Duats or other....

saracelica

saracelica

Pattern Altitude
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Oct 20, 2010
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saracelica
So let's say you're going on a nice little cross country flight. What do you use to do the research? There was a discussion in the Chat room (Yes PoA has a little chat room that is occupied usually in the evening - 8p EST normally is popular) on how horrible the interface is for duats. I prefer duats all the information I needed is all in one place.

Thoughts from others?
 
More than 24 hrs out I am using Intellicast. Inside 24 I am using AWC and then I'll use duats.com for an outlook brief inside 12 hrs and actual brief insid 6. That formula has worked well for me. If it looks like I may be dealing with some unusual weather or changing wx I am not used to, I will call and talk to a human.
 
Everything I need is on Foreflight and airnav anyway, so I don't bother calling unless I want to ask some stupid question to which I probably already know the answer. Or of course if I need to file. I'm not sure what Duats could do for me.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Everything I need is on Foreflight and airnav anyway, so I don't bother calling unless I want to ask some stupid question to which I probably already know the answer. Or of course if I need to file. I'm not sure what Duats could do for me.
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What source is providing all your NOTAMS?

I use Foreflight as well, but it is linked to my Duats account for my briefing info.
 
Fearless Tower said:
What source is providing all your NOTAMS?

I use Foreflight as well, but it is linked to my Duats account for my briefing info.
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I suppose Notams could be an issue when I don't call. I get them at my home field through the ATIS.
 
AWC for the weather, tfr.faa.gov for a graphic representation of TFRs. I use DUATS to run the flightplan with the winds aloft, and to look up aerodrome and navigation notams and to file the flight plan.
 
Whatever you use, you'd have better leave your tail number with someone. Calling Lockmart will do that as will DUATs, and there are other services as well. But if you get your wx from NOAA (AWC, the same place everyone else gets it) or osme other internet source and bend metal, you won't be able to prove to the FAA that you briefed for the wx.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Is making a pointless argument on an Internet message board all you do?

I call for a briefing on x-country flights.
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No Sac....your first comment on this thread was:

Sac Arrow said:
so I don't bother calling unless I want to ask some stupid question to which I probably already know the answer. Or of course if I need to file.
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I know you tend to be a bit sarcastic, but your comment implies that you see no value in calling don't bother to call unless you absolutely have to for IFR. So taking your comment at face value, you could care less about getting any of the required info for a VFR cross-country.

It isn't a 'pointless argument'....I am just trying to get some clarification on your position.
 
Fearless Tower said:
No Sac....your first comment on this thread was:


I know you tend to be a bit sarcastic, but your comment implies that you see no value in calling don't bother to call unless you absolutely have to for IFR. So taking your comment at face value, you could care less about getting any of the required info for a VFR cross-country.

It isn't a 'pointless argument'....I am just trying to get some clarification on your position.
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No of course not. I see value in calling, if for no other reason than to have a record of a briefing on file, and to get Notams and TFR's from an "official source." In reality, I always call for VFR x-country flights and I usually skip calling on a relative short (non x-country) VFR flight as I can get nearly all that information (including TFR's and Notams) anyway. What I can't get is Notams that may be along my route that aren't filed under my starting and destination airports.
 
Sac Arrow said:
No of course not. I see value in calling, if for no other reason than to have a record of a briefing on file, and to get Notams and TFR's from an "official source." In reality, I always call for VFR x-country flights and I usually skip calling on a relative short (non x-country) VFR flight as I can get nearly all that information (including TFR's and Notams) anyway. What I can't get is Notams that may be along my route that aren't filed under my starting and destination airports.
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Got it.....guess my Sac meter is out of cal.
 
I use the sport schedules available on classic.underground.com (along with their wx).
Also a big fan of weathermeister.com.
 
Most of the flight planning software uses either duat or duats to get the weather so I guess I get the official sanctioned briefing. I'll watch wunderground.com, weather.com, ADDS, and/or the local tv news.
A new (old) site has popped up. Lock/Mart has launched a pilot application on afss.com. Ywt another site to muddy the waters.
 
I haven't used DUATS since 2002. That being said, what I DO use are the following:

ADDS
DoD NOTAMS
Skyvector
Airnav
FSS (via the telewebs) or a mil WX briefer
Pireps from other squadrons/aviation entities
JMPS (joint mission planning system......mil only sort of deal)

Those combined give me everything I ever need. The first 6 give me anything I would need to do a cross country or basic pt A to pt B flight. I see literally no need for DUATS. Yeah the products might be conveniently icon'd, but you can get every bit of that info from other sources.

edit: I don't have foreflight, but many I know (including my old man) have it and swear by it. I have seen it's capabilities and I agree, though I get by just fine with other free sources. The other one might be wunderground, which is a pretty cool interface of various bits of useful info, and I normally check that when I am on duty (USN version of SOF).
 
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Sac Arrow said:
I suppose Notams could be an issue when I don't call. I get them at my home field through the ATIS.
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Destination and enroute NOTAMS as well as FDC? I can't be bothered to scan through them all and see what's important, the briefest are good at being able to filter through the list and give me the relevant ones.
 
Henning said:
Destination and enroute NOTAMS as well as FDC? I can't be bothered to scan through them all and see what's important, the briefest are good at being able to filter through the list and give me the relevant ones.
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Yep, the 1980's style that DUATS uses for digital delivery is what keeps 1-800-WX-BRIEF open. I call em on the drive to the airport and follow up with my iPad at the hangar if anything alarms me. No way I'm parsing that wall of text that DUATS brings back. :D
 
Sac Arrow said:
No of course not. I see value in calling, if for no other reason than to have a record of a briefing on file, and to get Notams and TFR's from an "official source." In reality, I always call for VFR x-country flights and I usually skip calling on a relative short (non x-country) VFR flight as I can get nearly all that information (including TFR's and Notams) anyway. What I can't get is Notams that may be along my route that aren't filed under my starting and destination airports.
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Henning said:
Destination and enroute NOTAMS as well as FDC? I can't be bothered to scan through them all and see what's important, the briefest are good at being able to filter through the list and give me the relevant ones.
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Yeahhhhh......
 
JoeSelch said:
I use the sport schedules available on classic.underground.com (along with their wx).
Also a big fan of weathermeister.com.
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http://classic.wunderground.com/sports/NFL/

Looks like it will cover Comerica Park, Ford Field, U. of Mich. and Michigan International Speedway. Thanks!

Between the no fly zones to the east (Canada) and north west (DTW Class B) and all the stadiums on the routes around the class B, it can be entertaining to fly around here at times.
 
Of course, none of those sources will legally cover you. Filing and flying IFR is better...
 
azure said:
Of course, none of those sources will legally cover you. Filing and flying IFR is better...
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?

All of these sources 'cover you' for part 91. The regulation states that you have to make yourself familiar with all information concerning the flight, how you do that is up to you. If you call up your highschool-buddy who is a metorologist at the state Agriculture department, it is just as valid a weather forecast as the NWS, WSI or any of the commercial services used by part 135 operators. Same with notams, the FAA pilotweb application is as valid a source of notams as any other source.

The only issue is that of documentation. If you call AFSS, your tail number gets logged. If you have a duats account (or link to duats from your foreflight account), the fact that you obtained a briefing is logged for 15 days. Once you create a smoking hole in the ground, the NTSB routinely only queries AFSS, DUAT and DUATS on whether you obtained a briefing. If somebody from the departure FBO says 'oh yeah, he used the WSI terminal' they will ask WSI for a log of the activity at that terminal around the time of departure. They wont call your buddy at the Ag department, unless your grieving widow was intimately familiar with your briefing process and hooks them up with all your sources.

Some of the internet sources are QICP providers. That only means that they have filed paperwork stating that their servers have a particular uptime performance and that they archive whatever is on the server for X days. QICP does not certify the validity of the underlying weather sources, it just certifies that the web or fax interface conforms to certain standards.

There is no 'official' weather briefing.
 
weilke said:
?
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See the post I replied to. The thread morphed a bit, and we were talking about stadium TFRs. There's no official source on those. At least with the VIP type, if you get caught in one but you have a current DUATS or AFSS briefing, you have some protection.
 
azure said:
See the post I replied to. The thread morphed a bit, and we were talking about stadium TFRs. There's no official source on those. At least with the VIP type, if you get caught in one but you have a current DUATS or AFSS briefing, you have some protection.
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AFSS and DUATS dont provide information on the stadium TFRs. You are expected to read the local newspaper. That wunderground site is as official ad you can get for that particular folly.
 
weilke said:
AFSS and DUATS dont provide information on the stadium TFRs. You are expected to read the local newspaper. That wunderground site is as official ad you can get for that particular folly.
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My point exactly... and why I said your only real protection is to go IFR.
 
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