Why do you want to monitor 121.5

[weilke]

You're definitely correct and it's obvious I'm not getting all the information I need. I'll be doing both now. Don't want to miss important information and not getting in trouble is a bonus

Make sure that if you get a DUATS briefing that you figure out how to find the important stuff. If you miss that 'RWY 02/20 clsd indef' entry and you land on it, you have no excuse. If the FSS briefer missed it and you managed to get the tapes saved in time, you have a chance fighting it.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

...and filter it, too, so you may not get everything you later find you want, say, due to a diversion. Or you may not be able to copy it all down verbatim. OTOH, if you download it to your tablet (say, using ForeFlight and iPad) or print it off DUAT/DUATS, you'll have everything (including items which the briefer might have decided were irrelevant) available and complete for reference in flight if necessary/desired.

Not saying you shouldn't call FSS for a standard briefing in addition to the computer download, but if you can have a full, accurate, written copy of everything (including things the briefer won't tell you without being asked specifically) with you in the plane, why not?

There needs to be a better way.

FSS has pretty much been a waste of time since LockMart took over, but the one thing they did well was filter the mountain of junk down to a consumable level. A full DUATS briefing is so loaded with crap that's completely irrelevant to my flight, it's tough to digest. I have to go through a ton of airway closures/changes that are several states away, the perpetual Grand Forks (T)FR, a bunch of "Oh by the way, Podunk Center has ADS-B now", etc. etc. and rarely find anything relevant to my flight.

Inhofe may have been a putz and a poor excuse for a pilot, but he was certainly right about some things.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I've worked with at least 5 instructors in the last 3 years in the course of ASEL PPL training, aircraft checkouts, tailwheel endorsement and BFR.

NONE of those instructors has mentioned monitoring 121.5 while enroute.

After reading the regs and the posts here I get the regulatory and practical motivations to do so. I'm pretty shocked that I'd never been counseled to do this before.

And yes, I wonder what else I'm doing/not doing thats boneheaded?

Welcome to the new reality, where those without any experience are the ones doing the teaching... And even teaching the next generation of teachers.

I expect it'll get a lot worse before it gets better.

 

[poadeleted20]

A full DUATS briefing is so loaded with crap that's completely irrelevant to my flight, it's tough to digest. I have to go through a ton of airway closures/changes that are several states away, the perpetual Grand Forks (T)FR, a bunch of "Oh by the way, Podunk Center has ADS-B now", etc. etc. and rarely find anything relevant to my flight.

...until things go wrong or you otherwise have to change plans and divert, or your GPS quits and you need to know about changed MEA's or unusable airways. Then you will be happy you can pull out your iPad, open the briefing, and check the Route FDC NOTAMs or find out in the Services NOTAMs before you land that the airport you just chose doesn't have fuel today.

 

[Twin_Flyer]

You're definitely correct and it's obvious I'm not getting all the information I need. I'll be doing both now. Don't want to miss important information and not getting in trouble is a bonus

Noted from my IR training ... If you're calling for a briefing you have to ask for FDC and Published Notams or they won't be given... Why? , however, I've bee told that it's assumed that we subscribe to the notams listing but I have never run into anyone that does....

 

[flyingcheesehead]

...until things go wrong or you otherwise have to change plans and divert, or your GPS quits and you need to know about changed MEA's or unusable airways. Then you will be happy you can pull out your iPad, open the briefing, and check the Route FDC NOTAMs or find out in the Services NOTAMs before you land that the airport you just chose doesn't have fuel today.

I'm not disputing the usefulness of having the briefing on my iPad... I'm just saying that they need to update their tech such that we can see the information that's relevant to our planned flight more easily, and IF we divert, quickly and easily find information relevant to the diversion.

The current "data dump" method is not only difficult to use, that very difficulty discourages people from actually using it, and in the case of a diversion it could become a safety of flight issue as well.

 

[timwinters]

^^^^^ +1000 ^^^^^

 

[poadeleted20]

I'm not disputing the usefulness of having the briefing on my iPad... I'm just saying that they need to update their tech such that we can see the information that's relevant to our planned flight more easily, and IF we divert, quickly and easily find information relevant to the diversion.

ForeFlight's latest revision does a great deal of that. Unfortunately, that doesn't help those without ForeFlight.

 

[timwinters]

ForeFlight's latest revision does a great deal of that. Unfortunately, that doesn't help those without ForeFlight.

I'm not sure how this feature works but I'm envisioning a big liability lawsuit in the making. It's one thing for the Feds to trim it down but a private company?

 

[poadeleted20]

I'm not sure how this feature works but I'm envisioning a big liability lawsuit in the making. It's one thing for the Feds to trim it down but a private company?

It doesn't trim, it organizes. You should try it and see for yourself.

 

[timwinters]

It doesn't trim, it organizes. You should try it and see for yourself.

Well that's a different story...Okay then...I will...

The next time I actually get a briefing!

 

[Clark1961]

I'm not disputing the usefulness of having the briefing on my iPad... I'm just saying that they need to update their tech such that we can see the information that's relevant to our planned flight more easily, and IF we divert, quickly and easily find information relevant to the diversion.

The current "data dump" method is not only difficult to use, that very difficulty discourages people from actually using it, and in the case of a diversion it could become a safety of flight issue as well.

DUATS is now using an optional tabbed format so it can be read as a data dump or the user can select the tab, e.g. area forecast, destination weather, etc. that they want to see.

They are giving even more crap now so I get a Midwest US forecast in addition to the Western US forecast when I brief for a flight 30 miles east of Denver. Hey it's complete service since they give me a weather picture from California to the Mississippi River...

 

[flyingcheesehead]

It doesn't trim, it organizes. You should try it and see for yourself.

Even so, you end up having to read a bunch of irrelevant junk... FDC NOTAMs are probably the worst part.

They do also put airport-specific NOTAMs in that airport's info page, so you can skip that part at least.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

DUATS is now using an optional tabbed format so it can be read as a data dump or the user can select the tab, e.g. area forecast, destination weather, etc. that they want to see.

That's pretty much what ForeFlight does - It's just that the FDC NOTAMs in particular are usually irrelevant.

 

[Clark1961]

That's pretty much what ForeFlight does - It's just that the FDC NOTAMs in particular are usually irrelevant.

Good to know. I'd always get the briefing in FF but usually didn't spend much time on it since DUATS on a larger monitor was easier to read and it translated all the times for me. The FF stuff was nice for en-route reference when needed. Of course now ADS-B data in FF is even more convenient.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I'm not disputing the usefulness of having the briefing on my iPad... I'm just saying that they need to update their tech such that we can see the information that's relevant to our planned flight more easily, and IF we divert, quickly and easily find information relevant to the diversion.

The current "data dump" method is not only difficult to use, that very difficulty discourages people from actually using it, and in the case of a diversion it could become a safety of flight issue as well.

Well, I guess I'm not the only one - ForeFlight is listening! Yay!

(emphasis mine)

P&P: Can you tell us about what you're working on for the future?

Weihs: No! (Laughs). We're really passionate about making it easier for folks to synthesize information, so we will look for ways to make flight planning even easier and not as intimidating. FAA weather briefings are terrible—pilots are missing information, and that may be leading to accidents. When you look at recent accidents, you see that there is something about flight planning that the pilot missed. We'd like to promote standards that make it easier for us and other electronic flight bag makers to advance areas like flight plans, briefings, NOTAMS and special-use airspace. We'd like to evolve the pilot's briefing so they're not getting 20 pages of "stuff" that doesn't directly impact their flight. Pilots are missing things because the system is not smart enough to highlight information that may be lifesaving.

The briefing needs to be like a conversation. The data is there but it needs to be strung together correctly and presented so that it offers the best actionable intelligence possible. We'd like to focus our collaboration on that area.

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/pro...ne-device-at-a-time.html?start=1#.U0cZFl607j8