I know dozens of local PPLs at my base airfield who don't read NOTAMs prior to flight. I suspect the reason for this is that they perceive it as a dull, time consuming waste of their time that was perhaps only an activity to satisfy during their PPL training.
I agree with BEagle that if NATS presented graphical online access it may lessen how many ignore the system, but, without wanting to sound ageist, there are those I know of later years who "haven't checked them in the last 30 years and I've been ok so why should I start now? I only fly round the houses and back."
There are times I trawl through a narrow route brief off the NATS site and find it's mostly all guff about unlit cranes up to 100 feet etc. which is highly unlikely to affect my flight; it takes some repetition of reading NOTAM briefs to be able to filter out the less important stuff.
Remember, NOTAM briefs used to be a sheet of paper that hung off the flying club noticeboard; with more people flying privately and not being members of a club poor discipline can creep in and the process (or the online facility) is long forgotten.
I think the NATS system is fairly simple to use; it's just the lack of graphics that let it down.
Last edited by Kiltie; 19th June 2010 at 12:31.