The FAA recently released a new update of its "Aviation Weather Services"
advisory circular (AC 00-45E). It's not yet in print, but can be downloaded from the FAA's
Flight Standards Web site at http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/afs400/.
Since this newly-revised AC discusses how to interpret and use coded weather reports, it
seemed to AVweb's quizmaster Irv Siegel like a good time to revisit the topic of decoding
METARs, which many pilots find to be the most cryptic of those reports. Have a shot at
Irv's latest interactive quiz and see whether you need a brush-up on your cryptographic
skills.
The questions in this quiz are based on the the FAA's new "Aviation Weather
Services" Advisory Circular (AC 00-45E) which can be downloaded free of charge from
the FAA/Flight Standards (AFS-400) web site. The URL directly to that page is http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/afs400/. The AC
will be available for purchase from the Government Printing Office ... eventually.
To view or print the Advisory Circular as downloaded via the Internet, you must have
either Adobe Acrobat (a commercial software package) or the Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free
software program) installed on your computer. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader program is
available for download from Adobe's web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.
AC 00-45E, Aviation Weather Services, is published jointly by the Federal Aviation
Administration and the National Weather Service (NWS). This document supplements the
companion manual AC 00-6A, Aviation Weather, which deals with weather theories and
hazards. Advisory circular, AC 00-45E, explains weather service in general and the details
of interpreting and using coded weather reports, forecasts, and observed and prognostic
weather charts. Many charts and tables apply directly to flight planning and in-flight
decisions. It can also be used as a source of study for pilot certification examinations.
Advisory Circular AC 00-45E, dated December 1999, supersedes AC 00-45D, Aviation
Weather Services, dated 1995.
AVweb's
Interactive Quiz #8 was also based on the interpretation of METAR, but with the
publication of the newly revised Advisory Circular, we thought it was time to revisit that
topic!
If you enjoyed taking this interactive quiz and would like to see more
like it, please
let us know.
And if you thought it was unfair, confusing, or a waste of time, we'd like
you to
tell us that, too. And if you have an idea for a subject that you think would make a good future Brainteaser quiz, be sure to let us know.
Interactive Quiz #26:
