AvWx Workshops - kind of disappointing

Lndwarrior

Lndwarrior

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Gary
I want to preface my comments to point out that, as far as I know, there is no other source for this type of in-depth, flying-related weather information. The information is invaluable. My comments are only about the user experience. I intend to continue to use the program and get online training form Scott.

In preparation for a very long upcoming trip I signed up for the AvWx Workshops. I have been flying for 30 years and have my IFR ticket. I was looking forward to learning more about weather.

My first impressions are very disappointing. The videos are chopped up into small segments. At the end of a 1 or 2 minute segment it refreshes the screen and the video automatically starts - but the audio does not. You have to click on the screen to restart the audio, constantly. This process of constantly restarting the video in order to hear the sound - every two minutes becomes aggravating.

Another annoyance is the inability to full screen the videos. You have to watch them in a much smaller window.

Other Issues:
- The video quality is rather poor for this day and age.
- I found the sound quality annoying, but maybe that's just my own hearing issue.
- The whole presentation feels a little outdated.

There is a lot of good information here. Just don't expect a high quality, high resolution YouTube type presentation because you will be severely disappointed.

I'm not in the habit of bashing companies trying to help with aviation education. However, the the video, audio and presentation quality is not what most of us have learned to expect from today's products.
 
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As newbie I read:

Instrument Flying by Richard Taylor
Weather Flying by Robert Buck

Both are still available though I don't know how well they translate 40+ years later.

What I do know is that the lessons stayed with me and I'm still here.
 
$79 is way too cheap to expect much.

30 years (me too, I feel ya!) is a lot of inflation.

With stuff like aviation headsets pushing the underside of a grand, on sale, my expectations would be extremely low at $79.

My Jeppesen weather book from 1991 would cost over $150 in today’s dollars.

A rough estimate, I’d say any multimedia presentation on weather would have to be about $500 a membership to be made by a modern video production house to cover basic and mid level weather.

Got me curious so I looked. The King Private Pilot course is now over $600.

Advanced weather stuff might really have to be closer to $1000 if done with modern production quality. Small audience.

It’s too bad it’s not very updated tech wise, but I bet it wouldn’t sell much at all at today’s prices to produce it.

As far as the website and streaming tech goes, that’s fairly inexcusable but depending on file format and how they’re attempting to keep people from downloading the entire collection with easy to use open source tools and sharing them, that’s probably half the timer wonky behavior right there.

Streaming video is way too easy to pirate. I bet a search turns up their entire catalog on some BitTorrent list somewhere. For cough, archival purposes, of course.

$79 just ain’t very likely to be anything good these days. Better spent on an hour of CFI time. Ha. Most charge less. Sad biz ain’t it?
 
I have read, but not finished Weather Flying/Buck, 3 times. Each time I get further in, but getting my IR made me realize what I had been glossing over in the text. A lot of good stuff that finally come together and gel in my brain. Currently reading to finish the book.
 
scottd said:
Gary,

Sorry to hear you are disappointed. I don't claim to be the best production assistant - I do the best that I can, but I do believe the content provided in these ~80 workshops is top-notch training you won't likely get anywhere else.

If you are unhappy with the quality of the workshops, please send me an email (https://www.avwxworkshops.com/contact-us.php) and I'll be happy to refund your subscription. The subscription model includes a weather planning app as well as the workshops (not sure if you knew that). And when you do reach out, I'll get your mailing address and send you a free copy of my new Pilot Weather book and give you a free 1-on-1 30-minute online session with me on any weather topic of your choice. And of course, I'll also refund your subscription regardless. Just please understand that I take this stuff seriously and stand behind my product. Please reach out to me and we can chat further via email.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scott. I don't want a refund because I'm going to keep working with it. I'm planning a month long trip all around the US. I can learn a lot from your website. I was just a little frustrated with the user experience.

To be clear to others who read this - there is no other information source where you can get this type of pilot-related weather information

I also intend to set up an online session with you to pic your brain about the weather concerns in different parts of the US.

I have gone back an edited my original comments to present a more balanced perspective. This internet stuff lives forever and my original comments did not represent a full perspective of my opinion. It was just a momentary rant. I failed to include my opinion on the quality, and sheer amount, of flying-related weather information.
 
This is a timely post. I just downloaded and started experimenting with Weatherspork. It is packed with useful data. I am specifically looking for something to help me better determine forecast cloud layers (bases and tops) for IFR. Skew-T are great, but looking for something that aggregates and plots in a profile-style view. Was thinking about just upgrading my FF sub to performance plus and get the profile view of wx, but I think Weatherspork will do a better job.
 
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