Ajay Raghavendra, Ph.D.
Ajay Raghavendra is a B-737 first officer with a U.S. airline and a rated UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter aviation officer with the U.S. Army (New York National Guard). He holds a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from SUNY-Albany and graduated with honors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla. campus) with a B.S. in Meteorology and Computational Mathematics. Ajay also flew a Cessna 340 for a cloud-seeding program in Texas. Ajay is a strong advocate for aviation safety and education in the general aviation community. He is a FAASTeam representative (FAA Safety Team) with the Albany Flight Standards District Office, a Gold Seal CFI, and works part-time as a part 141 check airmen and flight instructor in Albany N.Y. He has logged over 2600 hours of flight time.
Understanding Weather Delays, Flight Delays, and Cancellations
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains a robust operations and performance dataset accessible through the Aviation System Performance Metrics (ASPM). Broadly speaking, flight delays...
Dissecting the Mach Transition
In the United States, the first jet-powered airplanes that most non-military pilots transition to, are those of the regional airlines or to a light-...
Should You Overfly a Developing Thunderstorm?
On July 8th, Hurricane Beryl made landfall at Matagorda, Texas (approximately 90nm south-west of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental – KIAH). As expected, air traffic...
Anticipating Upper Clear-Air Turbulence
Editor’s Note: We are pleased to welcome Ajay Raghavendra, PhD back to our pages. Ajay took a sabbatical for service to the country, additional...
Windshear: The Science, Equipment, and Mitigation
A series of thunderstorms and windshear-related air carrier accidents culminating with the crash of Delta 191 during final approach into DFW had a profound...
What Type of Icing is on the Plane?
Icing is a triple threat that impacts the aerodynamics, performance, and handling of an aircraft. While the threats of icing are reviewed and examined...
Beautiful Mountains, but Turbulent Skies
You’re flying your usual leg from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Dallas (DFW) for the hundredth time on another beautiful sunny day with blue...
Why are runways often oriented perpendicular to the shoreline?
The construction and design of an airport is not a trivial task. Planners consider a multitude of factors such as economic impact, potential for...
What’s Behind that Cold Front?
Thunderstorms are one of the most significant hazards to aviation. For instance, on 12 January 2023, a relatively strong cold front dominated the eastern...
The Clashing of Air Masses
Seasons play a significant role in disrupting aviation operations. Summers are characterized by intense thunderstorms and heat. For instance, density-altitude-related performance degradation resulted in...
