(no subject)

I had flight school yesterday. Ordinarily I fly on weekends, because night flying is not really a thing you do when learning unless you are specifically doing the mandatory hours of night flying needed for a certificate, but the weekends have been lousy lousy weather and when they haven't, I've been sick. And since this weekend is slated to involve snow and similarly lousy weather, I used a vacation day, slept somewhat later than usual, and had a flying lesson.

If you are interested in hearing about the rules that govern weather conditions and flying, and how- in my student understanding- they applied to the Kobe Bryant crash- then you're welcome to click the cut link. If not, then no worries, it's all cool.

( This is all stuff that not only governs when I have flying lessons, but that I have to know for my written exam anyway. )

But that's why a lot comes down to a pilot's judgment of flight conditions, safety, and urgency. The safest way to handle marginal weather and potentially dangerous conditions is to ask yourself whether it's genuinely necessary to take the chance of flying under conditions that might put you in a situation where you can't see what you need to see in order to maintain control. Decision making before takeoff is the most important kind of aeronautical decision making.

Extra reference links for those of you who might be interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_flight_rules
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_flight_rules
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_illusions_in_aviation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/7_Ps_(military_adage)