AOPA opens 2021 Weather Survey
AOPA has launched the national 2021 Weather Survey that seeks information from a sampling of pilots in the lower 48 states and all pilots in Alaska and Hawaii about the aviation weather sources they use for briefings, and the kinds of meteorological data they rely on the most.
Pilots are urged to watch their email starting April 27 for a message that contains a link to the weather survey, and to complete it promptly—a process that takes about 10 minutes.
Since the annual survey was initiated in 2017, data gathered from participants has helped AOPA advocate for innovative weather products, increase the number of weather reporting stations, and streamline the pilot weather report (pirep) system.
A key finding of the 2020 Weather Survey, confirming the advance of information technology in aviation, was that an increasing number of pilots rely on weather apps than on making phone calls to Flight Service for obtaining initial preflight weather briefings.
In addition to helping AOPA advocate for weather-system upgrades, pilots’ input to past weather surveys has resulted in the production of new educational materials. Recently the AOPA Air Safety Institute released the online learning course Pireps Made Easy, which spotlights the importance and the how-to of sharing your in-flight weather observations.
