"Good morning, I?m a student pilot and I?d like a weather briefing."
"OK, go ahead, please."
(Long silence) "Yes, I need a weather briefing."
"May I have your background information?"
"I?m going from here to Mud Flats."
"Where?s here? What is your aircraft identification? When are you going?"
After finally extracting the necessary information, giving all the weather information including convective SIGMETs and AIRMETs for icing, turbulence, and mountain obscuration, you conclude with, "Do you have any questions?"
"Say again winds and temperatures at 6,000 feet."
It seems as if this pilot heard or understood little of the critical information given, and was more concerned about plugging some numbers into his flight computer so he could derive ? and give you ? the estimated flight time.
Here?s the next call. "Lear 1234 wants to file an IFR."
"Go ahead."
"Ah, I?ll be leaving at about 3 p.m. local and going from Los Angeles to New York direct, and it?ll take about, ah, ah, about four hours."
Next call. "I can see a big thunderstorm south of the airport. What?s the weather going to be like?" (You have to bite your tongue to keep from saying, " I think there are going to be thunderstorms in the area.")
What?s wrong with these calls? It would appear these pilots were just going through the motions of getting a briefing, and that they didn?t know (or didn?t care) how the flight service system works. The extra work this creates aside, it means these pilots aren?t assimilating the information they need to make a sound go/no-go decision.
So, how do you not drive your poor FSS specialist around the bend?
1. Keep a copy of a flight plan form in your wallet. Use it as a guide when filing a VFR or IFR flight plan to give the required information in sequence to the specialist. The computers FSS uses makes "back and forthing" through the information awkward and laborious.
2. Think about what the specialist must know to give you a complete weather briefing. Specialists aren?t mind readers, so be specific. Give your departure time and location, route of flight, destination, and cruising altitude, and give the exact departure and destination airport so you get accurate, complete NOTAM information.
3. Learn how FAA technology works. ATC?s computers recognize a route of flight only if the airways are identified by the VORs that define them. It won?t recognize a leg from an airport to an airway unless the airport and VOR have the same identifier. For example, if you?re going from Prescott to Scottsdale via airway V105, the computer insists on (and your route would be) PRC direct Drake VOR, Victor 105 to the Phoenix VOR, direct Scottsdale.
4. Visit an FSS. Call in advance and request a tour. It will be an eye-opener for you to see how the specialists work. It will also show you that we are people, too, and that we appreciate "please" and "thank you" as much as anyone else.
5. Use good radio manners. Find the appropriate frequency on your sectional chart, and your initial call should be brief ? "Prescott Radio, Cessna 1234 on 122.4 at Tucson." Prescott FSS monitors 40 frequencies throughout Arizona, and it?s not uncommon for several aircraft to be calling at the same time. The specialist will respond to you in turn. If you don?t hear any kind of response for a minute or so, call again. The specialist might have missed your initial call. If you have an emergency, such as not being sure of your location, say so and you?ll get priority.
6. Instructors, before giving your students FSS?s 800/WX-BRIEF number and turning them loose, make sure they know the correct way to request ? and receive ? a standard briefing. Have students read the Aeronautical Information Manual Paragraphs 5-1-1 and 7-1-3. Simulate telephone and radio calls to FSS and make sure your students know how to transmit on one frequency and listen over a VOR frequency.
7. Get in the habit of using Flight Watch, on the standard frequency of 122.0 MHz, while en route. It?s a link to trained FSS specialists who have access to all current and forecast weather information, including live weather radar. This is also an excellent way to make your pilot reports. Flight Watch is not designed to give a complete weather briefing ? pilots should get that before takeoff ? but to provide updates on current and changing weather.
8. Learn how DF (direction finding) service works. It is a primitive, but effective, means of locating an aircraft. Getting a practice DF steer on a dual cross-country is a good idea because students will know how to use the service should they need it on a solo flight.
9. Understand how a VFR flight plan works. Its sole purpose is search and rescue, and it guarantees that if you don?t get where you say you are going when you say you will get there, someone will come looking for you.
A flight plan is the cheapest insurance policy you can get. All it costs is the responsibility for using it correctly. Filing a flight plan is not the same as activating it. To activate it, call FSS after takeoff and give the specialist your takeoff time. If you make in-flight changes to your route, or your flight is taking longer than planned, let FSS know. And most important ? remember to close your flight plan. Don?t ask the control tower or en route center to do it for you. If they are busy separating airplanes, which is their primary job, they may forget to do it. Regardless of the reason, the search and rescue process starts 30 minutes after your planned arrival time, if you don?t close your flight plan.
With these tips in mind, you will be a pro at working with flight service, and we will be delighted to give you the very best service we can. It?s what you pay us for.
Kay M. Roam, CFII, is a specialist at the Prescott, Arizona, automated flight service station.