Twenty minutes in the queue awaiting the new and improved FSS

"MB" == Matt Barrow writes:

MB And call your local DMV or Post Office.

Why? Answering the phone is not their primary job or method of
service, but it is for LockMart FSS.

--
Too bad you can't just grab a tree by the very tip-top and bend
it clear over the ground and then let her fly, because I bet
you'd be amazed at all the stuff that comes flying out.
- Jack Handey

On 2007-05-13, Don Poitras wrote:

My first experience trying to get a clearance on the ground via
Lockheed today. ... Tried the GCO, but no one answered. Plane behind
me on taxiway is asking whether I'm trying GCO. "Yeah, but they're
not answering.

I had the same issue.. tried to get ahold of Kankakee in the Chicago
area around 2am, and go no answer after making multiple attempts on
all the frequencies in the area. It's a little unnerving to fly VFR
at night w/out flight following. Is Lockheed now in charge of all
FSS's?

--
PM instructions: do a C4esar Ciph3r on my address; retain punctuation.

Justin Gombos wrote:
On 2007-05-13, Don Poitras wrote:

My first experience trying to get a clearance on the ground via
Lockheed today. ... Tried the GCO, but no one answered. Plane behind
me on taxiway is asking whether I'm trying GCO. "Yeah, but they're
not answering.

I had the same issue.. tried to get ahold of Kankakee in the Chicago
area around 2am, and go no answer after making multiple attempts on
all the frequencies in the area. It's a little unnerving to fly VFR
at night w/out flight following. Is Lockheed now in charge of all
FSS's?

Here's the transition schedule:
http://www.afss.com/transition/

AOPA was originally very happy about all this:

"And all of these enhanced services are being provided without user
fees - AOPA made sure of that," Boyer said. "It is estimated that
Lockheed's 10-year contract will actually save the government about
$2.2 billion."

Subtract .18 billion from that savings:

Lockheed Martin is looking for a 10-percent increase in the fees it's
being paid to take over flight services. According to a report from the
Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, the
company, which was awarded a $1.8 billion contract to assume the
function, says it's owed another $177 million, mostly because the FAA
didn't supply accurate labor cost information.

--
PM instructions: do a C4esar Ciph3r on my address; retain punctuation.

--
Don Poitras

"Don Poitras" wrote in message
...
Justin Gombos wrote:
On 2007-05-13, Don Poitras wrote:

My first experience trying to get a clearance on the ground via
Lockheed today. ... Tried the GCO, but no one answered. Plane behind
me on taxiway is asking whether I'm trying GCO. "Yeah, but they're
not answering.

I had the same issue.. tried to get ahold of Kankakee in the Chicago
area around 2am, and go no answer after making multiple attempts on
all the frequencies in the area. It's a little unnerving to fly VFR
at night w/out flight following. Is Lockheed now in charge of all
FSS's?

Here's the transition schedule:
http://www.afss.com/transition/

AOPA was originally very happy about all this:

"And all of these enhanced services are being provided without user
fees - AOPA made sure of that," Boyer said. "It is estimated that
Lockheed's 10-year contract will actually save the government about
$2.2 billion."

Subtract .18 billion from that savings:

Lockheed Martin is looking for a 10-percent increase in the fees it's
being paid to take over flight services. According to a report from the
Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, the
company, which was awarded a $1.8 billion contract to assume the
function, says it's owed another $177 million, mostly because the FAA
didn't supply accurate labor cost information.

And they didn't factor in retirements.

"Justin Gombos" wrote in message
news:GIr4i.18827$Qz.649@trndny09...

I had the same issue.. tried to get ahold of Kankakee in the Chicago
area around 2am, and go no answer after making multiple attempts on
all the frequencies in the area. It's a little unnerving to fly VFR
at night w/out flight following. Is Lockheed now in charge of all
FSS's?


Why would you call Kankakee FSS for flight following?

On Apr 30, 10:48 am, "Peter R." wrote:
Called Lockheed Martin FSS this AM for my flight briefing. Spent 20 minutes
in the "we are experiencing high call volume" queue waiting for a live
briefer to take my call.

When one finally did, he was servicing my upstate NY state flight from
Phoenix, Az. Nice enough briefer but so much for the local knowledge.

Wasn't there a promise by Lockheed Martin that wait times would be one minute
or less? In the four years I have been commuting by aircraft the longest I
previously waited for a Buffalo FSS briefer was five minutes.

--
Peter

I guess everyone has different priorities. I am a VFR only pilot who
uses DUATS along with other online sources. I usually check the day
before to get a handle on trends. It was quite interesting today on
the scanner today to hear a pilot contact several sources for weather
info, each time relating his story of waiting on hold for 40 minutes
and still not getting a briefing. Then he adds that this is the first
time in seven years that he has flown VFR, as if it's some kind of a
traumatic event. I look out the window and there's not a cloud in the
sky. I check the weather and there's not a cloud in 300 miles. Do some
really need a nanny holding their hand all the time?
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

On 18 May 2007 19:32:42 -0700, Gene Seibel wrote in
. com:

Do some really need a nanny holding their hand all the time?

Apparently the military do. They are always supposed to be on an IFR
flight plan.