Pilot's tip of the week

PIREPs – What To Report?

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Subscriber question:

"The other day I was on the receiving end of a PIREP that was really helpful. It's motivated me to be more active about giving them. What kind of conditions are they looking for GA pilots to report?" - Keith F.

Bob:

“Just think about all those occasions when we have encountered unforecast weather. Why not take just a few seconds to share this information with Air Traffic or Flight Service so that everyone benefits.

I’ve mentioned countless times how impressed I am when riding in the cockpit of airliners, how active the pilots are trying to find the smoothest ride for their customers. By requesting and getting ride reports (turbulence), we the passengers benefit greatly.

But even more important than ride reports are cloud tops, bottoms and inflight visibility reports that are seldom given. Very crucial to flight safety are wind shear reports. Why not provide that information to the pilots lined up behind us on final approach?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have braking action information before we touch down on a slick runway? How about unreported enroute icing? It would be really nice to have that information.

We have the opportunity to remove a lot of unknowns in our aviation weather system by participating in this valuable, free resource. That’s what the pros do!”

You don’t have to call Flight Service to give a PIREP…

Watch this short video from the Air Safety Institute and see how easy it can be.

What has prevented you from filing PIREPs?

(NEW) IFR Mastery scenario #171 “Unknown Icing in Minnesota” is now available. Winter IFR presents unique hazards with little margin for error. How much confirmation of benign conditions is enough for a well-equipped, high-performance single that’s not certified for flight into known icing? And is icing the most important risk factor to consider on this cold-weather flight? Watch the Intro video.

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