Datalink weather, either from ADS-B or SiriusXM, is an essential tool for almost all pilots. Once you’ve flown a cross country with in-flight radar, up-to-date METARs, and visual AIRMETs, it’s awfully hard to go back to flying without it. It makes flying safer, easier, and more comfortable – a rare combination - but only if you know how to use it properly.

As a longtime resident of Minnesota, you're used to fast-changing weather—and this week is no exception. After some beautiful 75-degree days, a fall cold front has come slamming through the Upper Midwest, dropping temperatures by 25 degrees and kicking up the wind. Will that ruin your weekend plans, which involve flying to meet some friends at a lodge in South Dakota?  Read the weather forecast below and tell us what you would do.

This guy would aggressively slam the aircraft into a 45-degree bank in the traffic pattern, turning from downwind to base, for example, with a maniacal grin on his face. I suspect he was a successful businessman, used to kind of getting his own way. I tried to convince him that flying like that often led to sudden death, but he smirked.

Hearing a loud ‘BOOM!’, my IP said, “Sounds like someone had an afterburner blowout!”  We turned and watched as the two aircraft flew by and noted things were amiss.  The lead aircraft was trailing a longer than normal, bright red/yellow afterburner flame which was not the normal afterburner pattern or color.

Moments later we started experiencing massive vibrations throughout the aircraft and an extremely rough-running engine. It was apparent that we had a full blown emergency on our hands. Paul made the first of two mayday calls as we continued fighting with the rough engine while weighing our diminishing options. 

If your preflight weather briefing habits don’t change every few years, you probably aren’t curious enough. Occasionally there are major shifts, like the one from Flight Service phone calls to iPad app self-briefings, but more often we slowly integrate new weather resources and let others fade away. That’s exactly what I’ve done with the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF), the gold standard of aviation forecasts. I still read them, but it plays a much less central role in my decision-making process than it did five years ago.

If you have not flown in Europe, there are some differences from the US. Airspace, altimetry, transition level, VFR procedures, and airport operations differ. A quick flight with a flight instructor is not enough to get familiar with the differences. You will want to schedule ground and flight training to familiarize yourself with European airspace and regulations.