AOPA Weather Version 2.0 launched on Aug. 12. Thanks to feedback from members, several enhancements to the application have been made since its launch. AOPA also has created a Weather 2.0 tutorial video to assist members in the transition from the previous version.
Weather 2.0 was designed with emphasis on individual pilot personalization because feedback from earlier versions of the AOPA Internet Flight Planner (AIFP) made it clear that not all pilots prefer the same things. Opened charts can be automatically saved and reopened with the next visit. Likewise, any custom settings made to the retrieval and display of METARs, TAFs, and area forecasts are saved. Version 2.0 allows pilots who prefer the earlier versions to make the application behave almost identically to the original. Pilots may do this by opening additional charts which used to be defaults and switching back to non-translated METARs and TAFs.
Other features introduced with Version 2.0 include integration with the new AIRMET images provided by Aviation Digital Data Services (ADDS); automatic default to home airport for METARs and TAFs; chart legends; and ability to retrieve METAR and TAFs around an airport, and along a stored AIFP route or for one or more weather stations.
Since its launch, one of the most echoed comments from members has been regarding the way users enter airport and station identifiers to retrieve METARs and TAFs. Weather 2.0 launched with two different modes for requesting METARs and TAFs: by airport and by station—each functioning a little differently. After receiving constructive comments about the feature from several members, the AOPA flight planning tools team worked quickly to deliver a single, simpler interface.
Weather Version 1 displayed every chart as a separate tab, causing the interface to become cluttered and making it impossible to expand or add any more charts to the application. Consequently, Version 2.0 was designed to allow pilots to choose the special charts they wanted to see as tabs from the "More Charts" section, and those charts would be automatically saved in each member's preferences. There has been significant confusion about this, particularly on the question of how to find and view certain charts. With this feedback, the team had the "More Charts" start open to increase its visibility.
For additional information, please watch the Weather 2.0 tutorial. AOPA encourages members to provide feedback by e-mail.
