"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
1...
What you described is exactly the point many people (including myself)
have been confused about. The 2C/1000' is the average environmental
lapse rate. Adiabatic lapse rate is never 2C/1000'. It is 1C/1000' or
3C/1000'. Many FAA texts do not explain this point clearly. Since most
pilots get their meterology knowledge from FAA texts, and are not
formally educated on the subject, it is not surprising this confusion
exists. I would bet you any money that if you took a survey of CFI's
most would not know this fact.

As Jim pointed out, the moist (saturated) adiabatic rate is not constant,
but anything from about 1 to about 3 deg C per 1000. Because the amount of
condensing moisture is different at different dewpoints, and therefore the
amount of heat released is different in the different situations. If no
condensation is occurring, yes, then it is only 3/1000.

I have only recently sat through my first aviation ground school.
Meteorology was taught by a pilot, not a meteorologist. The pilot himself
had obvious lack of understanding of the subject. After his instruction, we
have 30 new potential pilots in a second generation with similar
misconceptions. Eventually one or more of them are going to become CFIs.
They may upgrade their meteorological education.... or NOT; the current
instructor didn't.

I have not checked this out in detail:

http://66.208.12.20/amsedu/online/info/

but it appears to be EXACTLY what pilots could use. The full one-time
course fee at $250 is a bargain in the context of your overall flying costs.
Even the no-license-fee "textbook-only" option would help us all.

By the way, the American Meteorological Society, in case you don't know, has
been around since 1919, and is THE organization for professional
meteorologists in the USA, so I am pretty confident that you will be getting
your money's worth.