Interesting to hear several pilots bemoaning the removal of Met Office observers and forecasters from airfields and the loss of face-to-face briefing. The trend began with Liverpool and Blackpool in the 1980s and although many aircrew complained vociferously to other Met staff that it was a move in the wrong direction, very very few of them took the trouble to write their views to the CAA - so the trend continued........... We now have a team of aviation forecasters in Exeter who know their met and have much better model guidance but haven't spent years working in an airfield environment talking over operational issues face-to-face with the guys flying the routes and gaining an understanding of their real requirements.
Last edited by Triskel; 24th Aug 2009 at 17:53.