Disparities in Weather Education across Professional Flight Baccalaureate Degree Programs

Abstract

The required meteorology coursework for 22 accredited professional flight baccalaureate degree programs was examined and compared.Significant differences were noted in both the number of required meteorology courses as well as the number of required meteorology credit hours. While all programs required at least one three-credit meteorology course, not all programs required an aviationspecific meteorology course. In addition to the required number of meteorology courses and credit hours, topics within the aviation-specific meteorology courses were also examined. The study showed the topics of "flight hazards" and "aviation weather reports and charts" were identified most frequently in course descriptions, followed third by "weather applications to flight." However, based on the course descriptions alone, it was unclear if the meteorological theory of flight hazards was addressed in the courses or if the courses only addressed the interpretation of weather hazards charts. To improve and standardize aviation-meteorology education in professional flight-degree programs, a recommendation was made to either provide aviation-meteorology curriculum guidelines through the University Aviation Association (UAA) Curriculum Committee or to form a separate UAA Aviation-Meteorology Education Committee.

Charting a Path Through the Storm: General Aviation Weather Training Recommendations

“…In addition to the regulations and FAA documents, it is also important to consider the weather instruction that pilotsin-training receive. Guinn and Rader (2012) analyzed twenty Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) accredited professional flight baccalaureate degree programs in which flight was a part of their curriculum. They evaluated programs based on the required number of meteorology credit hours and whether the meteorology course was aviation-specific (Guinn & Rader, 2012).…”

“…Guinn and Rader (2012) analyzed twenty Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) accredited professional flight baccalaureate degree programs in which flight was a part of their curriculum. They evaluated programs based on the required number of meteorology credit hours and whether the meteorology course was aviation-specific (Guinn & Rader, 2012). Even within this small sample, these researchers found a wide variability in meteorology credit hours required in which 59% of schools required four or less meteorology credit hours that were completed in a single course over one semester (Guinn & Rader, 2012).…”

Broadening Traditional Aviation Meteorology Education to Support Spaceflight Operations

“…The highly conductive exhaust plume from the rocket created a low-resistance path, causing a lightning strike through the rocket (Christian et al, 1989;Uman & Rakov, 2003). This incident highlights the importance of induced or "triggered" lighting, a topic that has little impact on traditional aviation operations and is not addressed in traditional aviation weather courses (Guinn & Rader, 2012).…”

“…Guinn and Rader (2012) examined the topics covered in meteorology courses supporting 22 different accredited professional flight B.S. degree programs and found the primary focus to be largely on general aviation hazards (e.g., icing, turbulence, thunderstorms) and aviation products (e.g., AIRMETS, SIGMETS).…”

“…As another example, masses of high-altitude, mesospheric ice particles, known as noctilucent clouds, were considered a threat to the tiles on the Space Shuttle (Couvault, 1988;Kingwell et al, 1991). In contrast, noctilucent clouds pose no threat to traditional aviation operations so traditional aviation weather courses do not include this topic (Guinn & Rader, 2012). These increased sensitivities to weather reveal limitations of a traditional aviation weather course for educating students in supporting spaceflight operations.…”