AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2013 - D1

AOPA Edition

Things you should know about your
weather/flight planning provider
In today's marketplace, you have many options to get aviation weather and flight planning support. There are many
different sites as well as stand-alone programs and apps that
provide basic and enhanced services, however there are important aspects that you should be aware of when using these
sites and/or products.

Does your weather/flight planning source
provide you with proof of briefing?
After getting a briefing, does your weather source provide a
record of the briefing? Can they go back and provide you
with the proof that you requested an adequate weather briefing in preparing for your flight?
CSC DUATS records every request you make as well as all
information that you receive for that request. This is kept for
15 days and is available by request through the FAA. If you
use the CSC DUATS website, you have direct access to all
your histories via the “My Access History” selection from
the “My Account Pulldown” from the main menu at the top
of every page.

Issue No. 106 October 2013

Almost all are based on weather information provided by the
National Weather Service (NWS). An approved FAA weather
source is one that has been reviewed by the FAA for content,
format, source and that the presented weather product content
has not been altered or edited in any way. It also includes a
review of timeliness, reliability of delivery, with information
specific for aviation.
CSC DUATS provides you with a FAA certified weather briefing and graphics when you use our website. CSC DUATS
weather source is FAA’s Weather Message Switching Center,
which is the same source that is used by all the Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
Furthermore, the CSC DUATS system is regularly monitored
by the FAA technical center at Atlantic City. The FAA technical center is responsible for testing the CSC DUATS system to
insure that it meets all the specifications in the FAA’s DUAT
contract and that it maintains adherence to those specifications.
Attention part 91K, 121, 125, and 135 operations CSC DUATS meets the requirements for the source of weather
described in Appendix B of FAA Notice N8900.199 OpSpec/
MSpec A010, Aviation Weather Information.

What graphics from your weather/flight
planning source are approved for self briefing by the FAA?
Many graphics available on websites today, including government websites, have not been approved for pilot self briefings.
Many of them are only authorized for operational use by meteorologists and dispatchers. You sometimes can identify them
(continued on back).

DUATS...Still the Fastest way into the
Air and Still Free!!
Does your weather/flight planning source
provide you with weather from an approved FAA weather source?
There are a multitude of weather sources available today.

www.duats.com
Data Line: 800-767-9989
Tech Support: 800-345-3828 press number 4
FAX: 703-818-4723
Secure Web: https://www.duats.com
Mobile: http://www.duats.com/mobile

http://www.duats.com http://www.duats.com https://www.duats.com http://www.duats.com/mobile

AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2013