I wanted to talk a little bit about enroute weather. Like I've said before, I'm in my Commercial time building stage and each cross-country I go on I have loads of time to sit and think about how much I don't know. If I have these questions, them I'm sure others do as well. The other thread I created on Flight Following helped me out a lot. The information is easily accessible, but it's also good to get another's take on things.
Last week I was on a VFR run to Jefferson City, MO. I checked the weather before I left, and the forecast for the area was showing some showers moving in from the SW. According to the TAF, I was going to beat the weather by several hours. I'm finding out more and more that forecasts are definitely not set in stone, and things can change at any time. The leg to KJEF was uneventful, but I could see darker clouds looming to the SW, just as the TAF had mentioned.
My plan was to smash-n-go at KJEF and loop south of the St. Louis class B navigating on a few VOR's back to Carbondale, IL for some lunch. This was moving me toward the weather, which I still should have been hours ahead of. Not so much the case, about half way through the second leg the ceilings were dropping quick. I was cruising at 5,500 taking advantage of the winds, and ended up having to descend below 3,000 to maintain VFR. I even saw some precipitation falling at some points. I decided to just pick up a radial, and high tail it to the home base... I'm not getting stuck 2 hours from home just because I'm hungry.
When I got back I was curious to see what was going on along my route, and all of the METARS/TAFs were indicating overcast 7,000-10,000. FA indicates VFR for the area and the rain didn't show up until several hours later that afternoon. It must have just been a small rare area of low clouds. It left me thinking, "Wow, did I just puss out hard." And, I wanted that damn pizza!
So, now I want to discuss how I could have used my options to get that pizza in my belly. I needed some enroute weather, but was unsure of who or how to call up for it. I doubt the guys working at the Flight Service Stations are considered "controllers," but it was either here or the training sections? So, from my brief Google searches I have refreshed myself somewhat on how it works. Correct me if I'm wrong and by all means throw in some suggestions or whatever you want.
"EFAS," or Enroute Flight Advisory Service, is a nationwide common frequency on 122.0. Also referred to "Flight Watch." From what I understand these guys stay quite busy, so you should have specific questions when calling them. Details to include on call up: tail number, closest VOR, request. Maybe this type of transaction...
"Flight Watch, Cessna 123AB, Farmington VOR, with request."
"Cessna 123AB, say request."
"123AB, any reports of cloud tops near Farmington VOR?" ...and subsequent answer.
Now, another source for enroute weather available is by calling an FSS using the information found on you sectional charts (VOR block), or AFD. In the picture below you notice that on the Centralia VOR there is the frequency 122.1R. The "R" indicates that THEY receive on that frequency, and you will be listening for a response over the VOR frequency of 115.0. The Mt. Vernon VOR, while only 17 miles away, has it's own set of frequencies (122.05R, 113.8) The words below saying [ST LOUIS] indicate that you will be calling the St. Louis FSS, or "St. Louis Radio." Here I understand you can pick up more information, or ask more questions because you are isolated to those frequencies and not clogging up 122.0.
For iPad users like myself, you can find the information a few different ways other than looking at the VFR sectional. In the "Frequencies" tab of each airport.
Under "Communications" in the A/FD, see RCO frequencies.
So, in the end I suppose some clarification would be nice.
What is the difference between using 122.0 and using the VOR's for communication?
Am I talking to the same people, just making it "personal" on a VOR frequency?
What are the typical requests that people are calling up for?
Does this practice offer any other services to pilots?
I'm looking forward to giving this a shot next time I'm out there. Maybe it's just me, but this was never a big topic in any of my training so far. It's a pretty grey area, and if anyone else feels the same way then maybe this thread could help us gain a new tool while enroute.
Last week I was on a VFR run to Jefferson City, MO. I checked the weather before I left, and the forecast for the area was showing some showers moving in from the SW. According to the TAF, I was going to beat the weather by several hours. I'm finding out more and more that forecasts are definitely not set in stone, and things can change at any time. The leg to KJEF was uneventful, but I could see darker clouds looming to the SW, just as the TAF had mentioned.
My plan was to smash-n-go at KJEF and loop south of the St. Louis class B navigating on a few VOR's back to Carbondale, IL for some lunch. This was moving me toward the weather, which I still should have been hours ahead of. Not so much the case, about half way through the second leg the ceilings were dropping quick. I was cruising at 5,500 taking advantage of the winds, and ended up having to descend below 3,000 to maintain VFR. I even saw some precipitation falling at some points. I decided to just pick up a radial, and high tail it to the home base... I'm not getting stuck 2 hours from home just because I'm hungry.
When I got back I was curious to see what was going on along my route, and all of the METARS/TAFs were indicating overcast 7,000-10,000. FA indicates VFR for the area and the rain didn't show up until several hours later that afternoon. It must have just been a small rare area of low clouds. It left me thinking, "Wow, did I just puss out hard." And, I wanted that damn pizza!
So, now I want to discuss how I could have used my options to get that pizza in my belly. I needed some enroute weather, but was unsure of who or how to call up for it. I doubt the guys working at the Flight Service Stations are considered "controllers," but it was either here or the training sections? So, from my brief Google searches I have refreshed myself somewhat on how it works. Correct me if I'm wrong and by all means throw in some suggestions or whatever you want.
"EFAS," or Enroute Flight Advisory Service, is a nationwide common frequency on 122.0. Also referred to "Flight Watch." From what I understand these guys stay quite busy, so you should have specific questions when calling them. Details to include on call up: tail number, closest VOR, request. Maybe this type of transaction...
"Flight Watch, Cessna 123AB, Farmington VOR, with request."
"Cessna 123AB, say request."
"123AB, any reports of cloud tops near Farmington VOR?" ...and subsequent answer.
Now, another source for enroute weather available is by calling an FSS using the information found on you sectional charts (VOR block), or AFD. In the picture below you notice that on the Centralia VOR there is the frequency 122.1R. The "R" indicates that THEY receive on that frequency, and you will be listening for a response over the VOR frequency of 115.0. The Mt. Vernon VOR, while only 17 miles away, has it's own set of frequencies (122.05R, 113.8) The words below saying [ST LOUIS] indicate that you will be calling the St. Louis FSS, or "St. Louis Radio." Here I understand you can pick up more information, or ask more questions because you are isolated to those frequencies and not clogging up 122.0.
![flightwatch.jpg](http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/njones1414/flightwatch.jpg)
For iPad users like myself, you can find the information a few different ways other than looking at the VFR sectional. In the "Frequencies" tab of each airport.
![2-1.png](http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/njones1414/2-1.png)
Under "Communications" in the A/FD, see RCO frequencies.
![photo.png](http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae194/njones1414/photo.png)
So, in the end I suppose some clarification would be nice.
What is the difference between using 122.0 and using the VOR's for communication?
Am I talking to the same people, just making it "personal" on a VOR frequency?
What are the typical requests that people are calling up for?
Does this practice offer any other services to pilots?
I'm looking forward to giving this a shot next time I'm out there. Maybe it's just me, but this was never a big topic in any of my training so far. It's a pretty grey area, and if anyone else feels the same way then maybe this thread could help us gain a new tool while enroute.