UKAIS Temorary Arrangements

[Mike Cross]

Some of you may be aware that there are currently some software issues affecting the UK AIS Website.

The team at AIS have asked that the following be posted wherever Pilots can see it:

In an endeavour to alleviate the temporary short fall in our Online Briefing Service, caused by the intermittent (Error 500) problem, AIS would like to offer UK based aircraft operators the option of sending their briefing requirements to us to obtain a Briefing from our Database which could then be emailed back to the enquirer. We are only able to offer this additional temporary service strictly on the understanding that the briefing request will be processed on the basis of the information (parameters) submitted, however, a contact number should be included in case a further problem is encountered.

Please send your briefing request to the AIS Supervisor email account ([email protected]), depending on demand; we are hopeful that any requests received prior to 15:00 (Monday to Friday) will be turned around the same day.
As an example, for a Narrow Route brief we will require Departure/Destination aerodromes/Times/Route i.e. Waypoints/Height.

We would also like to remind you that the Contingency Briefs including Danger Area and Navigation Warnings are available from the NATS Website

and as usual the International NOTAM office staff are available H24 on 020 8745 3450/1 to help with any NOTAM/PIB queries.

Mike

[Fuji Abound]

You would have thought they could have posted an alert message on their web site. :)

Sorry, if they did and I missed it?

[IO540]

Maybe it's time for AIS to get themselves a new ISP for their ADSL www hosting service ;)

I have a much better uptime on the www/pop/smtp server at my office, which is running (FreeBSD) on the end of a 256/512 ADSL, has been up for about a year nonstop, and which never falls over despite having gigs of PDFs downloaded from it all the time and being attacked (usually with a scripted dictionary attack) roughly every 10 seconds.

I know AIS have rather more traffic but this is inexcusable. More so given that a pilot can go to jail if he busts something. Even more so if the jail happens to be in, say, Spain....

[rustle]

IO, the problem isn't with AIS connection to the internet.

The only problem is the bull**** software supplied by Thales.

It is crap software, and thales know it too.

[IO540]

Yes, I know, I was being funny :)

Curiously, why did the site work OK for a couple of years, and now started falling over?

[rustle]

Yes, I know, I was being funny :)

Curiously, why did the site work OK for a couple of years, and now started falling over?

I thought you were, but didn't want anyone to imagine for a nanosecond that this problem is anything other than Thales gross incompetence. ;)

It worked okay until Thales did something to "upgrade" it.

With no regression testing.

With no backout plan.

And still they haven't actually sent anyone over here to fix the fcuking thing. :ugh:

[chrisN]

I tried using the email facility but did not get what I wanted first time - they used too narrow a selection and missed some important things out.

Then I managed to get into the system myself and pull my own narrow route briefings for 29th and 30th, so I didn't need theirs anyway.

I have emailed them to advise why my selection parameters were important.

Chris N.

[chrisN]

From AIS today: " . . . sorry about the 40nm radius [which I asked for on a "narrow route", though as the width not radius - instead of which they used 10 nm] but on our system we do not have the luxury of specifying this parameter. [I find that extraordinary!] That is a facility only available on the Internet . . . "

So be warned - if you want a wide area, using the "narrow route" method, to bimble around in, either get it yourself; or specify a series of narrow routes +/- 10 nm wide that overlap; or risk missing something important. And the default appears to be, if you ask them, that you have to spot the difference - they don't tell you explicitly that they used 10 instead of 40nm, it just appears in the header to their briefing.

Chris N.

[IO540]

Or, if you have an IR, take an airways route.

Since the flight planned route will never actually be flown, en route notams are hardly important, and the notams for the "end bits" can be obtained from any other briefing site, UK or foreign.

If there was another free site that does a narrow route briefing, I wouldn't give ais.org.uk a second glance.
Is there another one, or perhaps even a pay site?

[Fuji Abound]

Avbrief - single leg narrow route brief.

[DFC]

What a shambles. Perhaps disgrace is a better term.

What idiot thinks that geting a NOTAM briefing 1 or more days before a flight is going to be safe. Perhaps they need to be reminded exactly what a NOTAM is and what it is for and why the pilot is generally expected to have received all relevant NOTAMs published up to a time 30 minutes before departure.

Have a look at the Eurocontrol proposed integrated briefing service. Read the reports and see how the UK is the only country that opposes the idea and has no idea of how many people use the various services!

They (Eurocontrol) make some interesting comments regarding the methods that National Authorities discourage use of commercial integrated systems.

www.skybook.co.uk is one of the better services available.

Regards,

DFC

[IO540]

Fuji - yes, there are many websites that do a single leg brief.

I will have a look at Skybook and report if they do a multi-waypoint route briefing.

DFC - do you have a URL to support your post?

[BEagle]

Try this site: http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/default_uk.htm

Much easier to use than the AIS thing - and you don't need any silly user names and passwords either!

[DFC]

Fuji - yes, there are many websites that do a single leg brief.
I will have a look at Skybook and report if they do a multi-waypoint route briefing.
DFC - do you have a URL to support your post?

www.skybook.co.uk

It will handle multi legs and has much of the data there on the map for you to click on to create your route. Well worth a look.

Regards,

DFC

[IO540]

Looking at what they offer, to get international notam data would be £40/year and that isn't worth paying IMHO.

Everything else they do I can get from a combination of Avbrief (which offers more weather data than Skybook) and all the various free sources.

It looks a very UK-centric site.

Unfortunately there isn't a site that is any good (alone) for a VFR+IFR pilot who flies abroad. One has to use a variety of sites.

I am very suprised that Avbrief have not implemented a route notam briefing.