How I get ready to fly
I thought that since flying will be on hold for a few days I’d write a post about my general preflight routine. Hopefully some of my gracious readers out there will see fit to offer improvements to the process.
I generally start checking the weather about 1-2 days in advance. If it's more than 1 day away I will simply use the standard NOAA weather interface, the one for non-aviation folks. I generally don't trust forecasts more than 2 days old, but it still gives me a general idea of what to expect. Something small to hang my hat on. I used to use the weather channel web site for this purpose but slowly migrated to NOAA instead.
When it's less than 1 day before the flight I will start using ForeFlight to view TAFs (terminal aerodrome forecasts) from nearby airports. I have learned to not trust certain military TAFs (Fort Eustis, I'm looking at YOU) since they often don't give a report time for some reason and on rare occasions have weird forecasts that don't turn out correct (at least FAF is that way). Through writing a TAF/METAR processor for ForeFlight I quickly learned that some military TAFs seem to arbitrarily leave out certain important pieces of info from time to time and use non-standard acronyms.
When the flight is only an hour or 3 away, I start using ForeFlight to watch METARs. I like to see how well they match the TAF so I can decide if the TAFs for later in the day seem useable. I also get on AOPA's free real time flight planner to look for TFRs (I use the graphical map for that) and to get an official DUATS weather/notams briefing. I make sure to include the non-decoded data (raw) as output when I do that, because a purely "plain language" briefing doesn't count (maybe because of the same processing troubles I see when writing ForeFlight).
Then I gather my local sectional, approach plates and other charts (as needed) and my Sporty's kneeboard. The kneeboard holds my checklists, pens, and a writing pad, as well as some cheat-sheet things about entering holds and such. I used to have a larger kneeboard but eventually decided that the smaller one fit the bill while being easier to handle.
For a longer flight I do all of the above as well as some extra cross country planning tasks. If the trip is for just a day or so, I will continue pay attention to the NOAA forecast for the cities along the route. This helps me make last minute changes to the plan if it looks like returning on time will be difficult. However, if the return date is later than that, I generally don't look at any forecasts since they are likely to change before the return date arrives.
I also pay more attention to IFR things such as the freezing level, what approaches might I need to shoot, am I prepared to do so, etc.
I will get out all the sectionals I need and highlight my planned flight path. Then I'll look to make sure airspace and military ops areas are being properly avoided. I will also pick a descent point for getting down to traffic altitude at the destination. I make sure the cameras and GPS are fully charged and load up my flight plan if it is more complicated than just a simple direct-to.
If I've never flow the route before I sometimes fly it in MS Flight Sim to get an idea of the landmarks and VORs I may make use of. I use the simulator's autopilot and speed up time to 2x or 4x when doing this. Seeing things in the simulator (or Google Earth) really helps out when I am going somewhere new - especially if the visibility is less than severe-clear.
Local/Short flight
I generally start checking the weather about 1-2 days in advance. If it's more than 1 day away I will simply use the standard NOAA weather interface, the one for non-aviation folks. I generally don't trust forecasts more than 2 days old, but it still gives me a general idea of what to expect. Something small to hang my hat on. I used to use the weather channel web site for this purpose but slowly migrated to NOAA instead.
When it's less than 1 day before the flight I will start using ForeFlight to view TAFs (terminal aerodrome forecasts) from nearby airports. I have learned to not trust certain military TAFs (Fort Eustis, I'm looking at YOU) since they often don't give a report time for some reason and on rare occasions have weird forecasts that don't turn out correct (at least FAF is that way). Through writing a TAF/METAR processor for ForeFlight I quickly learned that some military TAFs seem to arbitrarily leave out certain important pieces of info from time to time and use non-standard acronyms.
When the flight is only an hour or 3 away, I start using ForeFlight to watch METARs. I like to see how well they match the TAF so I can decide if the TAFs for later in the day seem useable. I also get on AOPA's free real time flight planner to look for TFRs (I use the graphical map for that) and to get an official DUATS weather/notams briefing. I make sure to include the non-decoded data (raw) as output when I do that, because a purely "plain language" briefing doesn't count (maybe because of the same processing troubles I see when writing ForeFlight).
Then I gather my local sectional, approach plates and other charts (as needed) and my Sporty's kneeboard. The kneeboard holds my checklists, pens, and a writing pad, as well as some cheat-sheet things about entering holds and such. I used to have a larger kneeboard but eventually decided that the smaller one fit the bill while being easier to handle.
Overnighter
For a longer flight I do all of the above as well as some extra cross country planning tasks. If the trip is for just a day or so, I will continue pay attention to the NOAA forecast for the cities along the route. This helps me make last minute changes to the plan if it looks like returning on time will be difficult. However, if the return date is later than that, I generally don't look at any forecasts since they are likely to change before the return date arrives.
I also pay more attention to IFR things such as the freezing level, what approaches might I need to shoot, am I prepared to do so, etc.
I will get out all the sectionals I need and highlight my planned flight path. Then I'll look to make sure airspace and military ops areas are being properly avoided. I will also pick a descent point for getting down to traffic altitude at the destination. I make sure the cameras and GPS are fully charged and load up my flight plan if it is more complicated than just a simple direct-to.
If I've never flow the route before I sometimes fly it in MS Flight Sim to get an idea of the landmarks and VORs I may make use of. I use the simulator's autopilot and speed up time to 2x or 4x when doing this. Seeing things in the simulator (or Google Earth) really helps out when I am going somewhere new - especially if the visibility is less than severe-clear.
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