Privatizing Flight Service Stations - AOPA

I'd be curious the percentage of pilots that use FSS for briefings as
opposed to getting the wx off the web(duats). I fly about 300 hours a year
and very rarely call FSS.


There was a thread on this recently (but it might have been in
rec.aviation.ifr)

I typically check the maps on the web (DUATS via Cirrus, and Accuweather
radar), and then call FSS. What the FSS does that I find difficult is filter
out all the irrelevant stuff. If I get a printout from DUATS, I'll get reams
and reams of data from every station whose uncle has a cousin in the same
country as my flight. Most of these will be similar, a few will be different
in key places, and I don't want to miss those. So, unaided, I'd need to pore
through all of them, gleaning very little additional useful information. The
FSS can do this for me, and it is not just shifting my work to them because
they have done it a hundred times for a hundred different pilots that morning.
They already have a good idea what's in those reports, I do not (having just
gotten them for the first time). So, I much prefer that FSS pick out the
relevant stations and tell me what's in them.

Jose




--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

Teacherjh wrote:

The FSS can do this for me, and it is not just shifting my work to them
because they have done it a hundred times for a hundred different pilots
that morning. They already have a good idea what's in those reports, I do
not (having just
gotten them for the first time). So, I much prefer that FSS pick out the
relevant stations and tell me what's in them.

No, it's not shifting your work to them. You do your work anyway.

I do pretty much what you do: I do everyone via computer on my own, and I
then call FSS as "backup". They might know of something I've missed or
that wasn't available to me, for example.

But what some people may forget during these threads is that FSS is also
available in-flight...where many of us don't have Internet access.
Recently, for example, I'd made a last-minute decision to flight the Hudson
VFR corridor instead of my preplanned route north. But what about possible
TRFs?

A quick call to FSS answered my question (in the negative, happily).

A while back, I was tootling along the Connecticut coast heading for
Nantucket. All earlier reports were "great weather" at the destination.
But looking down, I saw that the entire coastline was covered in fog. If
Connecticut, why not Nantucket?

Worried, I called FSS. A quick discussion with the briefer confirmed the
weather reports I'd received earlier, and I was also able to learn where
the fog stopped.

I could have accomplished this same thing with uploaded weather, I suppose.
But that still wouldn't have handled the earlier case...and it's a lot
easier to keep up my scan for traffic while talking than while futzing
around with a weather display.

[Why do no aviation electronics use voice recognition yet?]

- Andrew

I do pretty much what you do: I do everyone via computer on my own, and I
then call FSS as "backup".


I do the maps, but not the text, via Duats. I rely on FSS to filter through
the irrelevant text so I don't have to.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message
online.com...
Teacherjh wrote:

The FSS can do this for me, and it is not just shifting my work to them
because they have done it a hundred times for a hundred different pilots
that morning. They already have a good idea what's in those reports, I
do
not (having just
gotten them for the first time). So, I much prefer that FSS pick out
the
relevant stations and tell me what's in them.

No, it's not shifting your work to them. You do your work anyway.

I do pretty much what you do: I do everyone via computer on my own, and I
then call FSS as "backup". They might know of something I've missed or
that wasn't available to me, for example.

But what some people may forget during these threads is that FSS is also
available in-flight...where many of us don't have Internet access.
Recently, for example, I'd made a last-minute decision to flight the
Hudson
VFR corridor instead of my preplanned route north. But what about
possible
TRFs?

A quick call to FSS answered my question (in the negative, happily).

FSS has missed numerous TFRs in the past in which case you are still the bad
guy if you bust one. I would never trust what they say without backing it
up via DUATS if at all possible. Especially TFRs.

Dave Stadt wrote:

A quick call to FSS answered my question (in the negative, happily).

FSS has missed numerous TFRs in the past in which case you are still the
bad
guy if you bust one. I would never trust what they say without backing it
up via DUATS if at all possible. Especially TFRs.

It's tough to use DUATS from the air.

I don't know...our FSS (Millville) has always seemed to be on top of things
in the neighborhood. I'd not expect details on a TFR elsewhere, but around
here?

- Andrew