Question about Flight Service Stations

[UnAnswerd]

I'm not sure I understand FSS's. The closest FSS to our airport is nearly 200 statute miles away. Is this FSS even of any use to me???

 

[UnAnswerd]

Uhhh...yeah...why wouldn't it be of use to you?

They have all the pertinent weather and NOTAM information avaliable for your airport and the area you will be flying in.

Okay. I wasn't sure if they had information for areas 200 miles away. Can VHF radio signals traverse that distance??? Is there a real person at the FSS, like 24-7???

Yeah, I'm a little newbie.......

 

[garf12]

yes they are manned 24/7 or at least the ones I have worked with. And it doesnt have to travel that far. They have remote antennas around the area. Thats why you say what frequency you are on when you contact them.

 

[bobbysamd]

FSS usability

I'm not sure I understand FSS's. The closest FSS to our airport is nearly 200 statute miles away. Is this FSS even of any use to me???

Sure it is. Just call the toll-free number, 1-800-WXBRIEF, then, in your case, identify yourself as a student pilot, state the type of flight you are proposing, e.g., local flight, cross-country, etc., and request a weather briefing.

FSSs are usually on airports. If you ever get to the airport in question, walk in the FSS and ask for a tour.

In the old days, there were a great many FSSs, with the briefers at each usually having worked there for years. They had intimate knowledge of the local terrain and local weather. The weather briefing one would receive from these briefers was emminently reliable. About seventeen years ago, the FAA, in its infinite wisdom, closed down many of these FSSs and consolidated them. They also automated these stations. While you could still speak with a briefer, the FAA emphasized these stations' automated services.

This thread from a couple of months ago discusses how the FAA will no longer operate flight service stations and will contract their operation to a private operator.

Hope this helps some more.

 

[A Squared]

A couple of things:

No VHF radios will not allow you to communicate over 200 miles.

As has been mentioned, FSSs have numerous Remote Commumications Outlets (RCOs) These are installations which allow then to transmit and receive on a VHF frequency at a location which may be hundrests of miles from the FSS. They are connected to the FSS by telephone line, or in sone locations microwave or satellite links.


All FSSs have computers which allow them access to almost all of the same information. THe only exceptions I can think of are not all FSSs have acess to international Wx, and local notams may not be distribued beyong the closest FSS to the airport. Other than that, you can walk into (or call) the Automated FSS in Bangor, Maine and get the exact same information for a flight in Alaska that I can get from an AFSS here in AK.

I'm pretty sure that all the Automated Flight Service Stations are manned 24/7. Here in Alaska in addition to the 3 AFSSs, we also have a number (maybe a dozen or so) of satellite Flight Service Stations, these are much smaller facitities, and they have limited hours which vary seasonally. I don't think these smaller FSSs exist anywher but Alaska. This is the way the flight service system used to be all across the US, before the FAA went to the Automated FSSs in the 1980's and early 90's. The FAA party line is that you canget the exact same service from an AFSS as you could from the old local ones. THis is of course an absurd fiction. You cannot possibly get the same level of service from somone in a windowless room 2 states away as you can from somone actually located on the airport, who has a window to look out, has observed the local weather for years and can see who is coming and going and in what conditions.

 

[UnAnswerd]

Lots of good information here. Thank you. As stated in another thread, I'm just getting into weather/services. I'm sure that I'll be discussing these issues with my ground-school instructor in the near future. Thanks again for the information.