PLT516: Local Winds
What code PLT516 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Local Winds before your checkride.
Recall winds - types / characteristics
What this means for your checkride
Local winds arise from uneven heating. A sea breeze blows from the cooler water to the warmer land by day; a land breeze reverses at night as the land cools faster than the water. Mountain and valley winds work similarly with slope heating. These local winds shape turbulence, temperature, and conditions near terrain and shorelines.
Local wind patterns affect takeoff, landing, and turbulence, so the FAA tests how sea, land, and terrain winds form.
Pilots expect the coastal wind to be steady. It reverses between the daytime sea breeze and the nighttime land breeze, so the favored runway and the turbulence near the shore change with the time of day.
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.