In the morning, when pilots get to the hangar, they turn on the coffee maker, look at the map, weather reports, forecasts, the sequence of current reports, and the winds. And no matter how deep their knowledge of meteorology may be, pilots still want to know more about the local system. Is it a GO or NO-GO? If a go: go underneath clouds or on top? Go around? Follow the coastline? Not Go? Or wait a couple of hours? These are the questions that can be hard on some days. The helicopter pilots who fly the settlement routes are the pilots I met up with.

In light of this, the weather most of the time is flyable - as the GoPro clips show. No issues, just easy flying. Yet, on occasions, perhaps more often noting the seasonal changes in Greenland, something is sitting out there that can be worrisome. Maybe you have heard,

‘There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are NO OLD BOLD pilots’.

Too bold, and this can only lead to something like an accident. Too timid, and the helicopter takes over, and the skills of piloting degenerate. When it comes to the weather, weather decision-making is a process which can be described as a "struggle between 'guts' and 'judgement'" as pilots say.

There are times when flying single-pilot, a call to a really experienced pilot helps. Experience? Experience flying over 11000 hours in Greenland - that is experience! These are the pilots who have seen and flown some of the toughest weather conditions - unheard of today operations. These experienced pilots are not trained meteorologists with advanced degrees in physics. Yes, it does help. As would knowing basic textbook meteorology, in order to know what they will encounter in the air: cold fronts and warm fronts, cumulus clouds or icing conditions, inversions, temperature/dew point spread, fog, and the creation of fog, and frictional forces. This knowledge also helps to understand the local system. It helps to recognise it when they see it. In this sense, it's true, meteorology describes, gives names and categorizes, however, the question pilots ask is, What do I do with it?

To find out more, read: Pilots, Weather and Perceptual Experience. Contact Pamela via email for the read. pamela@pilotgreenland.com

To SEE more, link to the tabs.