How do airliners typically receive latest METAR and weather updates at high altitudes?

[-]

flyghu@reddit

Aircraft receipt printers! I like it! They invoice every 1000 lbs of fuel and the pilots have to turn in the receipts.

[-]

Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit

On an Airbus It’s called a MCDU. Multi-Function Control and Display Unit

Contained within the MCDU are several programs.

FMGC - flight guidance / FMS program ATSU - ACARS ATC - CPDLC working in conjunction with the DCDU AIDS - access maintenance functions CFSP - more maintenance functions

You get D-ATIS thru the ATC page using CPDLC You get METARs/TAFs thru the ATSU page using ACARS.

Though it’s just easier to use WiFi and pull up D-ATiS / METARS / TAFs / NOTAMs thru your iPad.

If WiFi is inop you utilize ACARS and CPDLC If that’s not working then you have to do things the old fashioned way and listen over the VHF tuned to ATIS or AWOS. Or call FSS / Flight Watch.

If you needed to talk to your dispatcher and Teams / iMessage isn’t working. Go thru ACARs - if ACARS doesn’t work you can either call dispatch over SATCOM or if SATCOM is down / not working or not installed, call ARINC either VHF or HF and ask either San Francisco or New York ARINC to establish a phone patch. They call your dispatch and then you and the dispatcher talk over the radio once the operator has connected. And you can ask the dispatcher to get you the METARs, confirm your fuel burn numbers / bingo fuel for diversions or sports scores or whatever you want.

[-]

sr15enjoyer@reddit

Teams & iMessage to dispatch!? That sounds amazing

[-]

Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit

Teams to talk with dispatch is awesome… instead of waiting for takeoff performance numbers from ACARS at the end of the runway…. We can text the data to dispatch over Microsoft Teams and have them run the takeoff performance numbers, which they send back over Teams, plug the numbers into the FMGC and we’re off…

then sometime halfway to our destination ACARs receives the takeoff performance numbers and prints it out automatically…. And we’re like day late dollar short…

[-]

Imaginary_Amoeba3461@reddit

At my company we actually use the WiFi to get it more than ACARS. Although both work.

[-]

sniper4273@reddit

Y'all have Wi-Fi?

Cries in CRJ

[-]

Imaginary_Amoeba3461@reddit

Interesting I thought that most of the CRJ’s have WiFi now.

[-]

sniper4273@reddit

Customer Wi-Fi, yes. Not allowed to use that though.

Separate pilot Wi-Fi no. Not in our specific fleet for this specific major partner.

[-]

johnfkngzoidberg@reddit

ADSB weather feeling lonely.

[-]

spacecadet2399@reddit

There are a few different ways. We can always pull it up on our iPad assuming we have working wifi, which we don't always when oceanic or when wifi is just inop (it is an MEL item and it is not required to be working). But 90% of the time, it's working.

ACARS works basically 100% of the time, so we can also pull it up that way. We print the paper copy so we have a record that we looked at it and because it's SOP. We don't do that for every single update. We might look at the weather 20 times on the way to our destination, but print it only once just to make it "official".

Occasionally, there will be an airport that airlines fly to that has no electronically available weather. Then we just do it over the radio and we write it down. As long as it's recorded somewhere that we got it, that's good enough.

Note that I have never had anyone check that I've recorded the weather, but you can bet they would if anything ever happened.

[-]

swakid8@reddit

WiFi (FD Pro, WSI, Skypath)
Pull the D-ATIS/METAR/TAF via ACARs
Dispatch
Listen to it
ATC

[-]

10and250@reddit

Send an ACARS request for weather info, could be D-ATIS, or actual and forecast metar/taf which comes back to the FMS and can be printed

[-]

BeenThereDoneThat65@reddit

You actually have paper in your printer?

[-]

TryOurMozzSticks@reddit

Yes. And if it isn’t there with extra rolls on board to reload we write up and don’t move until it’s replaced.

[-]

10and250@reddit

As well paid as we are, one of the few times I feel underpaid is when the printer runs out of paper and I have to change the roll. Jussst when you think you have the hang of it, it humbles you.

[-]

LawManActual@reddit

I absolutely love the 320 flight deck, except when it’s time to change the paper. I hate that. That second roller in the back, literally the worst part of my job.

[-]

Independent-Reveal86@reddit

Interesting. I find it to be straight forward, but it’s obvious that a lot of people struggle with it judging by the poorly fed rolls. The biggest issue is pilots not making sure the pin on the roll is correctly engaged in the holder.

[-]

anonymous4071@reddit

Cancer paper actually.

[-]

Independent-Reveal86@reddit

We usually setup an auto D-ATIS through the MCDU and ACARS. Our international aircraft have wifi and we use that and the various iPad apps for en route weather when we’re EDTO, but for the destination, having the D-ATIS auto print when it updates is unbeatable.

[-]

Vincent-the-great@reddit

Acars, ipad, listening to the radio (ew), telepathically predicting the weather, holding the dispatcher hostage etc

[-]

stormostorm@reddit

"the weather issssss..........fuck it I'm shooting the ILS and pointing the nose down the runway before we land, any questions?"

[-]

us1549@reddit

Fun fact, ACARS is not encrypted and can be read if you have a radio receiver

[-]

vARROWHEAD@reddit

Couple of other options not mentioned are Text Wx in FANS equipped FMS

And also SiriusXM weather gives you this via Bluetooth on foreflight

[-]

Impossible_Sky9384@reddit

I was marveling the other day during a flight how, back when I started flying, it was always fun to see if the actual weather at a destination was “as-advertised” last I spoke to a human briefer a few hours prior. The amount of in cockpit data available today, even in a barely-VFR capable bug smasher, is incredible.

[-]

Please downvote this comment until it collapses.

Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.