East Hampton (Long Island, NY) airport weather?

[Peter R.]

Yesterday I flew down to East Hampton (KHTO) airport for the first time.
With approach plates in front of me, I was preparing for my arrival when
NY Approach called to ask if I had the weather at HTO.

Scanning my Jeppesen approach plates a second time, I knew that there
was no AWOS/ASOS (it is an uncontrolled airport) frequency, so what were
they talking about?

I responded with a request for the frequency and was given 122.8 (I
think, please correct me if this wrong), which is different than the
UNICOM freq. So I tuned it expecting to hear an AWOS/ASOS-type
automated recording. Nothing... it was quiet.

So, now what? Do I make a call? If so, who do I call?

Within a minute or so I had what appeared to be my answer. Another
aircraft called "Sound Aircraft, Piper xxx, landing East Hampton,
request current weather and altimeter."

Later I was told that this airport uses a live weather observer during
the day, a rare treat in this new millennium. Unfortunately, I was
unaware of this type of weather retrieval and did not see this
information in the AF/D. Where do I look to find this unique weather
information for other airports that also use a live observer so that in
the future I am better prepared?

--
Peter

[David Reinhart]

I was just down there this past weekend working on my IFR ticket. My
instructor told me you basically always end up using the *West* Hampton
altimeter setting and end up using minimums that are 40 feet higher as a
result. I just looked at the plate and it says "Obtain local altimeter
setting on CTAF", which is listed as 122.7 Going strictly by the book, info
received on any other frequency would not be in accordance with the IAP and
therefore not authorized. My guess is he gave you the wrong frequency.

Dave Reinhart


"Peter R." wrote:

> Yesterday I flew down to East Hampton (KHTO) airport for the first time.
> With approach plates in front of me, I was preparing for my arrival when
> NY Approach called to ask if I had the weather at HTO.
>
> Scanning my Jeppesen approach plates a second time, I knew that there
> was no AWOS/ASOS (it is an uncontrolled airport) frequency, so what were
> they talking about?
>
> I responded with a request for the frequency and was given 122.8 (I
> think, please correct me if this wrong), which is different than the
> UNICOM freq. So I tuned it expecting to hear an AWOS/ASOS-type
> automated recording. Nothing... it was quiet.
>
> So, now what? Do I make a call? If so, who do I call?
>
> Within a minute or so I had what appeared to be my answer. Another
> aircraft called "Sound Aircraft, Piper xxx, landing East Hampton,
> request current weather and altimeter."
>
> Later I was told that this airport uses a live weather observer during
> the day, a rare treat in this new millennium. Unfortunately, I was
> unaware of this type of weather retrieval and did not see this
> information in the AF/D. Where do I look to find this unique weather
> information for other airports that also use a live observer so that in
> the future I am better prepared?
>
> --
> Peter

[Thomas J. Paladino Jr.]

> I was just down there this past weekend working on my IFR ticket. My
> instructor told me you basically always end up using the *West* Hampton
> altimeter setting and end up using minimums that are 40 feet higher as a
> result. I just looked at the plate and it says "Obtain local altimeter
> setting on CTAF", which is listed as 122.7 Going strictly by the book,
info
> received on any other frequency would not be in accordance with the IAP
and
> therefore not authorized. My guess is he gave you the wrong frequency.
>

Actually, he gave him the frequency for Sound Aircraft Services, the major
FBO on the field. During the summer (and especially on weekends) they
usually have someone on the radio to give weather, wind and other advisories
on an informal basis. HTO is a pretty high-volume field during the summer
(it could probably have a tower, but residents won't allow it), and a great
deal of the traffic are uber-VIP's flying in to their weekend getaways; so
as a service, Sound keeps a guy or gal on the radio to help things run a bit
more smoothly.


> "Peter R." wrote:
>
> > Yesterday I flew down to East Hampton (KHTO) airport for the first time.
> > With approach plates in front of me, I was preparing for my arrival when
> > NY Approach called to ask if I had the weather at HTO.
> >
> > Scanning my Jeppesen approach plates a second time, I knew that there
> > was no AWOS/ASOS (it is an uncontrolled airport) frequency, so what were
> > they talking about?
> >
> > I responded with a request for the frequency and was given 122.8 (I
> > think, please correct me if this wrong), which is different than the
> > UNICOM freq. So I tuned it expecting to hear an AWOS/ASOS-type
> > automated recording. Nothing... it was quiet.
> >
> > So, now what? Do I make a call? If so, who do I call?
> >
> > Within a minute or so I had what appeared to be my answer. Another
> > aircraft called "Sound Aircraft, Piper xxx, landing East Hampton,
> > request current weather and altimeter."
> >
> > Later I was told that this airport uses a live weather observer during
> > the day, a rare treat in this new millennium. Unfortunately, I was
> > unaware of this type of weather retrieval and did not see this
> > information in the AF/D. Where do I look to find this unique weather
> > information for other airports that also use a live observer so that in
> > the future I am better prepared?
> >
> > --
> > Peter
>

[Andrew Gideon]

Thomas J. Paladino Jr. wrote:


> Actually, he gave him the frequency for Sound Aircraft Services, the major
> FBO on the field. During the summer (and especially on weekends) they
> usually have someone on the radio to give weather, wind and other
> advisories on an informal basis. HTO is a pretty high-volume field during
> the summer (it could probably have a tower, but residents won't allow it),
> and a great deal of the traffic are uber-VIP's flying in to their weekend
> getaways; so as a service, Sound keeps a guy or gal on the radio to help
> things run a bit more smoothly.

Which begs the original question: how does a non-local learn such
non-trivia?

- Andrew

[David Reinhart]

And also if it's actually legal. The only frequency on the IAP for obtaining
the local altimeter is the CTAF.

Dave Reinhart


Andrew Gideon wrote:

> Thomas J. Paladino Jr. wrote:
>
> > Actually, he gave him the frequency for Sound Aircraft Services, the major
> > FBO on the field. During the summer (and especially on weekends) they
> > usually have someone on the radio to give weather, wind and other
> > advisories on an informal basis. HTO is a pretty high-volume field during
> > the summer (it could probably have a tower, but residents won't allow it),
> > and a great deal of the traffic are uber-VIP's flying in to their weekend
> > getaways; so as a service, Sound keeps a guy or gal on the radio to help
> > things run a bit more smoothly.
>
> Which begs the original question: how does a non-local learn such
> non-trivia?
>
> - Andrew

[David Reinhart]

Again, "local ops" or not *is it legal??? The *only* frequency on the IAP for
obtaining a local altimeter setting is the CTAF. To me that means that
information obtained on any other frequency is *not* part of the IAP and is
therefore not usable. I do not remember seeing anything in the FDC NOTAMS that
authorized that frequency, either.

Dave Reinhart


"Michael P. McCullough" wrote:

> Its just one of those "local ops" things. This newsgroup is a great way of
> getting that type of info befoer hand, otherwise its live and learn.
>
> Mike McCullough
>
> "Andrew Gideon" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thomas J. Paladino Jr. wrote:
> >
> >
> > > Actually, he gave him the frequency for Sound Aircraft Services, the
> major
> > > FBO on the field. During the summer (and especially on weekends) they
> > > usually have someone on the radio to give weather, wind and other
> > > advisories on an informal basis. HTO is a pretty high-volume field
> during
> > > the summer (it could probably have a tower, but residents won't allow
> it),
> > > and a great deal of the traffic are uber-VIP's flying in to their
> weekend
> > > getaways; so as a service, Sound keeps a guy or gal on the radio to help
> > > things run a bit more smoothly.
> >
> > Which begs the original question: how does a non-local learn such
> > non-trivia?
> >
> > - Andrew
> >

[John Gaquin]

"David Reinhart" > wrote in message

> ....The *only* frequency on the IAP for
> obtaining a local altimeter setting is the CTAF. To me that means that
> information obtained on any other frequency is *not* part of the IAP and
is
> therefore not usable.

So don't use it. You'll be right, and everyone else will have the
information. Simple.

JG