Understanding The Sky
by Dennis Pagen
"A pilot needs to understand the ways of the sky to fly successfully and safely...". This guide is designed to present a clear picture of how the atmosphere works. Learn the cause and behavior of the wind. Gain knowledge of lift patterns and types. Find out how to predict flying conditions.
This book is a store of knowledge from 20 years of flying sport aircraft. If you've ever wondered why the air behaves as it does, this book is for you. The greatest emphasis is on small-scale effects--excatly where we fly. Details are provided on everything from turbulence to thunderstorms. The chapters on lift sources and flying efficiency alone are worth the price of this book. Understanding The Sky is your key to complete comfort in the air.
The book is intended for sport aviators -- ultralight, sailplane and hang glider pilots, as well as balloonists, RC modelers and parachutists -- who want to learn the esoteric things they may have missed during general weather courses. Matters such as reverse gradients, low-level shears, thermals, daily variations, upslope breezes, down-bursts and gust fronts are described. Understanding the Sky covers large-scale weather, explaining the message of the sky and the structure of the atmosphere in several chapters; the rest of the book is devoted to more local effects.
The author, Dennis Pagen, is a pilot with 19 years of experience in various fast and slow aircraft. He has previously written 10 "how-to" books on sport aviation. This latest book is a culmination of years of research that Pagen says he hopes will benefit all pilots who wish to know more about the air in which they travel.