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Wolverine · August 23rd, 2004, 18:34

In the airline world, it's the dispatcher's responsibility to keep the captain informed of the weather, including any changes in flight. I made up many new routes today to keep my planes out of the mass of weather in Kansas and Missouri, and I called up a couple captains on AirInc to recommend a wx deviation. Everybody landed at their planned destination safely with spare fuel, so I think I did well today.

All airliners have wx radar on board, but I figure that's only good for dodging scattered storms and finding holes. When a plane is flying toward the middle of a 200 mile line of storms, I assume that he has no idea how big that line is and I'll call him to recommend a deviation around it.

Having wx radar onboard and a dispatcher on the ground is a luxury that GA planes don't have. I've found that captains do a better job of dodging storms with wx radar than they do with help from ATC.

It's hard to predict where weather is going to move, so having a radar summary printout at T/O will not always help you enroute 3 hours later.

August 23rd, 2004, 18:34	#13
Wolverine Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 167	Re: ATC and weather avoidance In the airline world, it's the dispatcher's responsibility to keep the captain informed of the weather, including any changes in flight. I made up many new routes today to keep my planes out of the mass of weather in Kansas and Missouri, and I called up a couple captains on AirInc to recommend a wx deviation. Everybody landed at their planned destination safely with spare fuel, so I think I did well today. All airliners have wx radar on board, but I figure that's only good for dodging scattered storms and finding holes. When a plane is flying toward the middle of a 200 mile line of storms, I assume that he has no idea how big that line is and I'll call him to recommend a deviation around it. Having wx radar onboard and a dispatcher on the ground is a luxury that GA planes don't have. I've found that captains do a better job of dodging storms with wx radar than they do with help from ATC. It's hard to predict where weather is going to move, so having a radar summary printout at T/O will not always help you enroute 3 hours later.