Flight Watch 122.0 ending October 1?

[Jim Logajan]

Looks as if dedicated Flight Watch frequencies are going silent as of October 1, 2015:

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/fs/changes/

Looks like those services will be moved to FSS frequencies.

 

[frcabot]

Makes sense to me. I always thought it was bizarre that I would call up an FSS on 122.2 and they would tell me they couldn't accept my PIREP and that I had to give it on 122.0 instead. On the other hand, with FIS-B, I didn't see much point in contacting Flight Watch other than to give the occasional PIREP. Frankly LockMart has been doing a great job of automating a lot of FSS functions and I wouldn't be surprised if 122.2 starts to go away as well. Who actives flight plans over the radio anymore?

 

[Zeldman]

Who activates flight plans in the air? I do, lots of people do. When I fly the air ambulance from rural airports there is no one to talk to until I get high enough to talk to center. Sometimes there is no cell signal at the landing strips so I can't use the phone for clearances.

Up here in Alaska I can talk to a FSS since they are still located at airports.

 

[flhrci]

Makes sense to me. I always thought it was bizarre that I would call up an FSS on 122.2 and they would tell me they couldn't accept my PIREP and that I had to give it on 122.0 instead. On the other hand, with FIS-B, I didn't see much point in contacting Flight Watch other than to give the occasional PIREP. Frankly LockMart has been doing a great job of automating a lot of FSS functions and I wouldn't be surprised if 122.2 starts to go away as well. Who actives flight plans over the radio anymore?

Um, I have have my students do it.

David

 

[Dr. O]

Me too. Sometimes the VFR weather does not go as promised by the nice weather lady - on that russian channel where she strips

 

[ARFlyer]

That's unfortunate, I liked using Flight Watch. Last time I used the LockMart FSS freq in the air, I got a woman fired for giving me BS information.

I still wish we had physical FSSs that we could go get our briefings from. LockMart just reads you off information that you could find online. I want honest opinions and analysis of the weather, especially if it's bad. Most of the time I get the typical CYA "We can't do that".

Every so often I'll get the old retired NWS guy that loves to tell you everything he thinks about the current weather situation. Last time that happened it kept me from flying into a dangerous area. The guy said "you'd be an idiot to fly right now as storms are about to fire up" Sure enough 30 mins later it was super cell city along my route. If it had been a CYA dude the briefing would have been a NICE VFR day.

 

[Gucci Pilot]

Doesn't seem like they will be getting rid of Flight Watch services, just consolidating frequencies.

 

[Pilawt]

I still wish we had physical FSSs that we could go get our briefings from.

Sometimes the look in the briefer's eye said more about your go/no-go decision than anything on the teletyped sequence reports or the thermofaxed prog charts.

 

[frcabot]

Um, I have have my students do it.

David

Well have your students use the app instead. It's better, faster, easier, etc. It sends you an automatic reminder to close. It gives you alerts if the weather changes for the worse, etc. And it's the way things are moving.

 

[frcabot]

That's unfortunate, I liked using Flight Watch. Last time I used the LockMart FSS freq in the air, I got a woman fired for giving me BS information.

I still wish we had physical FSSs that we could go get our briefings from. LockMart just reads you off information that you could find online. I want honest opinions and analysis of the weather, especially if it's bad. Most of the time I get the typical CYA "We can't do that".

Every so often I'll get the old retired NWS guy that loves to tell you everything he thinks about the current weather situation. Last time that happened it kept me from flying into a dangerous area. The guy said "you'd be an idiot to fly right now as storms are about to fire up" Sure enough 30 mins later it was super cell city along my route. If it had been a CYA dude the briefing would have been a NICE VFR day.

Actually, the FAA Order says what they should say is "VFR Flight not recommended."

 

[RotorDude]

Sometimes the look in the briefer's eye said more about your go/no-go decision than anything on the teletyped sequence reports or the thermofaxed prog charts.

I think most of them were not pilots, but yes, it was nice to have knowledgeable humans second-guessing your decisions. Now it's just us vs. the machine.

 

[frcabot]

I think most of them were not pilots, but yes, it was nice to have knowledgeable humans second-guessing your decisions. Now it's just us vs. the machine.

Come on, you get everything plotted on an interactive map, you can see exactly what your route is, how the weather fronts are moving, etc. Way more helpful than trusting someone else to try and explain it to you without being able to see it for yourself.

 

[NoHeat]

What is the savings of not using a frequency, when the transmitters are already equipped for that frequency?

 

[frcabot]

What is the savings of not using a frequency, when the transmitters are already equipped for that frequency?

Reducing headcount, for one. Instead of needing two people (one to monitor 122.2, and another for 122.0, you eliminate the extra 122.2 person).

 

[brian]]

I guess I'm the last guy to activate VFR flight plans in the air.. am I missing something? I know my head has been in the books for a bit studying IFR procedures, but ..

 

[NoHeat]

Reducing headcount, for one. Instead of needing two people (one to monitor 122.2, and another for 122.0, you eliminate the extra 122.2 person).

I thought FSS already monitored more than one frequency per person.

 

[kgruber]

It is just going back to what it used to be. Having to go to "Flight Watch" has just been a 30 year failed experiment.

 

[RotorDude]

Come on, you get everything plotted on an interactive map, you can see exactly what your route is, how the weather fronts are moving, etc. Way more helpful than trusting someone else to try and explain it to you without being able to see it for yourself.

Oh, I agree that the modern way is much better, but the face-to-face FSS briefing was a glimpse back to the early days of aviation, which was kind of cool.

 

[frcabot]

I thought FSS already monitored more than one frequency per person.

In my experience flight watch and fss in the same area were always monitored by different fss specialists (that's what the faa calls them, not me ). The persons monitoring the FSS (not flight watch) frequencies did seem to be assigned more than one frequency, that is true.