Tue, Jul 25, 2006
Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
through the Aero-News Network.
Aero-Tips 07.25.06
Although some time back political correctness set in and we
started referring to "Notices to Aviators", the acronym is still
NOTAM and the FAA's
Pilot/Controller Glossary still defines them under the
term "Notice to Airmen".
Whatever you call them, NOTAMs are notices of changes to
facilities, services, hazards or procedures. A new "published NOTAMs" comes out
every 28 days…generally "unpublished" NOTAMs are in effect
only until the end of the 28-day cycle.
NOTAM types
NOTAMs (published or not) come in three classes, or types:
- NOTAM D: Information from unpublished NOTAMs
disseminated throughout the Flight Service Station (FSS) briefing
network. Think "D for Distant".
-
- NOTAMs D are items that may determine whether you fly into an
airport or using a facility
- Examples: runway closures, navigation equipment outages
- FSS and Direct User Access Terminal (DUAT) briefings should
include all NOTAM D information for your proposed route.
- NOTAM L: "Local NOTAMs" are unpublished
NOTAMs usually disseminated only by the "owning" FSS.
-
- NOTAMs L are items that may affect the way you operate, but in
most cases won't cause you to cancel a trip completely
- Examples: taxiway closures, minor lighting outages, fuel
services inoperative, airport restaurant closed
- Unless you're being briefed by the FSS with responsibility for
the geographic area where the NOTAM is in effect, you'll need to
specifically ask for local NOTAMs to get them in your preflight
briefing (Note: As Lockheed-Martin further consolidates FSSs this
may become less of an issue as you're more likely to be working
with the "owning" FSS).
- FDC NOTAMs: Issued by the Flight Data
Center, or FDC, these NOTAMs describe regulatory changes or
modifications of instrument approach or other critical
procedures.
-
- Applicable FDC NOTAMs are always briefed unless the pilot
declines to hear them.
- Examples: changes to published procedures or charts, Temporary
Flight Restrictions, the Washington DC Air Defense Identification
Zone notification.
Aero-tip of the day: Understand when
you'll get NOTAMs as part of your preflight briefing... and when
you have to specifically ask.
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