ATIS/AWOS info - how much do YOU write down?

I used to write down everything, I don’t anymore. While going to the airport I am checking wx like every 5 mins, I already know what to expect. I also call the phone number to get the latest wx and not rely on 50 min old wx. So when I tune in ATIS I am just verifying everything I know and get the letter.

Before landing, ways out I get wx from FIS-b, a bit closer I will verify with ATIS or whatever and get the letter if I they have one.

Edit to add: VFR only here. If it’s going to be crummy, I am staying home with single malt
 
Don’t even write the letter down. :eek: I do word association to remember the letter though. If I don’t, generally I’ll forget.
 
Flying IFR I never write down ATIS or ASOS info. Everything translates rather instantly into a response or action I’m going to take. Wind turns into runway selection and crosswind direction. Temp and dew point only need to be separated by a couple of degrees. If they are within 1 or 2 degrees, more thought required. Pressure turns into altimeter adjustment. Density altitude and other stuff is already understood.

OTOH, I write down all clearances (ForeFlight scratchpad), including enroute changes. I make no attempt to memorize any of it. Just write it down, read it back, then react and get the info into my panel.


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If I'm flying into a controlled field, I'll write down the letter (so I don't forget). If there's info I don't already have like using a different frequency, expect a certain approach, or something like that, I might write that down.

Uncontrolled field I almost never write anything down.
 
I used to write almost everything down....but even back then it struck me as kinda silly to do.....but that's what the CFI wanted to see.
 
If it wasn’t printed out for me, probably only notams,
or anything close to pertinent. 5000 & 5 is benign. Altimeter dial it in. For closures I like to mark up my chart with taxiway closures.
 
IFR I write it all down, usually I have ATIS at least a good 10 or 15 minutes before I touch down. On instrument, you have the altimeter setting from ATC, which can be quite a difference from what a particular field has, so I don't set that number until I start descent, which could be a while after I've gotten the ATIS.
 
I want the letter because ADS-B gives me the dang wx and I've been watching it and the surrounding area for the last hour anyway.

I listen for XX approach in use, landing and departing rwy YY because those don't get sent over ADS-B and are rather pertinent once I'm in range of the ATIS broadcast
 
ATIS: I got so used to writing it when I was based at a towered airport, that
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is pretty much automatic unless I'm getting it digitally. I do it almost without thinking about it. It takes less mental bandwidth to do than would be required for me to stop. Most of the NOTAM stuff I already have but I might jot down something especially pertinent.

AWOS: Less and less.i really only care about wind direction and intensity and, if IFR, the ceiling, and it just seemed easier to wean myself.

although...I suspect it's tied more to whether or not I have my kneeboard attached to my leg :D
 
I write the weather down, but not the extras nor the time. It's shorthand and habit. When it's IMC it's nice to know what to expect from the wind once breaking out as it can be quite different from above or even in the clouds. It's just the letter, wind, visibility, clouds and barometer. I'm liable to forget any or all of it if I don't write it down. :oops:
 
wayne said:
I write the weather down, but not the extras nor the time. It's shorthand and habit. When it's IMC it's nice to know what to expect from the wind once breaking out as it can be quite different from above or even in the clouds. It's just the letter, wind, visibility, clouds and barometer. I'm liable to forget any or all of it if I don't write it down. :oops:
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A sign of experience, not age. My story and I'm sticking to it!
 
I write the letter, winds, pressure and rws in use. I can then circle the runway assigned (but I usually write that on the next line 2 LB 16 = report 2 out on the left base for 16)

what is 35B in the notes above? Arrival gate or something?
 
When I fly to towered airports, I write stuff down. Otherwise, I just listen to it on my way in. I've already checked the forecast for my destination and made preliminary determinations as to which runway to use and what the crosswind component would be, and I tend to mostly use the AWOS to make sure those decisions are still smart choices.
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
I write the letter, winds, pressure and rws in use. I can then circle the runway assigned (but I usually write that on the next line 2 LB 16 = report 2 out on the left base for 16)

what is 35B in the notes above? Arrival gate or something?
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3500 broken would be my guess. ATIS wouldn't have an arrival gate ;)
 
You can say “wind check” without a tail number if you forget the wind. I don’t even write the letter down because I always have whiskey.
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
I write the letter, winds, pressure and rws in use. I can then circle the runway assigned (but I usually write that on the next line 2 LB 16 = report 2 out on the left base for 16)

what is 35B in the notes above? Arrival gate or something?
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3,500 broken.

It's my shorthand so no one else needs to understand it, but think in terms of the ATIS information sequence. It's after the visibility and before the altimeter setting. Arrival information (if there were any) wouldn't be until after the altimeter setting.
 
I have never written anything down...
 
With ADSB-in, I usually have the weather at my landing airport long before I'm in range and can pick up the ATIS/AWOS, so getting the radio report only confirms what I already know. I'll check the radio again closer to landing to make sure nothing's dramatically changed, since it's the "official" source (and it's possible for it to get updated before the the ADSB feed). As long as the radio report and my EFB are in agreement, I don't write anything down because it's already written right in front of me, except for maybe the ATIS letter.

If I didn't have an EFB with all the data, I'd write down the letter and maybe the winds. I dial in the altimeter setting when I hear it.

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I either write the whole thing down (except NOTAMs) or nothing. If it's beautiful out and I'm flying locally, I usually don't write anything (non-towered field). If it's breezy, I'll pull out the pen and paper and get the whole thing. At a towered field, I write the whole thing and circle the letter and planned runway.
 
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