2009 Nall report and Soaring Safety

On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:20:31 -0800, noel.wade wrote:

1) Check FAA NOTAMs (& TFRs) before every flight. We all check the
weather (or get second-hand reports from others) before we fly... but
how often to we skip the NOTAMs because we tend to fly in uncomplicated
/ unpopulated airspace? The airspace and lack of traffic is a poor
excuse for not doing this. Although its not the official source, the
AOPA has a great webpage for major NOTAMs and TFRs:
http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html An official FAA page is he
https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/PilotWeb/ (easiest thing to do is a "Radius
search" using "AWO" as the location) And www.runwayfinder.com does a
good job of showing current TFRs, too.

Even after filtering out far away NOTAMS its not easy to relate them to
the day's planned task (assuming you do plan an XC). I normally use the
excellent NOTAMplot the previous evening when I'm planning a flight. It
downloads all current NOTAMS, optionally filtering them for the date of
the flight, and plots them on a UK map. I have the BGA turnpoint list
loaded into NOTAMplot so I can plot my intended task as well and change
it if I see conflicts.

Does the FAA, AOPA, etc provide a NOTAM data feed and is there an
equivalent program available for the USA? I've never heard one discussed.

4) Practice landings. Practice them a lot. Practice *precision*
landings (as many people these days preach, but few actually practice).
Don't get lulled into the exact same approach every time. Train yourself
to look at the windsock and check AWOS/ASOS in your approach to landing.
Practice things like slips and S-turns so that you can counteract
crosswinds and adjust your altitude during your approach. The flight
does not end when the aircraft enters the pattern - do not relax or let
your guard down at that point! The flight continues until the aircraft
comes to a complete stop - keep thinking and "flying" all the way until
it stops!

To see what can happen if you don't fly a glider until it stops, take a
look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eamnTyfkUBY


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

On Feb 25, 5:18*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:20:31 -0800, noel.wade wrote:
1) Check FAA NOTAMs (& TFRs) before every flight. *We all check the
weather (or get second-hand reports from others) before we fly... but
how often to we skip the NOTAMs because we tend to fly in uncomplicated
/ unpopulated airspace? *The airspace and lack of traffic is a poor
excuse for not doing this. *Although its not the official source, the
AOPA has a great webpage for major NOTAMs and TFRs:
http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.htmlAn official FAA page is he
https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/PilotWeb/(easiest thing to do is a "Radius
search" using "AWO" as the location) Andwww.runwayfinder.comdoes a
good job of showing current TFRs, too.

Even after filtering out far away NOTAMS its not easy to relate them to
the day's planned task (assuming you do plan an XC). I normally use the
excellent NOTAMplot the previous evening when I'm planning a flight. It
downloads all current NOTAMS, optionally filtering them for the date of
the flight, and plots them on a UK map. I have the BGA turnpoint list
loaded into NOTAMplot so I can plot my intended task as well and change
it if I see conflicts.

Does the FAA, AOPA, etc provide a NOTAM data feed and is there an
equivalent program available for the USA? I've never heard one discussed.

4) Practice landings. *Practice them a lot. Practice *precision*
landings (as many people these days preach, but few actually practice).
Don't get lulled into the exact same approach every time. Train yourself
to look at the windsock and check AWOS/ASOS in your approach to landing..
*Practice things like slips and S-turns so that you can counteract
crosswinds and adjust your altitude during your approach. *The flight
does not end when the aircraft enters the pattern - do not relax or let
your guard down at that point! *The flight continues until the aircraft
comes to a complete stop - keep thinking and "flying" all the way until
it stops!

To see what can happen if you don't fly a glider until it stops, take a
look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eamnTyfkUBY

--
martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org * * * |

There is the DUAT service which I use to obtain a flight briefing
before going to the field and hopefully avoid a blunder with TFR's.
It can be filtered so as not to check the entire US airspace.

Chip F.
YW

On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:52:24 -0800, chipsoars wrote:

There is the DUAT service which I use to obtain a flight briefing before
going to the field and hopefully avoid a blunder with TFR's. It can be
filtered so as not to check the entire US airspace.

From a quick glance DUAT does more or less exactly the same as AIS does
over here - lets you select relevant NOTAMS by date/time and location and
presents them as text.

However, we can also get the same information in machine-readable form
and display it on a map, representing NOTAMS by the circles or polygons
used to define the area that's NOTAMed. You click on the map to read the
text for a NOTAM. We can also add a task we're planning for a visual
check on clashes. Is there any move in the USA to support a similar
capability?


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Martin (and others) -

For graphical representations, I like www.runwayfinder.com (which
overlays this stuff on top of Google Maps and a sectional-chart view.

I can't say for sure whether it catches ALL NOTAMs, but I know it
catches TFRs very well.

Enjoy,

--Noel

Another site for graphical TFRs.
Jim

http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index.html

On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:00:44 -0800, JS wrote:

I've learnt something from this: NOTAMS aren't nearly as heavily used in
the US as they are here.

I couldn't see how to make www.runwayfinder.com show NOTAMs but
http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index.html works quite nicely (though
won't show a task or flight plan) and does show NOTAMS. The shock was
seeing that it only lists 22 current NOTAMS for the whole USA and only 4
in California!

By contrast today in the UK we have 77 active and applicable below FL070,
another 23 that lack plottable co-ordinates (like many American SECURE
category NOTAMS), and another 60 that were been excluded from by my
filter (inactive today and/or inapplicable below FL070).

http://www.gregorie.org/temp/notams/ contains a NOTAMplot screenshot
showing NOTAMs that apply in East Anglia today below FL070. I also added
a 177 km task to show how it appears.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Controlled airspace isn't as heavily used as in Europe, either!
Simple NOTAMs such as a closed taxiway, snow on the runway, or a
light not working don't make it on the map. They would be in a
briefing for your route, along with PIREPs etc. Of course, pilot
reports of turbulence are often a good sign for soaring!
Why are security NOTAMs typed "caps lock", which seems a poor way to
communicate? Most people receiving an e-mail typed in caps would hit
the delete button.
Jim

On Feb 26, 6:43*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:00:44 -0800, JS wrote:

I've learnt something from this: NOTAMS aren't nearly as heavily used in
the US as they are here.