When some people pine for the "good old days" I'm always left thinking about how much it would have sucked to live before vaccines, antibiotics, and being able to vote. In matters pertaining to aviation, one must only read a book from even 5 to 10 years ago to get a feel for how much it would have royally sucked to not have such easy access to so many amazing weather products.

Flying the Weather Map was first published 40 years ago and the most recent edition was published 20 years ago. The flights documented in the book are from the late 1970s and reflect the state of technology at the time. Calling up briefers, hoping that they have information that is somewhat up-to-date and hoping also that they can interpret it well, relying on stormscopes and calling up FSS and ATC en route for updated weather was all par for course. The flights herein are just about all IFR in the context of helping the reader to make the connection between the forecasted weather and actual conditions. Reading "it was clear and unlimited all the way" would not have made for an interesting book on aviation weather.

As a visual-only pilot, this level of weather understanding is not all too necessary. Not only are the weather products available to me quite up-to-the-minute and easy to understand (with practice), but I am not going to be purposefully getting into situations where severely limited visibility or being in visible moisture is a possibility. In that regard I found my eyes somewhat glazing over to read every little detail the author made connecting the experienced weather with the briefing that he obtained. Maybe I would have appreciated this book a bit more if I were instrument rated. ( )