Calling FSS while in contact with ATC?

[Velocity173]

Personally I wouldn't even leave the freq for weather from FSS. ATC will have your most up to date stuff anyway.

Years ago I was flying into Savannah with area thunderstorms around. There was a Cessna, sounded like a student, cruising along VFR enroute to somewhere north. He asked to leave the freq to get a convective update from FSS. I just chuckled to myself. All FSS is going to do is read a Convective SIGMET for his area that'll say SCT tstorms around. ATC could have read the same Convective SIGMET without even leaving the freq. Furthermore, he could have given vectors around it if necessary.

I think a lot of pilots don't realize the weather services ATC provides. They're taught in training to always call FSS for WX and flight plans. Even IFR flight plans can be filed in the air if the controller has time. Done it many times on both sides of the radio. My advice is to ask ATC first, then go to FSS if they don't have the time.

 

[NoHeat]

I don't know about you guy/gals.. But the last few times I either had a VERY hard time contacting FSS or didn't make contact at all...

I usually get an immediate response when I call Flight Watch on 122.0. Occasionally they tell me to wait, I am no. 2. Never strike out altogether, at 5000'+ AGL.

I seldom call FSS on another frequency.

 

[poadeleted20]

Personally I wouldn't even leave the freq for weather from FSS. ATC will have your most up to date stuff anyway.

Locally, yes, but not 200 miles down the road, especially if you're talking to a TRACON rather than Center. Kicking over to EFAS gets you talking with someone who (at least for the moment) has no other job but to provide you with all the weather data available, including that at your destination 200 miles away.

 

[cirrusmx]

I call FlightWatch a couple of times on each long cross country flight, to leave a pirep. I do it exactly as Mark suggests. It's easy, and it works great.

i usually leave pireps with directly with atc, they usually appear on the adds pirep product. i barely talk to flightwatch.

 

[azure]

Few things that I want to talk to FSS about are so urgent that I can't wait a few minutes to clear the controlled airspace.

Unless, of course, you're leaving US airspace and need to open a VFR flight plan ASAP. Even if you're not actually IN the Bravo but are under a shelf, things can be busy enough that you don't really want to leave the frequency and/or ATC wants to keep you with them.

That situation is exactly why I used to file flight plans for VFR by checking the box and putting "VFR" in the altitude box. Since that practice is now considered evidence showing "intent to operate IFR", the only FAA-acceptable way to do this now is to either loiter on the US side until ATC can let you change frequencies for a bit, or else file a VFR flight plan and open it on the ground, by phone if necessary.

 

[Clark1961]

That situation is exactly why I used to file flight plans for VFR by checking the box and putting "VFR" in the altitude box. Since that practice is now considered evidence showing "intent to operate IFR", the only FAA-acceptable way to do this now is to either loiter on the US side until ATC can let you change frequencies for a bit, or else file a VFR flight plan and open it on the ground, by phone if necessary.

Intent to operate IFR is only a problem if you aren't rated.

 

[azure]

Intent to operate IFR is only a problem if you aren't rated.

Or aren't current.

(Or, maybe, once/if GAPPA goes through, if you don't have a medical.)

 

[midlifeflyer]

I don't think it takes any special skill or talent. It just takes being exposed to that environment until you get used to it. As Steven said, he'd been doing it for years.

I think that's called a combination of skill (acquired) and experience. I'd still say there is a talent component to juggling communications since I've never noticed anyone with mike fright to be good at it. Not everyone can do everything as well as someone else.

Of course Steven has been doing it for years. It's pretty much part of a controller's job description. Those that don't have the talent and can't acquire the skill don't make it in the long run.

There have been enough studies done to demonstrate that multi-tasking is a misnomer. What actually happens is that we do the tasks in sequence and prioritize them.