How much protection on approach?

"Barry" wrote
So you have current plates, a standard briefing with NOTAM's, and
unless you specifically ask for Class II NOTAM's, you will never know
the approach is not available until you ask for it.

Yes, the NOTAM system is still a mess, but it's a little easier to get the
published NOTAMs now that they're on line:

http://www1.faa.gov/NTAP/

Yes, that's great when you can get on the net. But the reality is
that if the airport with the NA approach is local, you're going to
know about it. If you get the briefing on DUATS, you can get it in
text format, get the Class II's, and search them for your
destination/alternate with a text editor.

The real problem occurs when you're on a trip, are forced to divert
due to unexpected weather, and find yourself on the ground replanning
your trip without computer access. Now your only option for getting
Class II NOTAM's is FSS. But guess what - if the weather was bad for
you, it was bad for lots of other people. FSS is going to be busy.

I'm not saying it's impossible - once you're aware of that particular
gotcha, you can work around it. The problem is that it's not
something most IFR pilots are aware of.

Michael