Graybeard is correct....
Gentlemen (and Ladies),
Airbus has excellent documents that give a nice explanation of
how to use the RADAR. One, Optimum Use of Weather RADAR is one.
Another is Getting to Grips with Aircraft Surveillance.
Airbus also has a nice PowerPoint on the subject, as well.
I have to chuckle when people go through the math to determine the
tops of the storms. My response is: Why bother? Unless you're at relatively high latitudes amd storms are relatively low (low tropo. perhaps),
trying to determine the tops is a nice academic exercise, but has little practical use.
Yep, there it is....I said it!
Most major carriers have an SOP regarding 'topping' TRW. My old company did....still does, I'm sure....but, it's been several years since
I retired....don't know the current SOPs.
But, the old SOP....You have to top a storm by at least 5000 feet. OK, fair enough. My A-320 series has a max altitude of FL390. So, in order to 'top' a storm and still be in compliance with the SOP, the storm tops had to have max of 34,000 feet.....and this is assuming you're at FL390. If you're at FL350, the max storm tops can not exceed FL300.
So, even if you do try to top the storm, in many cases you may have a smaller-than-comfortable buffet margin....a place you don't want to be if you get into some rough air.
My point: For the most part, you go around the storm, not over it.
Agreed, tilt control is arguably the most critical, yet least understood and most misused control on the RADAR unit. A close second is the Gain control.
And, agreed, many airlines provide poor training in the use of RADAR. On one hand, you have United, where the training is typically good. On the other hand, you have XXXX, where even the instructors lack knowledge, training, and experience in this area. At my old company, all new hires went through two days of RADAR school, taught by an avionics guy....not a pilot. (Yes, that was tough....this guy was brilliant....but, he thought most pilots were stupid. Maybe he was right.)
So, my post is mostly bullXXXX, take it for what it's worth. All I can say is, read the documents, read your company's SOP, practice using the RADAR in the daytime in relatively good weather....where you can correlate what you see on the screen to what you can see outside the window. Practice, practice, practice.... And, you'll learn what the RADAR can and cannot do for you....depending on latitude, season of the year, type of storm system, etc. Do this over a period of 30 years, and you'll get really good at it.
Then, it's time to retire....
Fly safe,
PantLoad