UK weather for VFR flight: how do *you* brief?

[TheEnthusiast]

There's an ongoing debate on another thread (http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/563759-new-met-office-aviation-access.html) about the problems with the new Met Office GA website. This thread is not about that :=.

However the debate set me thinking :hmm:. There are clearly many ways to brief the weather for a regular daytime VFR flight in the UK. I hope we can all agree that there is no single correct way, so I hope this post won't result in a "my way is better than yours" battle. But how do each of you do it? I'm sure there are things we can all learn from each other. I'm a brand new PPL so mainly influenced by what I saw one or two instructors do.

Here's what I do. How does everyone else do it??

Early warning
I like to know a few days ahead if the forecast suggests the flight would be very unlikely. If I can make an early decision to cancel then I can plan to do other things with my time; and it's a nice courtesy to my flying club if I cancel plane hire early - they might be able to use it for something else. For this I use the synoptic chart (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/surface-pressure/) to look for weather systems in the planned region of flight, combined with the terrestrial forecast (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/) to quantify how that translates into ground-level wind velocities at departure/arrival aerodromes.

The day before
Not essential but nice to know - if I have some time about a day before a flight I again check synoptic chart and terrestrial forecasts. In addition to checking the winds I think about whether the cloud base and visibility are likely to be problematic based on the chart. At some point during that day, some 24-hour TAFs from aerodromes at or near intended departure/arrival and en-route will become valid; though F215 and F214 won't be out yet. If I can, I look at the list of TAFs for the region I'm flying in (https://secure.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/report.jsp) and cross-check the TAFs near my route with what I had guessed about cloud base/vis/wind from the synoptic chart.

On the day
First I check whether the synoptic chart is still roughly as forecast or shows new concerns. Before going to the departure airfield I tend to look at departure/arrival TAFs first to see if there are any obvious problems with crosswind/visibility/cloud etc. I look at F215 (https://secure.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/aviationProductList.do?action=sigwx)to get a general idea of the weather situation, cloud base, hazards, freezing level, etc. If F215 suggests that flight is possible I cross-check again with the list of TAFs, focussing on the aerodromes on or near arrival/departure/intended route. Then F214 to get wind forecast for heading calculations. I also look at whether the 1000' winds are roughly consistent with surface-level forecast or whether there seems to be a worryingly high wind gradient.

Once at the airfield I'll look outside(!!) for vis/cloud/windsocks, look at the anemometer reading, and for cross-country I'll also have a chat on the phone with the aerodrome of arrival about their observed conditions.

A few minutes before going out to the plane I'll look at both TAFs and METARs at/near arrival/departure/en-route, to check there are no surprises. This I usually do using the web browser on my phone.

Things I don't usually do
I don't use AIRMETs - my instructors never encouraged that so I never got into the habit - even though I can see they have useful summaries.
So far I haven't needed to use VOLMETs en-route.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

As the weather is often forecast to be marginal or non-VFR-flyable, but the actual is better than the forecast, on arrival at the airfield I also chat to people who've been flying and see what it's really like out there.


Without, of course, substituting their judgement for mine.[#]


Something I don't bother much with any more but used to do is listen to the local airport's frequency at home before leaving for the airport and form a judgement as to the actual weather from who's flying (students or just sky-gods). I one heard an instructor who'd gone up to find the cloud tops and was reporting that he was just getting 50 knots (or whatever it was) on full power with the amount of ice he'd picked up (yes, he was a test pilot, don't try this at home children).


[#] You can not, of course, rely on the club instructor refusing to sign you off if the weather is too bad for your planned flight as a PPL hirer. Only a few weeks ago I was signed off only to discover that the actual weather was, for a change, worse than forecast, and below club limits, so I turned round and came back.

[TheEnthusiast]

Thanks GTW! All interesting and makes good sense.

[FleetFlyer]

I use the BBC weather app on my phone for everything up to the day before, base, enroute places, and destination. On the day if things look even slightly questionable I switch to the Orbifly.com met map. This has plain English TAFs and METARs and each airfield that has a report is colour coded for VFR/Marginal VFR/IFR/Severe IFR.

I've always found the Met Office stuff to be too convoluted for my liking, though this probably says more about my attitude than the quality of their offering.

[Pace]

Ok at the other extreme I will look days before at things which may cause a problem.

Non flyable will be fog at destination or extremely low cloud but then I will look at alternatives. Basically anything which could stop me landing at my destination or alternative.

Cbs may cause a problem by extra work but usually not a no go or very extreme winds way off the runway available.

RVRs ? they can cause a problem if below the minima on the charts
Takeoff and taxi RVR?

Upper wind charts! More for range and fuel loading
Obviously Metars and TAFS

But thats about it! and not applicable to your stage of flying but you asked :ok:

Pace

[TheEnthusiast]

Great - thanks everyone - all interesting stuff. Does anyone out there use the Met Office AIRMETs when they brief? Not once during my recent PPL training did an instructor refer or ask me to refer to an AIRMET. But I can see how they might give a fuller picture than just using F215 + en-route TAFs: the TAFs are only point forecasts after all, not designed to cover the route of a flight; and F215 on its own doesn't directly describe wind phenomena, nor give so much detail on locations of cloud/fog/etc. But (compared to a page of TAFs) it takes more time to decode the reference locations in an AIRMET since they're different every time - perhaps this is why they don't seem more popular.

[Floppy Link]

yr.no (http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/England/Eshott_Castle/) a few days before.

Rain Alarm (http://www.rain-alarm.com)
and
Windyty (https://www.windyty.com/?56.317,-2.988,4)

on the morning, and a look at the windsock and clouds when at the airfield. But then again it's an SSDR microlight for a local flight.

For work it's those 3 plus Avbrief, Met Office, MWIS, and look out the window...

[robin]

Never use the BBC weather website as I found it unreliable.

I will watch the BBC weather forecast, though tend to discount the early forecast, as it tends to vary as the day goes on.

I find the local forecast much more accurate than the one done by the national forecaster.

[LysanderV8]

Because I like to plan when I fly as early as possible, ie up to a week ahead, I use weatherweb.net and Simon Keeling's excellent flyer forecast published each Monday and Thursday morning.


I also use xcweather.co.uk. Then the night before I look at all the TAFs that are appropriate along the route. SkyDemon helps with this a great deal.


Finally, before I leave home I check the F215, F214, METARs and TAFs.


I only fly VFR and am fairly conservative as I only fly for pleasure. There is no point in getting airborne just because you have planned to, and then get stressed dealing with marginal weather. It's too costly a hobby not to maximise your enjoyment.

[Manc]

My approach is not dissimilar, but rather than just look a few days out and then day before, I'd usually take a few minutes every day to have a look at the synoptic charts to get a feel for the general trends. It's useful to see if the forecast for the intended day of the flight stays consistent from one day to the next, and if yesterday's forecast matched today's actual weather. It all helps to give me an idea of how much confidence I can have in the forecast.

Different forecasters may come up with different forecasts from the same basic raw data, so I'd get more than one opinion and as well as the Met Office site, I watch the twice weekly forecasts on the Flyer site (http://www.flyer.co.uk/weather/). Again I'm looking at how consistent the forecasts are with each other as well as what they each individually say.

The evening before, I'd definitely be looking at the TAFs and METARs for the specifics along my intended route. I'd also look at the individual airfields' websites if they've got their own live weather feeds. Finally, I also look through the day's F214 & F215 for the general trend and to get some rough numbers for the wind corrections on the plog. I also use that wind info as a prompt to have a think about which runways will most likely be in use and then plan my likely approach, departure and taxi routes.

On the day, obviously look out the window. I'm close enough to listen on the scanner so I will have that on while I'm getting my stuff together - helps form an opinion on the more marginal days. The drive in affords a good view of the nearby hills, if I cannot see the top of the local tv mast, that's not too bad... if I cannot see the bottom of it, I'll think about rerouting to the pub instead!

Finally, like GTW, I'd also ask anyone who'd already been up that day.

Personally, I never use the AIRMETs... There's nothing that's not in the other material and it's not an easy read with all that block-capital monospaced font.

[Rod1]

I use the met office normal forecasts for the days leading up to a flight.

Night before the TAF's are normally updates at about 6:10pm and give a info up to 18:00 the following day.

Morning of the flight I fire up PFMS easy VFR and download weather and notams for my plan. Check both then get in the car with a full plan, paper and on the tablet.

In the air ATIS frequencies are useful and you can ask for weather at destination etc when on a basic service.

Rod1

[snapper1]

I'm a glider pilot not a power pilot and as well as many of the previously mentioned resources I use RASP (Regional Atmospheric Soaring Prediction). Along with Cu potential and thermal updraught velocity it gives wind strength and direction, temperature and dewpoint, pressure, precipitation and tephigrams. Certainly recommended for soaring pilots and might also be worth a look for those with a touching faith in internal combustion engines.:)

[Cusco]

I get everything i need from Avbrief:

For a serious flight (less advanced for a bimble:)

Four days ahead of flight I look at the 4 day synoptic forecast then study the Atlantic charts to see what's out there>

Same three days ahead and two days ahead to get the feel of what's coming in from the Atlantic.

Day/Evening before look at 36 hour TAFS for Luton and Stansted.

Day of flight look at BBC TV News channel early morning weather, Forms 214 and 215 and METARseries /TAF of airfield (or nearest) I'm visiting.

Finally a look at Radar animation to judge what's coming in (usually from the west) and extrapolate how long it'll take to reach my strip in East Anglia.

All the above (except BBC weather: not essential) from one reliable source: Avbrief every time.

OK, not free but in the greater scheme of things it costs peanuts.

Cusco

[TheEnthusiast]

Many thanks indeed to all who have contributed. I think this is a really useful and varied range of responses. I've certainly learnt about tools I hadn't tried before and different ways of doing things.

And it seems that noone uses UK AIRMETs !!

[Pull what]

Splendid chaps but most GA pilots are killed on the way home so dont forget to check the weather before you leave to come back including the diversion - RIP Graham Hill.

[Monocock]

Night before: Met Office, Metutil NOTAMs and airfield website read.

Morning: Met Office.

Waiting for engine to warm up: Weather Pro and Rain Alarm etc.

In flight: Rain Alarm if it's catchy.

[Descending]

Ogimet - gramet aero, great en route cross section, which is very accurate,

Aeroweather for TAF /METARS

All you need!