"Wind check."

How often have you heard this over the radio from an airplane on short final? It's a legitimate request, and Tower is happy to oblige with the current readings. Of course, the sensors may be up to a mile away from the landing threshold.

There is a more direct way to know the current wind at your location: lakes. Runway 7 has a lake just to the right. Runway 25 has a lake right under you. These reveal local conditions in real time.

We all know intuitively there are two obvious indicators of wind direction -- waves and streaks. The wind is perpendicular to the waves, but which of two opposite directions? Don't try to read the direction from waves, because there are illusions which will flummox the closest observer. And streaks: the wind is parallel to the streaks, but again, from which of two opposite directions does it blow?

The answer is to look for the calm edge of the lake. The calm edge indicates the direction from which the wind is blowing. The air can't curl over the bank fast enough to disturb the upwind edge of the lake, and it looks like a mirror compared to the disturbed surface.

Now that we know the direction of the wind, what is the velocity?

If there are mere waves, nothing else, this indicates a wind velocity from 3 to 8 knots. If there are amorphous streaks (you'll know these when you see them -- they are, well, amorphous streaks and shapes hard to describe verbally but sailors would recognize them as a freshening wind), this indicates a wind velocity from 8 to 12 knots. If there are lines of white bubbles parallel to the wind, this indicates a velocity more than 12 knots. A sailor would recognize these as whitecaps. Lines of white bubbles combined with a cloudy, disturbed surface? That's 18 knots or above.

At first, new pilots describe learning the "feel" of an airplane. With experience, they concede that vision is the most important sense, and from this time they can fly anything with wings without much instruction. Learn to read the surface wind, from lakes and smoke and the direction birds land and take off.

First, be safe.

John Nadon
CAP Chief Pilot

Comments: nadon@aya.yale.edu

To instructors and students,

All flight students who are not citizens of the USA must register with TSA's Alien Flight Student Program before beginning flight training. This should be done online. I don't have the address at hand, but if you google AFSP you will find your way there.

Independent CFIs (such as we) giving instruction to foreign students must register with AFSP also.

Here's a little-known trap: Even if your student is a USA citizen, he must still present a passport (or birth certificate plus state-issued photo ID) to his instructor, who must then endorse the student's logbook that these documents have been produced. Additionally, the instructor must keep records of such endorsements for at least five years.

Instructors please note: You are not endorsing that the student proved his citizenship, only that the documents were presented to you.

And note also: These rules apply only to those who seek a private pilot certificate, an instrument rating, or multi-engine training. Oddly, students seeking the commercial certificate are not included in the regulation.

John Nadon
CAP chief pilot

Why learn to fly with CAP Flying?

For one thing, cost: Our basic trainer is $40 per hour dry, about $75 per hour fueled at current prices. For contrast, check out the flight schools' prices.

For another, experience: At the typical flight school, your primary instructor will be some kid with 400 hours who has never really been alone in the airplane except for mandatory solos. This kid is building hours and can't wait for the first job offer. What can he offer you? In our club we have seasoned instructor pilots who teach for the love of aviation. We have this to offer: thousands of hours of experience and a focus on your goals.

Our typical student has spent $6,000 for the private certificate, $6,000 for the instrument rating, and $4,000 for the single-engine commercial certificate. The multi-commercial-instrument add-on has been accomplished in as few as five hours of flying. (Hate you, Bligh. It took me 10 hours.)

Gulfstream school cost my prize student twice all that!

Even if your only goal is the private pilot certificate, you will get a superior education in our club.