ATSC Learning Goals Exam Questions
with Correct Answers
Only flown in visual flight conditions or Visual Meteorological conditions.
More than 3000 ft AGL ceiling
More than 5SM visibility
No instruments, lookout windows.
Hazards like fog, clouds, heavy precip
Marginal VFR is when it's close call
Between 1000 and 3000 ft AGL ceiling
Between 3 and 5 SM visibility
VFR "over the top" is when there is a layer of clouds below you, so you cannot see the
ground to help you navigate. But above the clouds where you are flying, the air is clear
(good visibility and few clouds), so you can control the aircraft and avoid hitting other
aircraft.
Instrumental Flight Rules
Conduct most of flight without looking out the window
Can fly in good weather and bad weather
Instrumental Meteorological Conditions
Less than 1000 ft AGL ceiling
Less than 3 SM visibility
1h. Anticipate when fog might occur based on location, humidity, temperature, winds,
and cloud cover, and how fog affects aviation. - Answer-Fog is a cloud that touches the
ground
Water droplets falling so slowly they seem suspended
Forms when:
Water is added to unsaturated air
Unsaturated air is cooled to its dew-point temperature
When ground warms the air above it!!!
Fog is denser and flows downhill
,Forms in these conditions:
Most often late at night or early morning as cool ground cools air
Nights with clear skies more likely than anything else
Radiation: cooling at night
Advection: humid air blows over a cold surface (lake, snow, ocean)
Upslope: Upwards moving air cools against a slope (mountain, hill)
Precip or frontal: adding moisture, via evaporation from warm rain drops falling down
through cold air below cloud
Steam: cold air moves over hot surface (cooling pong, warmed fields)
Hazards:
Visibility hazard
Can dissipate or lift
Hard to forecast
2b. Explain how reduced oxygen at high altitude affects pilot physiology - Answer-
Reduced atmospheric density reduces the amount of oxygen a pilot gets.
At certain altitudes a pilot will get hypoxia
Between 12k and 15k feet: Impaired memory, thought process, reaction time, alertness,
coordination. Euphoria, dizziness, drowsiness.
Above 15k feet: vision impaired, lips and fingers blue, unconsciousness, death
Solutions:
Above 13k, oxygen mask
Above 40k, pressurized oxygen
Above 62k, pressure suit
2c. Explain how and why pilots use "density altitude" - Answer-Thinner air reduces
airplane performance, such as ability to take off and gain altitude
If low-altitude air is hot enough it can act like a lower density
Pilots consider density altitude before taking off
Depends on temperature and altitude
, Adjusts pressure for temp.
2e. Identify the causes and typical locations of wind shear at aerodromes - Answer-
Change of wind speed or direction with altitude
Almost always present near ground
Strong wind shear near the ground at airports make it hard to land
Caused by: (as well as others)
Caused by weather systems
Caused by winds flowing across mountains
Turbulence behinds obstacles
Caused by other large aircraft taking off/ landing
2f. Relate updrafts for soaring to causes including thermals, anabatic winds, and
mountain waves - Answer-Gliders use updrafts to fly
The following produce updrafts:
Mountain waves
Thermals
- Sun heats ground, warm air rises in a thermal
Anabatic winds
- Warm updrafts along mountain slopes
- Anabatic cumulus can form at top
3a. Identify atmospheric layers according to temperature characteristics in the standard
atmosphere - Answer-Remember pressure and density decrease smoothly with
increase in altitude
Standard atmosphere is not adjusted for local conditions, just gives average
Temperature does not decrease smoothly at all altitudes
Regions of increase and regions of decrease, which define the main layers of the
atmosphere
3b. Determine the static stability given temperature soundings, and describe its effects
on air motions and on aviation - Answer-Atmospheric stability tells weather the air will
become or stay turbulent or non-turbulent (unstable / stable->(laminar))
Stable-> no turbulence
with Correct Answers
Only flown in visual flight conditions or Visual Meteorological conditions.
More than 3000 ft AGL ceiling
More than 5SM visibility
No instruments, lookout windows.
Hazards like fog, clouds, heavy precip
Marginal VFR is when it's close call
Between 1000 and 3000 ft AGL ceiling
Between 3 and 5 SM visibility
VFR "over the top" is when there is a layer of clouds below you, so you cannot see the
ground to help you navigate. But above the clouds where you are flying, the air is clear
(good visibility and few clouds), so you can control the aircraft and avoid hitting other
aircraft.
Instrumental Flight Rules
Conduct most of flight without looking out the window
Can fly in good weather and bad weather
Instrumental Meteorological Conditions
Less than 1000 ft AGL ceiling
Less than 3 SM visibility
1h. Anticipate when fog might occur based on location, humidity, temperature, winds,
and cloud cover, and how fog affects aviation. - Answer-Fog is a cloud that touches the
ground
Water droplets falling so slowly they seem suspended
Forms when:
Water is added to unsaturated air
Unsaturated air is cooled to its dew-point temperature
When ground warms the air above it!!!
Fog is denser and flows downhill
,Forms in these conditions:
Most often late at night or early morning as cool ground cools air
Nights with clear skies more likely than anything else
Radiation: cooling at night
Advection: humid air blows over a cold surface (lake, snow, ocean)
Upslope: Upwards moving air cools against a slope (mountain, hill)
Precip or frontal: adding moisture, via evaporation from warm rain drops falling down
through cold air below cloud
Steam: cold air moves over hot surface (cooling pong, warmed fields)
Hazards:
Visibility hazard
Can dissipate or lift
Hard to forecast
2b. Explain how reduced oxygen at high altitude affects pilot physiology - Answer-
Reduced atmospheric density reduces the amount of oxygen a pilot gets.
At certain altitudes a pilot will get hypoxia
Between 12k and 15k feet: Impaired memory, thought process, reaction time, alertness,
coordination. Euphoria, dizziness, drowsiness.
Above 15k feet: vision impaired, lips and fingers blue, unconsciousness, death
Solutions:
Above 13k, oxygen mask
Above 40k, pressurized oxygen
Above 62k, pressure suit
2c. Explain how and why pilots use "density altitude" - Answer-Thinner air reduces
airplane performance, such as ability to take off and gain altitude
If low-altitude air is hot enough it can act like a lower density
Pilots consider density altitude before taking off
Depends on temperature and altitude
, Adjusts pressure for temp.
2e. Identify the causes and typical locations of wind shear at aerodromes - Answer-
Change of wind speed or direction with altitude
Almost always present near ground
Strong wind shear near the ground at airports make it hard to land
Caused by: (as well as others)
Caused by weather systems
Caused by winds flowing across mountains
Turbulence behinds obstacles
Caused by other large aircraft taking off/ landing
2f. Relate updrafts for soaring to causes including thermals, anabatic winds, and
mountain waves - Answer-Gliders use updrafts to fly
The following produce updrafts:
Mountain waves
Thermals
- Sun heats ground, warm air rises in a thermal
Anabatic winds
- Warm updrafts along mountain slopes
- Anabatic cumulus can form at top
3a. Identify atmospheric layers according to temperature characteristics in the standard
atmosphere - Answer-Remember pressure and density decrease smoothly with
increase in altitude
Standard atmosphere is not adjusted for local conditions, just gives average
Temperature does not decrease smoothly at all altitudes
Regions of increase and regions of decrease, which define the main layers of the
atmosphere
3b. Determine the static stability given temperature soundings, and describe its effects
on air motions and on aviation - Answer-Atmospheric stability tells weather the air will
become or stay turbulent or non-turbulent (unstable / stable->(laminar))
Stable-> no turbulence
