Canada Weather & ATC

I am writing an article for the Europa Aircraft Club magazine that describes weather services in North America (most Europa owners are in Europe and deal with all the different services there).

I have found NAV Canada and it appears they offer similar services to our Lockheed Martin Flight Services. Are there other sources of Canadian aviation weather? Is Nav Canada weather free or is there a fee? Can you still get a telephone briefing? How do you file flightplans? Do you have to file VFR flightplans? Are there any other things I need to mention? Do most pilots use Foreflight? Are there other planning / weather apps that work well?

I've flown VFR over southern Ontario and gotten flight following with no fees. My understanding is NAV Canada will bill if you use IFR services. Can anyone explain this better?

Oh for the good old days 30 years ago when I flew my Mooney into CYYZ nearly weekly!

Thanks

Jim Butcher
Europa XS

Responses in line in parentheses. I won't claim to have a lot of expertise so will only mention those services with which I'm familiar.

I have had excellent service from Nav Canada for weather briefing and flight planning. One needs to be aware that we may treat flight plans in a different fashion than other jurisdictions when it comes to Search and Rescue notification. If you file a flight plan, you can specify your departure time and time enroute - a SAR communications search will be initiated automatically 60 minutes after your ETA if you have not closed your flight plan. You can specify a longer SAR notification time when opening the flight plan if you feel your ETA may be inaccurate, particularly if you have in intermediate ground stop where a delay may be encountered. We take flight plans and SAR notification seriously. I've arrived 45 minutes after ETA and been informed by the Unicom operator that Flight Service had already called them. This isn't Big Brother watching you, this truly is Big Brother watching out for you.

h&jeuropa said:

I am writing an article for the Europa Aircraft Club magazine that describes weather services in North America (most Europa owners are in Europe and deal with all the different services there).

I have found NAV Canada and it appears they offer similar services to our Lockheed Martin Flight Services. Are there other sources of Canadian aviation weather? (effectively, no) Is Nav Canada weather free or is there a fee? (Nav Canada charges a fixed annual fee to registered aircraft owners - that's their primary fee for weather and flight planning.) Can you still get a telephone briefing? (yes, and they typically range from very good to truly stellar) How do you file flightplans? (flight plan filing can be done over the phone after receiving a briefing, or on-line - both services are excellent) Do you have to file VFR flightplans? (outside 25nm from home, yes, either a flight plan or a flight itinerary is required. Given the vastness of Canada, failure to file is truly foolish.) Are there any other things I need to mention? Do most pilots use Foreflight? Are there other planning / weather apps that work well? (Foreflight has Canadian charts, for $$$$. FltPlanGO has them FREE - guess which one I'm using!?!?!)

I've flown VFR over southern Ontario and gotten flight following with no fees. My understanding is NAV Canada will bill if you use IFR services. Can anyone explain this better? (several threads here document Nav Canada charging for VFR services - search "letter from Nav Canada" for some additional background info)

Oh for the good old days 30 years ago when I flew my Mooney into CYYZ nearly weekly! (Come on up north - it's a big sky with few aircraft in it, lots of friendly folks on the ground, great beer, etc etc)

Thanks

Jim Butcher
Europa XS

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