Masterclass: Understanding the Sky – The message of the clouds
How can you ‘read the clouds’? From fair weather cumulus to threatening cumulonimbus, learn why and how clouds form – and what they mean for free-flight pilots
15 November, 2024, by Bastienne WentzelWelcome to the the weather! Presented by pilot and science writer Bastienne Wentzel and based on content from the best-selling weather book Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen, this course includes two hours of content across 11 lessons.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
How and why clouds form
Why condensation occurs
How to calculate the height of cloudbase
The life cycle of a cloud
What different types of cloud mean for pilots
YOUR TUTOR
This Masterclass is based on the content in the best-selling free-flight weather book Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen. Host Bastienne Wentzel is a science writer, paragliding coach and author of Paragliding: The Beginner’s Guide. Illustrated animations are by Steve Ham, a pilot, illustrator and paragliding guide. In this series of 11 lessons Bastienne explains key concepts simply and directly, while Steve’s animations help bring complex concepts alive, making them easy to understand.
Lesson Plan
Lessons will be released one a week from Friday 15 November
2: Condensation
For rain or snow to form, droplets of water need something to coalesce around. In this lesson you will learn how rain drops form.
Available
3: How high is cloudbase?
Learn how to calculate how high cloudbase is on any given day using the dew point and ground temperature
Available
4: Cloudbase and cloud tops
In this lesson you will see that cloudbase is often roughly at the same height, but cloud tops are not. Why is that and what does it mean?
Available
5: Cloud life span and old clouds
How long does a cloud live? Is it worth racing towards that puffy cumulus cloud or will it have vanished once you get there?
Available Friday 13 December
6: Rain
Rain means a ruined flying day for many pilots. So why do we want to know more about rain besides it’s wet and unflyable?
Available Friday 20 December
7: Visibility
In this lesson we learn why and how clouds influence visibility.
Available Friday 27 December
8: Cloud types and classifications
We look at what the main types of clouds are and how they are classified by altitude and shape.
Available Friday 3 January 2025
9: What clouds tell us
Clouds are up there where we want to be. That’s an important reason why they can tell us what the air is doing and what is going to happen.
Available Friday 10 January 2025
10: Dangers and annoyances
We learn how clouds can also warn us of unseen dangers in the air.
Available Friday 17 January 2025
11: Cloud types
A gallery of the different types of cloud you will come across as a pilot or skywatcher.
Available Friday 24 January 2025
Content Credits
Clips: Leonard Bik, Wycher Bos, Cross Country International, Ed Ewing, Steve Ham, iStockPhoto, Benjamin Kellett, Marcus King, Jerôme Maupoint, Hugh Miller, NASA, Niviuk Paragliders, NOAA, Lawrie Noctor, Foram Pandya, Pond 5, Martin Sanchez, Erwin Voogt, Bastienne Wentzel, Wikimedia Commons (Rodrigo Menezes, Simon A. Eugster and Victor Alekseev) and Windy.com
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