PLT283: Constant Pressure Charts
What code PLT283 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Constant Pressure Charts before your checkride.
Recall information on a Constant Pressure Analysis Chart
What this means for your checkride
A constant pressure analysis chart shows conditions on a surface of constant pressure, such as 500 millibars, rather than a constant altitude. It maps height contours, temperature, and winds aloft, letting a pilot see troughs, ridges, and the winds at a cruising level, including the jet stream.
Upper-air charts reveal winds and systems aloft a surface chart cannot, so the FAA tests reading a constant pressure chart for winds and temperature at altitude.
Pilots read the contours as terrain. On a constant pressure chart the lines are heights of the pressure surface; closely spaced contours mean strong winds aloft, much as isobars do at the surface.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.