randylervold
moderator
Weathermeister.com is so good it makes me feel guilty. Like most pilots I've established a list of web sites I use for my flight planning. It was actually a fair amount of work to hit them all to assemble the full picture of weather for the route I was going to travel. I'd use either general mapping software or AOPA's flight planning software to do my route planning (distance, time, waypoints, etc.), then hit all the weather sites. Weathermeister.com assembles all the data you need from many of the same sources I was using separately, then adds additional functionality with its Flight Optimizer.
Yes, it's a subscription service with three pricing levels, but frankly I think it's free, here's the logic... XM Weather on my Garmin 496 is $49.99/mo, or $29.99 for the Aviator LT package. I changed my subscription from the full package to the Aviator LT package saving $20/mo, then sign up for Weathermeister.com at $6.95/mo and I'm still $13 a month ahead. What I'm missing in the air is primarily winds aloft and satelitte mosaic. Winds aloft is not usually accurate, and with an RV you can just change altitude quickly to check anyway. My Advanced Flight Systems AF-3500 EFIS has a real time wind direction and speed arrow so I don't even need to compare TAS to groundspeed, just look at the arrow direction and windspeed. I've found the satellite mosaic product (cloud cover) is of little value since it doesn't show cloud tops... can I get over it or not? It doesn't tell you.
Anyway, for me using Weathermeister.com before I take off and XM Aviator LT in the air and is both cheaper and yields a better quality briefing. I feel like I'm cheating because I'm not working hard enough on my flight planning, just click a few buttons and it's all right there!
I haven't done justice here to all Weathermeister.com can do so be sure and click on this link for a full description.
Yes, it's a subscription service with three pricing levels, but frankly I think it's free, here's the logic... XM Weather on my Garmin 496 is $49.99/mo, or $29.99 for the Aviator LT package. I changed my subscription from the full package to the Aviator LT package saving $20/mo, then sign up for Weathermeister.com at $6.95/mo and I'm still $13 a month ahead. What I'm missing in the air is primarily winds aloft and satelitte mosaic. Winds aloft is not usually accurate, and with an RV you can just change altitude quickly to check anyway. My Advanced Flight Systems AF-3500 EFIS has a real time wind direction and speed arrow so I don't even need to compare TAS to groundspeed, just look at the arrow direction and windspeed. I've found the satellite mosaic product (cloud cover) is of little value since it doesn't show cloud tops... can I get over it or not? It doesn't tell you.
Anyway, for me using Weathermeister.com before I take off and XM Aviator LT in the air and is both cheaper and yields a better quality briefing. I feel like I'm cheating because I'm not working hard enough on my flight planning, just click a few buttons and it's all right there!
I haven't done justice here to all Weathermeister.com can do so be sure and click on this link for a full description.