Flight to Florida -- The Cure for Winter

On Mar 30, 8:42 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because I'd be
trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio briefing (IF
you could even get ahold of Flight Service), and you'd have no idea of the
"big picture" that live XM paints so wonderfully for you.

Wait -- are you serious?

While in flight weather provides localized details of the changes in
weather after the preflight briefing, ANY pilot should have the big
and little pictures in his/her head before launching anytime, period.

In Flight wx data should simply confirm what you expect to happen, or
help educate you on how your interpretation/prognostics were wrong.

XM doesn't provide the depth of information available he
http://aviationweather.gov/

And if you're relying on XM in lieu of a Standard wx brief, you're in
violation of the CFRs.


Dan Mc

I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because I'd be
trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio briefing (IF
you could even get ahold of Flight Service), and you'd have no idea of
the
"big picture" that live XM paints so wonderfully for you.

Wait -- are you serious?

Completely. XM weather gives you a weather picture that is absolutely
unparalleled in GA aircraft. Before we had it, we would have stayed in
Pensacola. After we had it, the flight from Pensacola to St. Pete was
completely routine.

XM doesn't provide the depth of information available he
http://aviationweather.gov/

No one said it did. But it provides more than enough in-flight information
to make flying MUCH safer and more relaxing.

In my time, three things have utterly changed flying for the better:

1. GPS
2. ANR technology
3. XM weather

And if you're relying on XM in lieu of a Standard wx brief, you're in
violation of the CFRs.

As stated in my post, we obtained a standard weather briefing, as we do
before any flight.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mar 30, 9:51 pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:


XM weather gives you a weather picture that is absolutely
unparalleled in GA aircraft.

Yes, but...

You -- as a pilot -- should have that "picture" in your mind, and be
able to predict the changes, rates of changes, and the impact of those
changes on your flight.

XM will help you adjust that picture, and should help you acquire that
skill more rapidly IF you take the approach that YOU have to know, and
not rely on the XM.

The XM -- as GPS -- should simply confirm what you already know.

Curmudgeon lament follows:

I guess it's here -- a whole generation of pilots following magenta
lines who will now be looking to fly through green and avoid the red
and yellow.

We should call them Crayola-viators.

Dan Mc

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news:WsXHj.45877$TT4.30055@attbi_s22:

I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because
I'd be trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio
briefing (IF you could even get ahold of Flight Service), and you'd
have no idea of the
"big picture" that live XM paints so wonderfully for you.

Wait -- are you serious?

Completely. XM weather gives y

Thanks be to God it will only be a Cherokee you destroy.



Bertie

Jay Honeck wrote:
I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because I'd be
trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio briefing
(IF
you could even get ahold of Flight Service), and you'd have no idea
of the
"big picture" that live XM paints so wonderfully for you.

Wait -- are you serious?

Completely. XM weather gives you a weather picture that is absolutely
unparalleled in GA aircraft. Before we had it, we would have stayed in
Pensacola. After we had it, the flight from Pensacola to St. Pete was
completely routine.

Jay, you need some remedial weather analysis and flight planning
training. I've never had XM weather (OK, one flight with a friend with
a 496) and get along fine without it. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to
have it, but it isn't worth the cost to me. It gives a little more
convenience, but I can get the same and even more information from
several sources (DUAT, intellicast, weather channel, ADDS, etc., when it
comes to preflight. Enroute I do fine with my eyes, ASOS/AWOS,
listening to ATC and FSS. I see XM as a much more convenient tool for
inflight than for preflight and can't imagine making go/no-go decisions
simply because I have XM weather.


Matt

On 2008-03-31, Jay Honeck wrote:
The other "secret" (although it's hardly rare) is to have XM weather. With
that incredible tool on board, we know what we're flying toward hours in
advance, and can make adjustments accordingly.

What are you lookign at to see what the cloud layers are like on your XM?
I've played around with my 496, and what it's showing me is great...but I
can't visualize what you're looking at to make your decisions.

This is something I'm interested in, since I'm planning a multi-day VFR trip
bringing the Zodiac home. (And yes, I'm planning to sop in Iowa City.)
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
Fairmont, MN (FRM) (Yes, that's me!)
AMD Zodiac CH601XLi N55ZC (ordered 17 March, delivery 2 June)

What are you lookign at to see what the cloud layers are like on your XM?
I've played around with my 496, and what it's showing me is great...but I
can't visualize what you're looking at to make your decisions.

This is something I'm interested in, since I'm planning a multi-day VFR
trip
bringing the Zodiac home. (And yes, I'm planning to sop in Iowa City.)

You're gonna "sop" here, eh? I'd better get better beer!

;-)

Anyway, being VFR, what we watch specifically is ceilings and visibility
trends along the route of flight. Most states have enough AWOS reporting
stations (that appear as little triangles on the 496) that you can literally
run your cursor over each airport and graphically see ceiling and visibility
reports underneath the "live" (okay, slightly old) weather radar, painted
under the satellite photo.

It's an incredibly powerful tool. If you see an area that (for example) has
marginal VFR -- but good VFR under clear skies beyond -- you know it is safe
to proceed. In the "pre-XM" days, if we ran into a localized area of
marginal VFR we had no idea if conditions were trending worse (or better)
ahead, and would often do a precautionary -- and needless -- landing to
"wait it out".

With weather, a "picture really is worth a thousand words", and it's made
cross-country flying much safer and more relaxing.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 2008-03-31, Jay Honeck wrote:
The secret to doing long, multi-day VFR cross country flights is to be
relaxed and flexible about your ultimate destination. Remember, we always
have three destinations flight-planned, and choose the one with the best
long-range weather prognosis on our day of departure.

Absolutely right, and you've also got to be prepared to change heading
and destination *in flight*. I've successfully flown a VFR only 85
horsepower Cessna 140 from coast to coast in the US using that
philosophy, including over the Sierra Nevadas. (Gliding knowledge came
in handy too, slope soaring vastly increased climb rate :-))

The other "secret" (although it's hardly rare) is to have XM weather. With
that incredible tool on board, we know what we're flying toward hours in
advance, and can make adjustments accordingly.

To be honest you should know that before even getting off the ground.
Most airports these days have at least a PC on an internet connection,
and I can get the 'big picture' from that.

What XM should be telling you is only the unexpected changes.

Even so, without the weather display in my 140, I could glean a lot of
information from tuning in distant AWOS/ASOS/ATIS broadcasts ahead and
to the side of my intended track. Once you've got a bit of altitude you
can hear a lot of weather broadcasts. XM is obviously a bit more
convenient, but...

For example, we left Pensacola (heading South to St. Pete) with conditions
marginal VFR and deteriorating. However, with XM weather (and a thorough
pre-flight weather briefing), we knew that flying North (away from the gulf,
which was pumping the moisture on-shore, causing the lowering
visibility/ceiling) would get us quickly into nice VFR, and then (at
Tallahassee) we could hang a right and head straight south in good (if
incredibly turbulent) VFR. From Tallahassee South, ceilings were 3500
scattered-to-broken, and the view of the gulf was fantastic.

.... you don't need XM for any of that. XM is additional information
which is nice. There's no doubt it's a great tool, but the weather
briefing already told you that, and I suspect voice weather broadcasts
would have also been good enough to fill in the gaps while in flight...

I would NEVER have attempted that flight "pre-XM", simply because I'd be
trying to paint a picture of weather in my head from a radio briefing (IF
you could even get ahold of Flight Service)

....but I would, because I'd have filled in the gaps with ATIS, AWOS and
ASOS and HIWAS along the way and not even bothered the guy at the FSS.
It worked great for the many long cross countries I did in the C140,
and it's something I do on any cross country flight I make here, too.

Like GPS, XM weather is undoubtedly great, but it's an aid rather than a
necessity.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

Like GPS, XM weather is undoubtedly great, but it's an aid rather than a
necessity.

Absolutely right. Heck, I know a guy who went coast to coast last year
without ever turning a radio. Everything beyond wings and an engine is
just fluff, in his world.

But if you want to do multi-day cross-country flights regularly, with
confidence, it's hard to beat XM in the cockpit. It simply paints a big
picture of what's ahead in-flight, and that can't be had in any other way.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news:RxpIj.47929$TT4.20785@attbi_s22:

Like GPS, XM weather is undoubtedly great, but it's an aid rather
than a necessity.

Absolutely right. Heck, I know a guy who went coast to coast last
year without ever turning a radio. Everything beyond wings and an
engine is just fluff, in his world.

But if you want to do multi-day cross-country flights regularly, with
confidence, it's hard to beat XM in the cockpit. It simply paints a
big picture of what's ahead in-flight, and that can't be had in any
other way.


Bull****. Complete and utter twaddle. You are an ignoramous.



Bertie