Master Aviation Weather at Your Own Pace
Enhance your weather knowledge with four recorded classes held live in 2024 and 2025—taught by aviation weather expert, Dr. Scott Dennstaedt. Whether you're a new pilot, seasoned professional or somewhere in between, these classes offer a structured, self-paced way to boost your decision-making and minimize your exposure to dangerous adverse weather. The four in-depth classes below are ready to purchase whenever you are. See details below.
✅ Weather Essentials for Pilots (includes all 12 classes)
✅ Advanced Weather Essentials for Pilots (includes all 10 classes)
✅ In Flight Weather Essentials (includes all 8 classes)
✅ Skew-T Weather Essentials (includes all 12 classes)
Start learning today—fly smarter, safer, and with more confidence.
Purchase all four programs listed below and save with a combo deal
Purchase all four of the Weather Essentials series recorded classes and save! Together, these programs contain over 40 hours of unique aviation weather training. You will receive a downloaded PDF that contains a table of contents, hyperlinks to all of the unlisted videos of each class and hyperlinks to PDFs containing the slides for each class as well as quizzes (if applicable). See details of each class below. Please note that the contents are for your personal use only and should not be shared or posted online. We appreciate your cooperation.
In Flight Weather Essentials for Pilots
There's no doubt that fair weather environments and severe clear conditions provide the best flying experience. However, pilots that use their aircraft to travel longer distances and those that fly more frequently will inevitably increase their exposure to some adverse weather. This class will enable you to recognize serious adverse weather environments both in how to avoid them and provide guidance on how to negotiate the best path out of them or around them.
In a nutshell, this eight-week course is specifically directed at certificated private/commercial pilots, flight instructors and designated pilot examiners who feel their preflight weather planning skillset is significantly lacking. It is open to pilots with and without an instrument rating. Putting it succinctly, this is designed to take the serious cross country pilot to the next level.
Syllabus topics include -
- Protecting the margins
- Convection (Part 1)
- Convection (Part 2)
- Datalink weather
- ATC and weather
- Icing (Part 1)
- Icing (Part 2)
- Nonconvective turbulence
With the purchase of this class, you will receive a downloaded PDF that contains a table of contents, hyperlinks to all of the unlisted videos of each class and hyperlinks to PDFs containing the slides for each class. Please note that the contents are for your personal use only and should not be shared or posted online. We appreciate your cooperation.
Weather Essentials for Pilots
The syllabus for Weather Essentials for Pilots isn't designed to overwhelm you with a ton of advanced meteorology concepts. At the other extreme, don't expect the class to be a bunch of lessons on how to decode a raw METAR, TAF or PIREP. Moreover, it is not meant to teach you how to use the EZWxBrief progressive web app, nor will you learn how to read a Skew-T log (p) diagram. Instead, the bulk of the lessons are product-centric and will focus on building the necessary foundation to get the most from the weather guidance that all pilots should be using to make more confident decisions prior to closing the door on the cockpit to depart.
In a nutshell, this 12-week course is specifically directed at certificated private/commercial pilots, flight instructors and designated pilot examiners who feel their aviation weather knowledge is significantly lacking. Putting it succinctly, this is meant to be a slight notch above a beginner level. For most students attending this twelve week course, 20% of the material will be a review of basic aviation weather topics and the other 80% will be new or untaught material to focus on those gaps in knowledge that most certificated pilots possess.
Syllabus topics include -
- Surface observations
- Pilot weather reports
- Ground-based radar
- Graphical AIRMETs (G-AIRMETs)
- SIGMETs
- Center Weather Advisories (CWAs)
- Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)
- Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs)
- Surface analyses and prog charts
- Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF)
- Probability of precipitation (PoP)
- Convective outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC)
- Forecast radar
- Forecast echo top heights
- Probabilistic thunderstorm forecasts
- Model Output Statistics (MOS)
- Current and Forecast Icing Products (CIP/FIP)
- Graphical Turbulence Guidance (GTG) Product
... and more.
With the purchase of this class, you will receive a downloaded PDF that contains a table of contents, hyperlinks to all of the unlisted videos of each class and hyperlinks to PDFs containing the slides for each class. Please note that the contents are for your personal use only and should not be shared or posted online. We appreciate your cooperation.
Advanced Weather Essentials for Pilots
This class has been designed to take you beyond the basics with a focus on the entire briefing process with emphasis on how to integrate all of the available weather guidance to minimize your exposure to adverse weather. Three of the ten classes will consist of a mock route using live weather at the time the class was held.
Syllabus topics include -
- Review of weather forecasts and observations
- Elements of the big picture weather
- Constant pressure charts (Part 1)
- Constant pressure charts (Part 2)
- Icing guidance and considerations and considerations
- Thunderstorm guidance and considerations
- Turbulence guidance and considerations
- Extended-range flight planning scenario
- Short-range flight planning scenario
- NOWcast flight planning scenario
With the purchase of this class, you will receive a downloaded PDF that contains a table of contents, hyperlinks to all of the unlisted videos of each class and hyperlinks to PDFs containing the slides for each class. Please note that the contents are for your personal use only and should not be shared or posted online. We appreciate your cooperation.
Skew-T Weather Essentials
This class is less about learning how to use the Skew-T log (p) diagram and more about learning the fundamental principles and building blocks of aviation meteorology. The tool makes for a great canvas or backdrop to teach you about what causes the formation of clouds, fog, airframe icing, turbulence, and thunderstorms, just to name a few. In other words, you need to understand these basic principles of weather first, before mastering how to interpret the Skew-T log (p) diagram for your preflight weather planning and analysis.
Please note: since this class was held, the instance of the Skew-T diagram primarily used as examples was from a web site hosted by NOAA (rucsoundings.noaa.gov). Due to the dismantling of NOAA by the Trump administration, this site has been permanently shut down. However, there are other sources of the Skew-T diagram to include Tropical Tidbits, Pivotal Weather and TwisterData just to name a few.
In a nutshell, this 12-week course is specifically directed at certificated private/commercial pilots, flight instructors and designated pilot examiners that want to really learn the science and application of the Skew-T log (p) diagram. It is appropriate for pilots with and without an instrument rating. Putting it succinctly, this is meant to be a slight notch above the intermediate level. For most students attending this 12-week course, 20% of the material will be a review of basic aviation weather concept and the other 80% will be new or untaught material to focus on those gaps in knowledge that most certificated pilots possess.
Syllabus topics include -
- Introduction to the Skew-T diagram & radiosonde observations
- Fundamental properties of the atmosphere
- The base Skew-T diagram
- Lapse rates & buoyancy
- Mixing ratio, wind & inversions
- Parcel theory
- Stability indices (Part 1)
- Stability indices (Part 2)
- Cloud bases & tops
- Airframe icing (Part 1)
- Airframe icing (Part 2)
- Turbulence
With the purchase of this class, you will receive a downloaded PDF that contains a table of contents, hyperlinks to all of the unlisted videos of each class and hyperlinks to PDFs containing the slides for each class. Please note that the contents are for your personal use only and should not be shared or posted online. We appreciate your cooperation.