Cell Phones Worthwhile tool or for Idle Fools

Athena

New Member
I am looking into getting myself a cell phone and getting rid of my home phone. I am getting promoted at my current job and it seems that it may become a practicality Do you all find it useful in terms of getting current weather updates, flight planning etc? Does it make things more convenient or is it more like a leash??? I have heard both good and bad about them and would like any suggestions.
 
Well I am not that popular so I love having my phone when I need it and don't really get unwanted calls. Corbin however, (aka On Call Corbin) gets call around the clock from people wanting help with stuff and he won't turn it off cause it "Could be important" and because then everyone would be like "why didn't you answer your phone?". However, we also have a home phone still because without fail, no matter how hard you try to remember, our batteries are almost always dead, and almost everywhere in our house hets bad reception. They get lost a lot easier then home phones too. And I don't like voice mail, dialing 6 numbers and codes and pushin 1 for that and 5 for this. I like an answering machine with a rewind and forward button. But that's just me. If you do go with a cell only, I suggest investing in a car charger and an extra battery.
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HTH
 
They are supposed to be good for picking up IFR clearances on the ramp or taxiway so you don't have to rush like a crazy person to meet your void time. The one time I tried it so far, they told me to call back on the radio...turns out there was an RCO real close to the field...duh
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If you want to use it for weather you have to be careful, because 1-800-WXBRIEF takes you to the FSS nearest the phone's area code/number. That doesn't do you a whole lot of good when you're away from home on a long X-C.
 
All I use is my cell phone!!! If you get a big plan with lots of minutes (although it can cost a little bit...), you won't have to worry about going over on your minutes. You have the benefit of never being away from the phone, and you get all of that free long distance (with the right plan/company).

As far as my phone and flying goes, my phone has become indisposable. Picking up clearances, and filing flight plans, etc. Even if you're in Charlotte and you get Aniston FSS, they can file a flight plan for you. If you have trouble getting the appropriate FSS freq for CLNC DEL, you can look in the A/FD (which you always have when flying....
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) to get the appropriate center phone number. Call the duty desk, and they can either elay a clearance, or give you a good number.

All in all, my cell phone has come in handy - even if just calling home to let my girlfriend know that I'm on the ground safely (forgetting to do that can have far more reaching implications than forgetting to cancel your flight plan....).
 
I have mycast pilot weather on my cell......it has animated WX radar, a route map with WX depiction, winds, satellite, etc. It also has METARs and TAFs. Its nice for those airports w/o WX computers. Check out pilot mycast wx if you are bored. It has saved my butt a few times already when there was no FBO computer to check the weather and the FSS is trying to explain where the level 5 precip is. Its a little pricey but it has been worth it for me.
 
Athena:

About all I use my cell for flying-wise is if I get the urge to call the ATIS number, or if I want to get a wx briefing on the run.

I love mine, though. It's my primary phone. I've got quite a few minutes, plus free night (after 9pm local time) and weekend. The BIG thing is I'm on Sprint, and I get free PCS to PCS calls so whenever I call another Sprint number the call is free and doesn't count against my monthly minutes.

This is EXCELLENT for me, as Sprint is headquartered in KC so almost everyone in town has a Sprint phone. So bottom line: I never use any minutes, and I'm on my phone all the time!

I used to have Verizon, but with my plan had a lack of nationwide coverage. I was starting to travel for work, and was sick of high phone bills every month. Now I don't have to worry about that. I've had Sprint for a year, and my phone bill has never gone over the base fee. I have the internet thing too - that's nice for checking wx/sports scores on the road but it's not something that's really vital to me. Sprint coverage can suck if you're out in BFE, but that hasn't been *too* much of an issue. So far I'm happy.
 
Cell phones are just like any other tool. You can use them for good or for evil.

Let's say you're on your way to the airport, and you are like me and need to file an ADIZ flight plan. Well, while you're stuck in DC area traffic, you can whip out the ole cell phone, contact the FSS, and get that done. And to those of you who say, what the hell are you doing talking on the phone while you're driving, believe me, when you're going 10 mph tops, you can do it.

Or let's say that the said traffic means you're going to be way late getting to there. Then you can call the folks who you're renting the plane from, and say, hey, I'm going to be late, who's got the plane after me and when? That way you can decide, oh, the hell with it, by the time I get there I'll be able to taxi the plane onto the runway and then I have to give it up for the next person. It saves you fighting all the traffic and then not being able to fly.

But then, cell phones can be used for evil, too. For example, today, when I went to the gym, some dork was yapping on her cell the whole time she was there. That's bad enough, but I gotta know this: who the hell are you calling at 6:45 AM that wants to listen to your nonsense?

Someone finally said, hey, hang that damn thing up, you're annoying all of us.

But seriously, cell phones are a handy tool. Are they a necessity? Nah. But they can be useful.
 
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Athena:

About all I use my cell for flying-wise is if I get the urge to call the ATIS number, or if I want to get a wx briefing on the run.

I love mine, though. It's my primary phone. I've got quite a few minutes, plus free night (after 9pm local time) and weekend. The BIG thing is I'm on Sprint, and I get free PCS to PCS calls so whenever I call another Sprint number the call is free and doesn't count against my monthly minutes.

This is EXCELLENT for me, as Sprint is headquartered in KC so almost everyone in town has a Sprint phone. So bottom line: I never use any minutes, and I'm on my phone all the time!

I used to have Verizon, but with my plan had a lack of nationwide coverage. I was starting to travel for work, and was sick of high phone bills every month. Now I don't have to worry about that. I've had Sprint for a year, and my phone bill has never gone over the base fee. I have the internet thing too - that's nice for checking wx/sports scores on the road but it's not something that's really vital to me. Sprint coverage can suck if you're out in BFE, but that hasn't been *too* much of an issue. So far I'm happy.

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Sprint...woo hoo!!! Now I've finally found somebody to talk to using my sprint to sprint!!!! All of the country folks down in my neck of the woods love cingular (offer a monkey a free phone and he'll take it too...
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)
 
[ QUOTE ]
For example, today, when I went to the gym, some dork was yapping on her cell the whole time she was there. That's bad enough, but I gotta know this: who the hell are you calling at 6:45 AM that wants to listen to your nonsense?

Someone finally said, hey, hang that damn thing up, you're annoying all of us.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now, as a cell-phone talker, I do have to defend those of us that carry on conversations....is the yapping on a cell phone at the gym anymore irritating to you that me listening to you and your friend carry on a conversation face to face at the gym? That's twice as much talking....
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And some of us do have people to talk to at 6:30....I'm just not up to talk to them!!!!
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It's just bad gym etiquete to be on the cell phone. It's like the dork over the corner who's lifting way too much weight, grunting like a bear in heat, or the guy who gets the equipment all sweaty and doesn't bother to wipe it down or the guy who leaves his weights laying all over the place.

No, there are no policies against doing these things, but after you're in a gym for a while, you just learn not to do these things.

And once upon a time, my paycheck depended on wireless companies, so I'm not anti-cell phone at all.
 
While I do not use mine that often, I could not live without it. If you ever fly into small airports like I do a lot then it can be a necessity, as many of them do not have phones on the field. Now I also have the new Lightspeed thirty 3G headset with the cell phone port in it and I love that too. You just have to look closely at the coverage area and make sure that you are not going to be outside it. Roaming can be a killer. I went with a nationwide plan with no roaming charges because I never know where I am going to fly to.
 
If you fly for an airline, a cell phone is basically a part of your uniform. You use it for reserve, getting calls from the family & friends. When I first started with Eagle, it was just before cell phones went really mainstream, we all just had pagers at first. But it was such a hassle having to find a phone to call scheduling back, within a year everybody had cell phones. It makes life so much easier. I had AT&T digital one rate, I could pick it up and make/recieve a call anywhere in the country, no roaming, no long distance. It was my lifeline.
Also I once bought a car in Minneapolis, and I had to drive it back to Chicago. I got about 50 miles out of MSP, and the transmission literally fell out of the vehicle. I was in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, and I was VERY happy to have my phone with me, I had a chat with the dealer, and they sent a tow truck to get me & the car. They put me up for the night (I'd missed the last flight back to ORD by then) and I flew home the next day. Without a car.
 
My cell phone is indispensable. I use it to mainly to keep in touch with friends and family and to conduct business on the road. It's also my primary contact with scheduling when I'm on reserve so I don't have to just sit around the house.

I don't use it for flight planning and I just have an older basic phone that doesn't take pictures or allow me to surf the web. Normally, if it's an 800 number, I use my home phone or a pay phone instead of burning cell minutes.
 
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