Flight Watch????

Eamon

Line Up and Wait
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Feb 23, 2005
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Long Island, NY
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Eamon
I called flight watch while over Buffalo Friday night. It was 11pm. The only answer I got was from Cleveland. CLE said that he could not give me the current conditions at KISP because I was not flying in his sector. He said the inbetween 10p & 6a he was only allowed to service planes in his sector. He could answer me & help me by giving a FRQ that I might find help on, But he could not help me at all beyond that.

Is this $ cutback BS or what? KISP was fogged in & I needed to know if I sould head there or not. I tried to call on my cell & that didn't work either. What do I have to do now? Land & use the FBO computer?

Has anyone heard of this? Is this new?

I know I can call Radio & I did, but I didn't get an answer. It kind of sucked that I had a person & he couldn't talk to me.
 
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First off, Eamon... where the hack ya been? Good to hear (read?) from you.

Isn't EFAS / Flight Watch a limited-hours service anyway? That said, it is sort of stunning to hear that a Flight Watch specialist was precluded from assisting you.

Did you call him back after being unsuccessfully trying to contact FSS, and he still refused to assist?

That would be worth a phone call.

Other things to try: whip out your handy-dandy AOPA Airport Guide (you carry that, right?), call the ARINC freq for an FBO in your area, ask the counter guy/gal to look on the computer.

One other thing that is kinda cool: I often find that, even when I cannot get a cell phone call through, I can still send and receive text messages; you might try the auto-response WX METAR / TAF srevice that Flightaware offers; you send a text mesage to wx@flightaware.com and include the airport identifier in the subject, and it instantly responds with WX info.

I have successfully used it in the past.

Hope the new gig is working out well. So, any chance you make Gaston's this year?

Fly safe!
 
Hey Eamon:

I've had something similar occur; was in some crazy position that overlaped and two guys would answer and block each other out. I tried FSS and couldn't raise anyone. Called Center and asked them for a frequency to get weather--told them I'd tried a couple frequencies. They gave me a good one. I've even called ahead to the tower of a field I was passing once to get a FSS frequency. Don't know why the publisher ones on the VORs didn't work, but the mountains sometimes screw with them.

Good to hear from you.

Dave
 
EAMON!!!

How's the international jet-set life?

Isn't Buffalo in Cleveland Center's area? Even though FSS provides Flight Watch, it's set by the center boundaries. If it was ATC that was refusing to help, that's a little different matter (though in the time he would spend looking up the frequency, he could get you the weather...)

You'd think with the Lake Reporting Service that FSS would have answered....

Not much choice other than to ask for a relay or call an FBO and ask them to look it up.

This experience is why I prefer the XM weather product to relying on Flight Watch or FSS.
 
Eamon said:
I know I can call Radio & I did, but I didn't get an answer. It kind of sucked that I had a person & he couldn't talk to me.
I have experienced this, too. The supposed services are well, dwindling.
 
Flight watch is supposed to give you weather services as you request, regardless of the location. The whole point of Flight Watch versus "Radio" is that Flight Watch is supposed to be for weather, while "Radio" handles flight plans and other FSS functions.

Give AOPA a heads up on this - they are watchdogging the transition closely.
 
After the weather support unit for an ARTCC closes, the output from that unit stops being available outside of the center boundary. This is actually not new and has nothing to do with the transition. If folks are having problems reaching an FSS via an RCO or other discrete frequency, please let ATC know or make a call to an FSS when you get home to report a possible outage. Hopefully the link below will describe the EFAS/Flight Watch program well enough to cure any sleep deprivation problems you may be suffering.

http://www.weather.gov/directives/sym/pd01008003curr.pdf
 
Thanks all for the replies. I just needed to vent :)

That night I was to clear customs at KSWF - Stewart, NY. KISP was 1600 RVR & I wanted a quick update before I did the quick turn and headed there. Luck for me I was empty so I could use the part 91 "trick" to get in. It was just so government like that I had a voice, but he couldn't help me :) :)

I am adjusting to the new job & LOVING it. I work 5pm-5am for 2 nights & 5p-1a for the other 3. On the long nights, I have an extra run of cargo from Toronto to Montreal. Customs is kind of a PITA because I have to land for no reason to clear. The customs office at KISP wants no part of meeting me soo early in the AM, so I clear at Albany the first 2 nights of the week & Stewart (empty) or Buffalo (with cargo) the last three nights.

I still have yet to be asked for my Radio Operators Cert :) :)
 
smigaldi said:
Isn't EFAS (flight watch) only available form 6am to 10pm local? If you were calling at 11pm local they were closed.

Yep. And keep in mind that AFaIK it's 10 pm local where the FSS office is, not necessairly 10 pm where you are when you call.
 
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