Aviation Weather: FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 00-6B

by Federal Aviation Administration

This FAA Advisory Circular includes contributions from the National Weather Service (NWS).

This important Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular (AC) has been in circulation under a variety of titles for more than 70 years. All pilots and dispatchers must learn to deal with weather: to appreciate good weather, to recognize and respect marginal or hazardous weather, and to avoid violent weather. Recognition of this and sound weather decisions are critical to the successful outcome of all flights. This book discusses each aspect of weather as it relates to aircraft operation and flight safety.

The information in Aviation Weather is applicable to students, instructors, and experienced pilots alike. It is a comprehensive resource for what you need to know about weather in order to fly safely in both visual (VMC) and instrument (IMC) meteorological conditions. Subjects covered include the Earth’s atmosphere, temperatures, atmospheric pressure and altimetry, weather charts, wind, global circulation and jet streams, moisture, precipitation, clouds, air masses and fronts, stability, turbulence, icing, thunderstorms, common IFR producers, weather radar, high altitude weather, arctic, tropical, and space weather.

Aviation Weather is a key reference in the FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS) and FAA Knowledge Exams. Illustrated throughout with detailed, full-color drawings and photographs.

Genres: Aviation, Reference, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super informative, with convincingly terrifying descriptions of what happens when your plane gets sucked into a thunderstorm.

A lot of this information would be interesting to the general outdoorsy person, not just pilots. In particular, the discussions of wind formation around land masses, dew point and temperature changes around twilight and dawn, and discussions of the impact of rain, thunderstorms, and hail would all be useful to know if you're a frequent camper. The last section, which is on soaring and glider piloting, was interesting from a physics perspective, but became overly mathy and I mostly skimmed it. I especially liked the sections on reading and identifying clouds.

Minus a star because this author assumes all pilots are male, just like every author in general aviation and the federal government, apparently.

[Michael O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical government reference book. Not going to wow anyone with its style or illustrations, but this book does a good job at getting across the essentials of what a professional aviator needs to know about weather. And a fair amount of its subject matter finds its way onto FAA exam questions --- as on my employers' annual standardization exams.

[Brian Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aviation Weather is a great, fact-filled, concise yet detailed presentation of weather phenomena particularly as it pertains to aviation – but not exclusively. Non-pilots can get just as much out of this book as pilots. For pilots, however, Aviation Weather fleshes out much of the more cursory knowledge that is required for examinations and even for flying safely. In other words, a pilot may not actually need this level of knowledge to remain safe & competent, but the book explains the mechanisms and the meteorological science behind the phenomena. It can turn memorization into understanding.

[Spencer Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short chapters and subdivision of chapters into sections makes it easier to get through in bite-sized sections.

[Matt Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best weather text out there. But if your goal is to pass an FAA written, you wont go wrong with this one. If you're a pilot, I highly recommend you also read Robert N. Buck's classic "Weather Flying," as well as Terry Lankford's excellent "Weather Flying Handbook." Both are a little bit dated, and some of the weather services mentioned in Lankford's book have since been updated or depreciated, but the weather theory and practical flying advice is timeless.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

if some day you have to fly above 1500 ft and at least 1NM away from the visual pattern, you better have this amazing life insurance

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative.