familiar with this feature, it is where readers contribute personal stories about incidents, accidents and other events while flying that left them with invaluable lessons and memorable impressions. Through their stories they share with readers their lessons learned in the hope that the incidents will not be replayed. This feature has been a part of Flying Magazine since 1939!

For me, it is a bittersweet experience. One part of me feels bad, knowing that these are true life stories with people’s lives that were endangered. Yet the other part of me is glad that these people lived through their experiences and that they were humble enough to share those lessons with me.

Flying Magazine has complied this stories in a book form. The publishers organized the stories in sections like “Weather Woes”, “Mechanical Jam” and “When All Gets Quiet.”

I really enjoyed the book and was able to get through it one weekend while waiting on some commercial flights. I recommend it, for what it’s worth. If you do decide to read it, share with us your favorite story as a reply to this thread in the forum. You can purchase this book from Amazon and your local booksellers.

Fly Safe.