IRL and sim, what is the proper process for determining what weather characteristics are safe for a specific GA aircraft (or any aircraft for that matter)?

Aircraft performance.

I'm now real world pilot but it I think it's the winds and also cloud layer/cloud types. 

It's usually obvious. Is it 1000ft from the clouds? 

Winds, runway availability for wind conditions, visibility, ceiling, icing conditions. 

29 minutes ago, FlightSimToday said:

I'm now real world pilot but it I think it's the winds and also cloud layer/cloud types. 

It's usually obvious. Is it 1000ft from the clouds? 

For VFR flights:

https://www.cfinotebook.net/notebook/rules-and-regulations/special-vfr

It depends what you're talking about.  If you mean what type of weather that aircraft is approved to fly in, it comes down to three important conditions: IMC (that's low clouds or bad vis), icing, and thunderstorms. 

To fly in IMC, an aircraft (and its pilot) must be equipped and certified to do so. This means having the proper instruments to be able to fly and navigate blind, and having current inspections done on these systems (there's also a pilot currency side to that.)

An aircraft is certified for flight into known icing conditions when it has a system to remove or prevent ice buildup from critical surfaces.  These can include wing and tail leading edges, props, windshields, and engine inlet lips.  You can fly a non-FIKI airplane in suspected icing conditions, but you'd better always leave yourself an out if you find icing (knowing it's warmer at an altitude you can descend to for instance, or knowing the clouds are only a thin layer and it's clear above.)

No one flies in thunderstorms, so when it comes to those, the equipment is all about being able to avoid them.  Airborne weather radar is the only acceptable tool for flying commercially in areas of known thunderstorms; supplemental tools can include datalinked weather displays (not a substitute for actual weather radar though), strikefinders etc.

Hope that helps. 

In reference to things like max demonstrated crosswind landing capability etc... those are determined by wind tunnel testing, math and often flight test conditions... its max demonstrated... the maximum they did, not meaning you can't exceed it....
The others covered things like IMC and Ice pretty nicely.

58 minutes ago, badgenes said:

IRL and sim, what is the proper process for determining what weather characteristics are safe for a specific GA aircraft (or any aircraft for that matter)?

Depending what kind GA aircraft (equipment, certification) and what kind of operations IFR, VFR . Also under  what regulations. For example in US pilot flying under part 91 can largely take off  with no forward visibility (given aircraft is IFR certified and PIC render such take off as safe ) while pilot flying under Part 135 (charter) can't 

Thanks for the answers.  More specifically do aircraft POH list max wind / direction of wind figures?  Would this be the deciding factor in regard to safe aviation for a specific aircraft given conditions (presupposing de-icing equipment and / or IMC rating)?  For example, if the sky is clear and the winds at ground are 15 gusting to 40, what exactly am I looking for in POH to determine if say a C182 is safe to aviate?

 

6 minutes ago, badgenes said:

Thanks for the answers.  More specifically do aircraft POH list max wind / direction of wind figures?  Would this be the deciding factor in regard to safe aviation for a specific aircraft given conditions (presupposing de-icing equipment and / or IMC rating)?  For example, if the sky is clear and the winds at ground are 15 gusting to 40, what exactly am I looking for in POH to determine if say a C182 is safe to aviate?

 

We a going into shady territory of aviation decision making like PAVE for example: Plot, Aircraft, Environment, External factors.

Hopefully pilot is familiar with POH before jumping in 182! If pilot plans a long trip with few friends he/she fist must insure that weight and balance done correctly, then plots the route, get weather briefing, NOTAMS. Based on those information and using POH performance tables  pilot calculate fuel burn, endurance and plan for possible deviation if any problems arise in flight. But it's not all! There are others questions  to ask! Is pilot proficient comfortable in particular model of 182?  Is pilot current and has recent flight experience? Is 182 adequately equipped for type of flight? Are there intermittent mechanical issues or open squawks in 182? Did pilot experienced  40 kts wind on take off and landing  before. Will those strong winds exceed pilot's personal minimums? Is pilot feel sick, depressed or euphoric ? Does pilot is taking med with unknown to pilot side effect? Is pilot  physicals state allows him to cruise long enough or climb high enough for type of flight? After all questions are answered here is a table 🙂

 

 

 

2 hours ago, badgenes said:

For example, if the sky is clear and the winds at ground are 15 gusting to 40, what exactly am I looking for in POH to determine if say a C182 is safe to aviate?

You would look for the max demonstrated crosswind, and then decide if you would like to look silly when something happens if you exceed that amount of crosswind. 

My opinion after a couple thousand hours and looking back on dumb decisions made in the first 200hrs or so... For the C182, the max demonstrated is 15kts crosswind component I believe. So if your 15G40 is directly cross, I'd say pick another runway or a better day to fly. No one will stop you, you can always have a go and you'll feel great if you put it down. But if it goes wrong, insurance may decide not to cover any damages and accident reports may make a note that the flight manual stated max demonstrated was only 15kts. Pilot decided to venture into test pilot territory and found limit the hard way.

 

OK appreciate the additional info.

 

Of course max demonstrated is just that....demonstrated.  It's not a hard rule or anything.  Gusting to 40 is definitely not what I'd try either but gusting to say 25 or so.... I'd try it!

IRL, pilots typically get trained in new aircraft as they move up the progression from SEL to wherever they wind up. This involves ground school sessions, whether formal or informal, and some air work. Nowadays, I would imagine that at least some of this training at most levels is also done in commercial sims of one sort of another. This training provides them a foundation on which safety decisions can be based.

In the sim world, it's different. Training? We don't need no stinkin' training! But that's OK, because nothing is actually at stake except our perhaps false sense of mastery, so it's just fine to try approaches in ever more challenging weather conditions that you can set up in the sim. If you get good enough to land your favorite a/c in a crosswind that corresponds to the maximum demonstrated value in the POH? OK, now add ten knots and try it again. And again, etc. Ditto for low ceilings and visibility. Flying single pilot, single engine IFR, I never attempted approaches in conditions much less than 800' ceiling and 2 mile visibility. Too much could go wrong and there was no one to back me up. In the sim, caution gets thrown to the wind!

Most of all, have fun and maybe learn something.

One key performance issue is density altitude and temperature.

Lots of GA aircraft crash because when you are high hot and humid (3H) performance is greatly decreased. Both takeoff distance and climb rate.

The POH has tables to figure out TO distance under different conditions. 

If you are used to flying out of airports 1000' above sea level or less, you are in for a rude awakening if taking off from  7000' altitude on a 100ºF day. Your plane may not be able to take off at all or use 6000' of runway and only have 50 or 100 fpm climb rate. Pretty scary if you did not figure climb rate and T/O distance as well as payload before attempting departure. And you need a plan to get out of the valley or over a high pass with safety.

This is something that kills a lot of pilots and passengers.