Pardon my skepticism regarding how such detailed theory applies to actual air transport operations.
Don't company Dispatchers "over there" keep track of where the moderate-severe turbulence should be and which cruise altitudes keep you out of it?
Who has time to watch the temperature gauge full time when you are navigating, changing altitudes, ATC frequencies while asking for ride reports, and watching for signs of airframe icing (mostly fall through spring)? Is theory to replace the latest enroute reports? Among other things, one must also anticipate how much extra fuel will be burned at lower altitudes while avoiding a rough ride, or at what actual weight the plane can climb to cruise altitude.
Do the so-called authorities (who create the training material) over there expect pilots to be weather forecasters, or pilots? Both our initial and recurrent training (19 years for me) for narrow and widebody fleets having 100-350 or so seats, has never covered such analysis of jetstreams. Updates on microbursts and mountain wave activity (our weather info includes 'red' and 'yellow' altitudes near mountains) are quite applicable.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 18th August 2005 at 03:44.