Ex.5 Read and translate.

THE WEATHER AND FLYING CONDITIONS

The flying conditions are greatly influenced by the weather. The weather is different all the year round. What is the weather like in spring? In early spring the weather remains rather cold. In April the weather is often changeable. The sky is cloudy and it often rains. We have a lot of thunderstorms in May and in June. The sky is covered with clouds. Thunder is heard, lightning is visible. Thunderstorms are very dangerous for flights. In stormy weather conditions there is a heavy turbulence in flight. We say the flight is bumpy. The thunderstorm is sometimes so severe that the flight may be cancelled. In this case we say “The flight is delayed due to the weather”.

In summer the weather is usually hot. The sun comes up in the east very early and goes down in the west very late. The days are long. In autumn the days get shorter and nights longer. It often rains hard, sometimes drizzles. The weather is often foggy. The wind blows from the north. Heavy ice is often formed on the wings of the plane. The runways are wet and slippery. The landing conditions are bad. The airport is closed. The nearer the winter, the colder the days. It often snows heavily. The ground is covered with white snow. The temperature is -25C (twenty-five degrees Centigrade below zero). We are having a severe frost. There is much snow during heavy snowstorms. The pilot must be careful while landing and taking off.

Pilots need the information about weather conditions for the route of flight and at the destination aerodrome. At every airport there is a meteorological station which is equipped with special instruments recording all changes in the atmosphere. They indicate air pressure and temperature, record wind speed and direction, the movements of clouds. It is indicated on special weather charts. It is made every 30 minutes and every 15 minutes if the weather suddenly gets worse or better.

Preparing for the flight the pilot is to get the latest weather information and weather forecasts for the planned route and at the point of destination and the alternates.

20-30 minutes before entering the aerodrome area the controller gives the pilot full information about the terminal weather. Before descent the pilot requests the actual weather and aerodrome conditions for the airport he is going to land. It is considered that the landing of an aircraft is probably the most difficult operation which a pilot has to perform. It is known that fog, rain and clouds often affect the aircraft operation or, in other words, to allow an aircraft to land under low or zero visibility.