In article ,
Ron Natalie wrote:
Nexrad XM datalink...is a strategic tool, not a
tactical tool.

That is the conventional wisdom, but I suspect it comes more from lawyers
than from pilots experienced with using datalinked NEXRAD.

I used the same wording and I have XM weather and have used it.

I believe you're not an instrument pilot? I suspect you use it quite
differently than Dan, or other instrument pilots who are often engaged
in weather flying.

That being said, I certainly wouldn't rely on NEXRAD alone to weave my
way through a line of cells. NEXRAD + Echo Tops + Sferics would get me
closer, but I'm not sure that I'd take the risk of close-in deviations
without the live picture (sferics + airborne radar).





I use XM NEXRAD tactically all the time. If there's a growing cell 15
miles
ahead, I will use the NEXRAD picture to decide whether to go left or right
around it based on its history and the location of other cells beyond it.
That's tactical, to me, and it's the best thing about having satellite
weather aboard.


That's strategy not tactics.

Making enroute decisions to deviate based on uplinked information?
Sounds like tactics to me.





JKG