On Feb 1, 10:41 pm, "kevmor" wrote:
So my IR checkride is approaching, and the thing I'm the most sketchy
on I think is the weather charts. I'm fine with TAF, METAR, and other
textual, but I guess it's because I can't find all the exact same
graphics on DUATS/DUAT that they use on the FAA exam (prognostic
charts, etc). Even DUAT/DUATS show things slightly differently. How
much is this going to be asked about on the checkride? Should I know
every possible symbol for all those charts, or is getting a general
idea and then calling 800-WX-BRIEF good enough?


My DE had several charts, TAF printouts, etc (well worn) that showed
"iffy" weather for the route of flight. That allowed a more realistic
discussion of weather go/no-go decisions than the severe clear weather
the day of my checkride.

Your biggest goal should be to be able to describe the weather picture
(celings, winds, turbulence, icing, sigmets, etc) for a potential
route of flight. If you don't know what a symbol means when asked,
I'd volunteer that you've seen it before, but aren't sure of its
meaning, and that you would want to look it up or call the FSS.

That's what you'd do in a "real-world" situation, right? You wouldn't
just launch into a great grey mass without some sort of weather
picture. Since its a pre-flight decision, knowing where to get the
information is more important than having it memorized.

Conversely, if you get asked questions about a symbol on an approach
chart or enroute chart, its a good idea to know what those are. The
real-world example would have you thumbing through the AIM looking up
if the T symbol on an approach chart meant something for your
approach.

bdl