Anyone have recorded wx-brief call for training purposes?

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pj500

Pre-takeoff checklist
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pj500
Does anyone have any recorded calls of 1-800-wx-brief showing how to use it, what to expect when you call, and the typical different items you might perform (IE: briefing, filing a flight plan, etc)?
 
"Standard Briefing"
"Abbreviated Briefing"
"File a Flight plan"

Those are the only 3 I've ever used.

Just make up a flight plan and call them, they don't bite. Mention you're a student (if you're a student) and they'll probably talk slower.
 
I second that. Just get a briefing on a fake flight. Tell them what you're doing and why, and they'll help.

Or, maybe get a briefing on your next training flight. If you're not doing it, your instructor really should be. If you have no destination, ask for a local flight within 50 nm of your home airport.

N35, you never get outlook briefings?
 
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MAKG1 said:
I second that. Just get a briefing on a fake flight. Tell them what you're doing and why, and they'll help.

Or, maybe get a briefing on your next training flight. If you're not doing it, your instructor really should be. If you have no destination, ask for a local flight within 50 nm of your home airport.

N35, you never get outlook briefings?
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Outlook briefings are done by the weather channel, right? :D

David
 
This script always works for me. Key info the briefer is looking for is bolded. If you don't give him this info, he will ask.

"Hi. I'd like to get a standard briefing for a VFR flight from origin to destination. My route is direct/name of navaids/stops en route at 7500 ft. I plan to depart at 1234z and plan 2 hours 30 min enroute. My tail number is N12345 and it is a C-172/T."

Then sit back and listen. He'll brief in this order (I think; doing this from memory):

Synopsis and any SIGMETS/AIRMETS
Current conditions at origin, enroute, destination
Forecast at origin at time of departure and destination at arrival time
Winds aloft
Notams
 
If you use DUATs, you have the same options and information a briefer is using.
 
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With the proliferation of computer based and smartphones apps I'm really kind of surprised anyone calls anymore. I think the last time I did was some time back in 2002.
 
Art VanDelay said:
With the proliferation of computer based and smartphones apps I'm really kind of surprised anyone calls anymore. I think the last time I did was some time back in 2002.
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Still quite a few areas out there without data service.
 
Well ya, but....

If I call, I get a second pair of eyes (and brain) applied to the same information.

I've had my PPL less than a month and I appreciate the second opinion. I'm not a rocket surgeon.

Clip4 said:
If you use DUATs, you have the same options and information a briefer is using.
Click to expand...
 
Art VanDelay said:
With the proliferation of computer based and smartphones apps I'm really kind of surprised anyone calls anymore. I think the last time I did was some time back in 2002.
Click to expand...
noobJohn said:
I've had my PPL less than a month and I appreciate the second opinion. I'm not a rocket surgeon.
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Exactly. I'm also a low-time PP just starting my FL flying, and couldn't agree more. I always start with analyzing the DUAT info. Sometimes the decision is obvious, but if in any doubt I call the briefer - they are weather experts while I'm not (at least not yet)... I'm mostly paying attention to magic words "VFR flight is NOT recommended" - if I hear them, I don't go.

Also, you may find yourself in a situation when you simply don't have an access to computer-based sources of WX info. Recently on a flight from MTH to PIE I had to deviate and land at X01 to wait out the weather (despite good forecast confirmed by the briefer when leaving MTH). My smartphone (T-Mo) had no service there, and the airpark' facilities were closed on Sunday afternoon with the exception of an air-conditioned room with the wending machine and the phone (I'm so grateful they have it accessible 24x7!), so the only way to obtain WX info from there was to call the briefer.
 
"VFR Flight Not Recommended" is actually an old union driven phrase from back in the day when the FAA still provided the service. They found if they put that at the beginning of any briefing that was even remotely questionable they wouldn't have to keep talking and briefing. The people you talk to now know even less about meteorology than the FAA guys did. Which btw where not college degree trained meteorologists either. But if it makes you feel better than so be it. I myself prefer to see the big picture and decide for myself. Even if it means a ride into to town to look at a computer or better cell reception.
 
denverpilot said:
Assumes facts not in evidence as Wayne would say.

I know a college trained meteorologist who's doing the job.
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Yeah, well my father did the job for the FAA after he retired from the Air Force and unless there was a co-located NWS station there weren't any meteorologists to be found. I can't imagine that LocMart would want to pay the money that would attract a real meterologist.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Yeah, well my father did the job for the FAA after he retired from the Air Force and unless there was a co-located NWS station there weren't any meteorologists to be found. I can't imagine that LocMart would want to pay the money that would attract a real meterologist.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well... You looked at the job market for meteorologists lately? :)
 
N801BH said:
I want it back.....:yes::yes::yes::yes:
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I loved recording it and seeing a real aviation briefing, however general, every morning.

Now we have umpteen million weather sources and none but FAA do aviation.

I'm thinking quantity over quality isn't always a good thing.
 
...There's a write up in this months Flying magazine about an accident that occurred where a guy flew into IMC on his way from Minneapolis to Colorado. I just glanced over it but basically he didn't file a flight plan, had an iPad so he probably checked weather on it before he left but there was no record of anything anywhere (assuming Duats or fltplan.com keeps some kind of record based on tail number or something...). Anyway, there was a METAR somewhere that doesn't show up for some reason that the briefer would have known about that indicated 900' ceilings en route.

I dunno, I live in Texas and if I'm flying a few hours I could probably trust what I see on Foreflight or DUATS. But, if I'm flying (and I'm a student now getting ready for my checkride...) a longer XC I'm definitely calling...if it matches what I see then great...but what's an extra 5 minutes of your life to make sure...
 
The assumption that he checked weather at all is probably a bad one.

And no access to the article here but a single METAR missing from this "maybe happened, maybe didn't" weather check caused someone to miss low IFR conditions somewhere across the entire Great Plains?

Methinks something got lost in translation from magazine to here.
 
BTW, check youtube, there are video of people doing the WXBRIEF that recorded it and some have annotations on the video to help you.

Personally, a full briefing is just too much info over the phone, I use computer for that, usually hours before, than just get a abbreviated briefing over the phone.

I guess this is the case for Flightwatch as well, now that everybody has XM weather, etc now?
Tom
 
Art VanDelay said:
With the proliferation of computer based and smartphones apps I'm really kind of surprised anyone calls anymore. I think the last time I did was some time back in 2002.
Click to expand...
I am a student pilot , and I enjoy calling WX-brief and than back it up with my other flight planning tools Foreflight, Dauts etc, it's worth getting professional briefing once in a while !:)
 
plan on foreflight,file and get brief on the ipad get the stratus 2 on, take off call flight services and open flight. check flight services every hour for tfrs, being years since i call wx brief, those guys are always grumpy.
 
Just a warning- if you want to record the call from Maryland, you must get permission from all parties to the phone call or you are committing a felony. I do not profess to know the laws of other states, but I suggest erring on the side of caution, and getting permission before you record anything.
 
tb813 said:
Exactly. I'm also a low-time PP just starting my FL flying, and couldn't agree more. I always start with analyzing the DUAT info. Sometimes the decision is obvious, but if in any doubt I call the briefer - they are weather experts while I'm not (at least not yet)... I'm mostly paying attention to magic words "VFR flight is NOT recommended" - if I hear them, I don't go.

Also, you may find yourself in a situation when you simply don't have an access to computer-based sources of WX info. Recently on a flight from MTH to PIE I had to deviate and land at X01 to wait out the weather (despite good forecast confirmed by the briefer when leaving MTH). My smartphone (T-Mo) had no service there, and the airpark' facilities were closed on Sunday afternoon with the exception of an air-conditioned room with the wending machine and the phone (I'm so grateful they have it accessible 24x7!), so the only way to obtain WX info from there was to call the briefer.
Click to expand...

Your statement is troubling. Basically you state you use DUATs first. If the weather is really good, you do not make a phone call. If its not really good, you listen for the briefer to to include VNR in the briefing to decide a go/no go.

VFR Not Recommended is an opinion given by the briefer. You really need to make a go/no decision based on your opinion not the briefer's. If you had, you may have not found yourself at X01.
 
I've gotten "VFR not recommended" due to AIRMET Sierra for mountain obscuration, many times.

Then, you LOOK at the mountain in question. It's not at all unusual for half the mountain to be clouded, and the other half to be fine. And, unless it's overcast or the obscuration is really, really, really deep, you can usually overfly it.

I've also had a briefer tell me current conditions at the airport are "broken at 1200 VFR not recommended," while I'm standing at the same airport looking at blue sky. Reports can be up to an hour old.

A good briefer will tell you this, but will also give you "VFR not recommended" because they have to.

The briefer can help you with a decision, but they absolutely should not be making it for you.

It's vitally important to understand with weather briefings that any good, current observation trumps everything else.
 
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