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Are you "D" NOTAM literate?

N

N523RV

Well Known Member
"!FTW 12/181 52F AD CLSD" - Would you know what this means?

"!COD 12/022 COD AD PAEW WEF 0812301052" - How about this one?

A couple of years ago, I nearly completed a stupid pilot trick when I went flying without calling a FSS or checking NOTAM's/TFR's. It's easy to do... gorgeous summer day, 70's and you just want to go eat some pancakes. I flew from my home airport KOWI up to Topeka (KTOP) to the restaurant. A short 15 min flight. It wasn't until after I returned home, fat and happy with pancackes, that I realized I missed a Presidential TFR by a mere 2 hours! A few EAA chapter members designated me as "NOTAM Brandes".

Now fast forward a couple of years... yes, I check online for NOTAM's and TFR's every time I go fly. I'm also working on my instrument rating which means I really have to pay attention. Last week, I pulled up the NOTAM's before I went flying and saw this: !ZKC 12/181 OWI AD CLSD Hmmm... now most of the NOTAM contractions are somewhat logical and can be deciphered but this one didn't seem obvious. I called my flight instructor, who happens to be a FAA Center Controller, and asked him what the hec that meant. He wasn't initially sure but after thinking about it, decided that it meant the airport was closed.... and that "AD" meant Aerodrome. He said that the new "D NOTAM" contractions had changed from previous styles of NOTAM's.

I went on a hunt to find "AD" listed somewhere. I looked quite a bit and never could find it, not even on the FAA site of NOTAM contractions, which, is outdated by the way. Andy (my instructor) and I set off to find it. After a week of poking around, I found something this morning that makes reference to it.

So..... are you "D" NOTAM literate??

The "D" NOTAM Brochure

NOTAM Briefing:Guidance for NOTAM ?D?Standardization - This is a good presentation that actually lists some of the "Keywords" as they call them.
 
N523RV said:
"!FTW 12/181 52F AD CLSD" - Would you know what this means?

"!COD 12/022 COD AD PAEW WEF 0812301052" - How about this one?

A couple of years ago, I nearly completed a stupid pilot trick when I went flying without calling a FSS or checking NOTAM's/TFR's. It's easy to do... gorgeous summer day, 70's and you just want to go eat some pancakes. I flew from my home airport KOWI up to Topeka (KTOP) to the restaurant. A short 15 min flight. It wasn't until after I returned home, fat and happy with pancackes, that I realized I missed a Presidential TFR by a mere 2 hours! A few EAA chapter members designated me as "NOTAM Brandes".

Now fast forward a couple of years... yes, I check online for NOTAM's and TFR's every time I go fly. I'm also working on my instrument rating which means I really have to pay attention. Last week, I pulled up the NOTAM's before I went flying and saw this: !ZKC 12/181 OWI AD CLSD Hmmm... now most of the NOTAM contractions are somewhat logical and can be deciphered but this one didn't seem obvious. I called my flight instructor, who happens to be a FAA Center Controller, and asked him what the hec that meant. He wasn't initially sure but after thinking about it, decided that it meant the airport was closed.... and that "AD" meant Aerodrome. He said that the new "D NOTAM" contractions had changed from previous styles of NOTAM's.

I went on a hunt to find "AD" listed somewhere. I looked quite a bit and never could find it, not even on the FAA site of NOTAM contractions, which, is outdated by the way. Andy (my instructor) and I set off to find it. After a week of poking around, I found something this morning that makes reference to it.

So..... are you "D" NOTAM literate??

The "D" NOTAM Brochure

NOTAM Briefing:Guidance for NOTAM “D”Standardization - This is a good presentation that actually lists some of the "Keywords" as they call them.
Click to expand...


Ooh, Ooh, can I answer, Matt? Glad to see you working the NOTAMS! I've had great fun reading about you and Andy's exploits with the training, and looking at the track of your last mission was entertaining!
 
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I'm dumb, so somebody tell me.

Why does aviation still use a system of abbreviations from the teletype age? We're in the broadband age, so why is it necessary to abbreviate to all? Why not full text plain English?
 
DanH said:
I'm dumb, so somebody tell me.

Why does aviation still use a system of abbreviations from the teletype age? We're in the broadband age, so why is it necessary to abbreviate to all? Why not full text plain English?
Click to expand...

Dan, Good point. I think it is thinking along the line of: "real men can read the abbreviations." Sort of like when I first started flying and said "this is awfully loud!" The answer was not use ear plugs but rather "real men................" I agree it is a pretty sorry line of logic.

I guess it does make for a shorter line of stuff to scan/read. That is about the only logical reason I can think of to shorten the info.

Fortunately DUATS will give either the abbreviation or long version.
 
They changed

There are now D Notams and L Notams. You guys have to look them up. Good review. They changed a few months ago.

I'm fortunate (I guess) to get paid to fly, so I'm checking this stuff daily. Notams are fairly easy to figure out. I agree with Dan that in this day and age why are many things still in the teletype format.

Regarding weather, I'll bet 8 of 10 pilots can't properly decode a Metars or TAF. Not a slam, just the truth because they aren't easy. I often have to look up the legend to determine what something means. Aviation Sentry has a translated version that is quick and easy to ready.

With so many weather related accidents you'd think they would dumb it down as much as humanly possible. As an example, MVFR, Should probably read, "Don't bother." Light IFR- should probably read, "Are your really prepared for this?" These are just a couple of examples, but you get the message.

Great informative post!!!
 
RV7Guy said:
There are now D Notams and L Notams. You guys have to look them up. Good review. They changed a few months ago.
Click to expand...

Actually, Back in January of '08 they went from L and D NOTAMS to classifying all of them as D. This way we get national dissemination of all NOTAMS pertaining to a particular airport. Decoding them is fun and very educational! And this time of year, decoding METARS can provide us airplane geeks with hours of entertainment...UP..SG..BR..IP..BLSN..FZDZ..etc.etc.etc.
 
Because, sonny, that's the way it was and we LIKED it!

DanH said:
I'm dumb, so somebody tell me.

Why does aviation still use a system of abbreviations from the teletype age? We're in the broadband age, so why is it necessary to abbreviate to all? Why not full text plain English?
Click to expand...

Whoa! Hey.. I had an ASR-33, baby, all decked out with a tape punch and 300 baud modem. Weighed way less than 200lbs and if the neighbors complained about the noise, I couldn't hear 'em anyways.. It was great! Check it out! I could get a formatted dump of a 256 byte memory in less time than it took to brew a pot of coffee!

Of course, this was in nineteen-freakin'-seventy-four..

I'm with you, Dan. Today, I clicked to see Paris Hilton's pink Bentley (the CAR) and again to see how cold my daughter was getting in Rochester, MN and am quite sure I used more bandwidth than the entire federal METAR system. Doesn't make any sense.

Maybe that's the best thing about experimental aviation. We can adopt technologies that post-date electricity and pave the way towards new standards.

..and, like.., if you're interested, I even have this telephone thingie that doesn't need wires to talk on it. I mean.. call from anywhere. Seriously! Its too much.
 
DanH said:
I'm dumb, so somebody tell me.

Why does aviation still use a system of abbreviations from the teletype age? We're in the broadband age, so why is it necessary to abbreviate to all? Why not full text plain English?
Click to expand...
For the same reasons we still use mags and leaded gas: what we have works well enough and getting everyone to change is hard.

TODR, who is happy he has dual EI and can use unleaded gas
 
NOTAM literate

So..... are you "D" NOTAM literate??



I tried the link but the sight is no longer working. Any one have a good sight to become literate on Notams

Thanks

Waiting for good weather
Jim
RV6 400 hours
 
DanH said:
Why does aviation still use a system of abbreviations from the teletype age?
Click to expand...

Oh boy, don't even get me started on this one. Aviation has to be one of the last industries to learn how to make use of computers. On a related note, take a gander at the software the gate agent is using next time you take an airline trip (if you're dumb enough to do so...), and ask them why it takes 40 keystrokes and ten minutes to check the loads on another flight or change your reservation. Most of that software was written in the days before "point-and-click" was even in the vocabulary.

Oh and this should be a good link to replace the dead "NOTAM Briefing" from above:

http://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/media/d_notam_training.pdf
 
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The Code

I read code pretty well as I learned it in order to teach it. I can read weather briefing code faster than plain English.

However, every now and then I get stumped. On DUATS there is a "decode Location" function that will help you with more than airport codes, also contractions, such as PAEW (Personnel and equipment working" or AD (Aerodrome).
 
D Notams

Thanks,

Currently working on my commercial rating and with the check ride coming up next month I didn't know what that was. Thanks again!
 
Great info

N523RV said:
snipped
So..... are you "D" NOTAM literate??

The "D" NOTAM Brochure

NOTAM Briefing:Guidance for NOTAM ?D?Standardization - This is a good presentation that actually lists some of the "Keywords" as they call them.
Click to expand...

Matthew,
Great info! The second link didn't work for me. I use Firefox rather than Internet Explorer, so that may be why. I did find that second document here.

http://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/media/d_notam_training.pdf

Charlie Kuss
 
Where do I begin... OK... Matthew, thanks for lighting a fire under my a__ to do something about this 'F'd up system. As usual, Dan Horton is the voice of reason... why should we be here today? Darwin, are you serious???? Why should anybody have to decode METARS? They are usually easier than the subject at hand, but still a question. The 'other' Doug,... when has it ever worked?? NOTAMS have been a mystery to most pilots since some gomer in Washington DC came up with such a scheme, and to every, FAA person I have ever contacted to 'decode' for me. I have been flying professionally for over 35 years (27 in the airlines... ) and I've yet to find anybody, who has been able to decode these NOTAMS completely, even the dipwadds that wrote it.... What is the secret? Are they trying to hide something from us or are they trying to prove that pilots are a bunch of idiots? Some of this is safety of flight information or concerns national security, as seen by some uninformed piece of **** in Washington - but we still have to abide, lest the F-16's shoot us down. We should all write the 'main idiot in charge' - Randy Babbitt - and tell him what we think (he's former Eastern so cut him some slack). I will do this as soon as I can get contact information on him. There is absolutely no reason we can't get the information we need in a timely manner and in a form that we (or any normal human) can understand.

Side Note: Brian Wendt - give up on the airlines. There's no chance those dipsh_ts will ever catch with the rest of humanity.

Scott
 
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