Always get a briefing

U

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Weather was severe clear with winds calm.
I consulted the AWOS at my departure and destination (~75 nm away) airport and the TAF for nearby class C.

Take off, call up ATC to request flight following. They point out that my destination is closed for runway resurfacing. D'oh!!!!

Didn't really matter since I had plenty of fuel for the round trip + 1 hour reserve and was only landing at destination for the heck of it.

Embarassment factor : high.
Lesson learned : Do more thorough flight planning even if flight is local and weather is perfect.
 
At least you didn't bust a TFR. That would have been a lot more embarrassing. Those can show up in any weather.
 
Just another reason I use fore flight,gives you current TFRs,also notams for the airport your going to. Also with stratus keeps up with any weather changes.
 
For sure. I consulted skyvector before the flight and it wasn't showing any TFRs but that's not a 100% official information source for those.

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
At least you didn't bust a TFR. That would have been a lot more embarrassing. Those can show up in any weather.
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I virtually always call FSS before taking off.

Even for a trip around the pattern.

If I don't need a weather briefing because I got the weather online, I tell them.

But I do always ask for "any TFR's or National Security issues that might affect my route of flight". In the time since I left my house, a terrorist attack might have shut down the national airspace a la 9/11 -unlikely, but possible, and it only takes about 2 minutes to call just to be safe.

And more directly to the point, I will also ask about NOTAMS affecting my route of flight and destination and departure airports.
 
FastEddieB said:
I virtually always call FSS before taking off.

Even for a trip around the pattern.

If I don't need a weather briefing because I got the weather online, I tell them.

But I do always ask for "any TFR's or National Security issues that might affect my route of flight". In the time since I left my house, a terrorist attack might have shut down the national airspace a la 9/11 -unlikely, but possible, and it only takes about 2 minutes to call just to be safe.

And more directly to the point, I will also ask about NOTAMS affecting my route of flight and destination and departure airports.
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thats pretty paranoid - if you get a full legal briefing from any legal source within any reasonable time before departure- and a TFR pops up or there is a terrorist attack grounding people - you are not going to be pilloried for it -

thats falls into teh collateral damage category and so long as that brief has a record and did not disclose a tfr or ground stop - you are good. . . .
 
comanchepilot said:
thats pretty paranoid...
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I don't see it that way, but then again I guess most diagnosed paranoids don't think themselves paranoid, either!

Like I said, it takes about 2 minutes and gives me some peace of mind.

Is it likely that Air Force One has been hit by a missile and is attempting an emergency approach and landing into Knoxville right at the moment I take off from Copperhill, TN and head north right into a 100 mile radius TFR only to get intercepted by an F15? Of course not. But in a 40 or 50 year flying career, if it saves me embarrassment or worse even one time, it will have been worth all those 2 minute phone calls. For me. You are certainly free to do whatever you like - along with all the other non-paranoids!

Good time to mention that the standing National Security NOTAM requires pilots to maintain listening watch on Guard when not otherwise communicating with a facility. I do, and that's hopefully how I would find out about any emergency TFR that might pop up while I'm flying.
 
I noticed that Lockmart people started reading it off the computer more and more in just the recent 2 years. It used to be easier to get them to share some insight, but not so nowadays. I really don't want to speculate for the reasons of this change, could be a range of factors from liability concerns to personnel retention. But regardless of the undercurrent it prompted me to use DUATS instead. If they do not do anything else for me, at least I can get a printout. Sometimes if I read DUATS in the evening, I ask for abbreviated briefing in the morning, just in case of TFRs.
 
I'll call for a brief for xcrountry flights. For local flights I will just do the ForeFlight briefing, which is still legal. I just find ForeFlight to be broad and obtuse, so it seems to be ineffective for longer flights. I don't need information for Colorado when I am staying in the California Central Valley.
 
I really like the DUAT app for my phone. Can quickly get the TFRs and NOTAMs, give the TAFs a quick scan if its a good weather day. Official briefing done very quickly, no hassle of lockheed telling you there might be a cloud in the sky somewhere.
 
I have called FSS, receved a briefing (after having done my own, checking it and rechecking it....200-300 ft ceilings at destination) then launched only to find that the ILS I planned to use was NOTAMed OTS in the 40 minutes from breifing to me needing it...as it turned out a pilot got spatial disorienaton and turned his plane over into the swamp..the FAA NOTAMed the ILS OTS until it could be checked...

.The moral of the story is to EXPECT things to change enroute and be prepared for them when they do...
 
Kelvin said:
The moral of the story is to EXPECT things to change enroute and be prepared for them when they do...
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Excellent advice! :thumbsup:
 
Immelman said:
I really like the DUAT app for my phone. Can quickly get the TFRs and NOTAMs, give the TAFs a quick scan if its a good weather day. Official briefing done very quickly, no hassle of lockheed telling you there might be a cloud in the sky somewhere.
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Ditto.
 
This thread reminded me to check the NOTAMS for my trip to ScottD's Weather Seminar at KSGR this weekend.

Found this little gem: !SGR 10/045 SGR RWY 17/35 CLSD DAILY 0100-1100 1310220100-1310251100

Fortunately this is just to overnight traffic and doesn't affect me. But "RWY CLSD" did catch my attention and make me do the mental Zulu time math ensure I'm not going to a closed runway.


But it looks like there is some work being done on the north end that I'll need to know about when I leave to come home...

!SGR 10/053 SGR RWY 17 WORK IN PROGRESS SHOULDER REPAIR
1310260500-1310280700

!SGR 10/052 SGR RWY 17 RUNWAY END IDENTIFIER LGT OUT OF SERVICE
1310260500-1310280700
 
That RWY CLSD thing is really, really common on airports with multiple runways at night. Often, only one will be lit or will contain the ILS. But, this should be in the A/FD if it's a daily thing, not by NOTAM, unless it has just changed.
 
Unregistered said:
Weather was severe clear with winds calm.
I consulted the AWOS at my departure and destination (~75 nm away) airport and the TAF for nearby class C.

Take off, call up ATC to request flight following. They point out that my destination is closed for runway resurfacing. D'oh!!!!

Didn't really matter since I had plenty of fuel for the round trip + 1 hour reserve and was only landing at destination for the heck of it.

Embarassment factor : high.
Lesson learned : Do more thorough flight planning even if flight is local and weather is perfect.
Click to expand...

Good lesson learned.

Several years back, I was going to fly from LZU to WDR (a 10 minute flight) for a lunch gathering and very nearly did not bother to log in for a brief. TFR willies got the better of me, so I did. And I see runway 13-31 was NOTAM'ed closed starting that morning. (Oddly, it was a Saturday and I remember thinking what governmental agency starts work on Saturday?)

Anyway, winds were light and I landed on the cross runway, 5. During lunch, I counted no fewer than six planes landing on 31. I had circled the airport before, and saw no equipment, no X's on the runway, zilch. No harm, no foul, I guess.
 
Kelvin said:
The moral of the story is to EXPECT things to change enroute and be prepared for them when they do...
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This is true. Weather isn't always the reason for a diversion.

One time when I was returning from Jacksonville, I tuned in LZU's ATIS and heard "runway is closed." Hmmm, that's interesting. I was about 20 mins out, so I listened on tower frequency and there was chatter about a gear-up plane on the runway! Oh yeah, that explains it. I asked and they said it would probably be another hour, so I turned right a little, headed to WDR and waited it out over a nice lunch at the Spitfire restaurant. :yes:
 
I have FF and DUATs apps on the iPad and DUATs on my android phone.
SkewT programs on both iPad and phone. AOPA FlyQ app.

Plenty of information.
 
I did a briefing to go from NC26 to 5NC3 but got the great idea that one of the fields in between had cheaper fuel. I was planning to land there before I noticed the bulldozers resurfacing the runway.
 
Unregistered said:
Weather was severe clear with winds calm.
I consulted the AWOS at my departure and destination (~75 nm away) airport and the TAF for nearby class C.

Take off, call up ATC to request flight following. They point out that my destination is closed for runway resurfacing. D'oh!!!!

Didn't really matter since I had plenty of fuel for the round trip + 1 hour reserve and was only landing at destination for the heck of it.

Embarassment factor : high.
Lesson learned : Do more thorough flight planning even if flight is local and weather is perfect.
Click to expand...
If your destination was Marshfield Ma, they are working near the runway. They have sent us pilots a notice that says closed; prior permission required. They will clear the runway to allow incoming or outgoing aircraft. This, of course is as long as the runway itself is not being worked on and currently unavailable because of the work.
I actually have not checked the notam on it.
 
I JUST ABOUT got bit last night...if I had...it certainly would have been a self inflicted wound...

I didn't check NOTAMS on a flight from Wilmington back home...25 minutes...CAVU...called up KFAY approach and found out that the field closed at midnight...I was on track to land at 5 minutes after...the approach controller knew I was coming home and held up the construction crew for a few minutes...

Shame on me...

The good news was that I had fuel to go to NYC with IFR reserves...
 
Kelvin said:
I JUST ABOUT got bit last night...if I had...it certainly would have been a self inflicted wound...

I didn't check NOTAMS on a flight from Wilmington back home...25 minutes...CAVU...called up KFAY approach and found out that the field closed at midnight...I was on track to land at 5 minutes after...the approach controller knew I was coming home and held up the construction crew for a few minutes...

Shame on me...

The good news was that I had fuel to go to NYC with IFR reserves...
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Why would you go to NYC? ;)
 
For a VFR flight I call FSS for an abbreviated briefing on TFRs, aerodrome and runway closures. If they miss something in the fine-print, I am ok. If I miss it in the 25 pages of DUATS verbiage, I am on the hook.
 
weilke said:
For a VFR flight I call FSS for an abbreviated briefing on TFRs, aerodrome and runway closures. If they miss something in the fine-print, I am ok. If I miss it in the 25 pages of DUATS verbiage, I am on the hook.
Click to expand...

One of the things I'm liking about the new FSS online website is how the NOTAMS are arranged pulls all of the important stuff for departure, arrival, and your alternates and puts them at the top.
 
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