Weather forecasting plays a key role in the safety of aviation. Just like so many other things in this age, weather is a global commodity increasingly processed and delivered by super-smart computer systems. Gone are the days when a person recorded observations which were then manually transcribed onto a large map and interpreted with hand-drawn isobars. I well remember Harry the chief meteorologist at Wigram during my Air Force pilot training days. Harry's morning weather briefings were delivered with a notion of theatrical drama.Immaculately dressed, he would deliver his weather forecast for the day with meticulously drawn isobar charts lining the wall behind him. Never mind that his forecast would often be completely in contrast with the day clearly visible out of the briefing room window, the artwork on display was worthy of an award.
The topic of weather forecasts is an appropriate beginning to another series of blogs as the Bazflyers again set out on a flying safari in their Piper Comanche ZK-BAZ. This time it's a return to Australia beginning with two planned hops across the Tasman Sea. The first flight being from Kerikeri in the north of New Zealand 488 NM north to Norfolk Island. A night on the island then 770 NM east to enter Australia at Gold Coast airport. Weather watching and waiting for the window of opportunity has been a common theme for every Tasman crossing. At this time of the year weather patterns are usually active and fast moving. Fortunately, today's computer generated forecasts are many times more reliable than those of old.
The Australian safari begins at Broken Hill
Computer generated weather forecast
On the way to Kerikeri a section of the flight when we were not in cloud
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