Garmin Pilot improves (US) NOTAM presentation. And here?

[Garfly]

 

Garmin Pilot adds visual NOTAMs in latest update

https://ipadpilotnews.com/2021/07/garmin-pilot-adds-visual-notams-in-latest-update/

 

 

 

This is a good move from Garmin Pilot and I hope that our local EFB apps won't be too far behind.

 

Actually, I contacted OZRWYs Support recently with a question about how NOTAMS appear in their SmartBrief and how they might be made more user friendly. (It was always tedious trying to sort the wheat from the chaff in Area Forecasts). They're very aware of the problem and are working on it. But they're constrained by the way the authorities present the information in the first place. However, they say that this is under review right now by CASA. So maybe we can look forward to some improvements here in future.  In the meantime, I've found that getting a Location Briefing  in SmartBrief - as opposed to the whole route - helps to find relevant NOTAMS for the place you're landing at - if that's what you mostly need.

 

https://docs.ozrunways.com/ozrunways/4a_brief-smartbrief-page.html

 

 

MY ENQUIRY TO OZRWYs:

 

 I’m curious about how and by-whom NOTAMS get selected/ordered? Is there a way around having to wade through tons of dross to get to the morsels that matter. For example, in this little (test) plan [Screen Shot below]  I was interested to see if the NOTAM about the grass strip at Taree being unavailable, due soft and wet, would turn up. I reckon that this would be, perhaps, the most important piece of info for anyone flying in who didn’t otherwise know that.  Well yes, it does turn up (see screenshot) but right at the bottom of the very long list - at #58 in this particular instance. I notice there are star and thumbs down buttons for each entry, maybe these could help but how do they work? (I’m probably missing some good info somewhere.)

 

Click to see full rez:

 

REPLY FROM OZRWYs SUPPORT:

 

".... the thumbs down and star buttons were our way of allowing the user to sort their NOTAMs from most important (starred), unread (blue dot shown on the left hand side), read (no indicators), to unimportant (thumbs down icon).
This is because NOTAMs are very poorly sorted by the authorities (currently under a big review by CASA) and we are not given geographical information to link them more logically for users.
The NOTAM grading system is explained in our User Guide here:
https://docs.ozrunways.com/ozrunways/4a_brief-smartbrief-page.html#...
But essentially star any NOTAMs that are important, and thumbs down any that are irrelevant to you (keeping in mind possible future flights). Then the next time you come to read the NOTAMs, they will be sorted in the order I described above."

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

Wow. Classic latent error material right there. I thought that notams were displayed in chronological order. Were there 57 more recent notams? 

[Garfly]

They're not simply ordered by chronology. (That'd be equally inutile.) There is a hierarchy of order known, it seems, only to the authorities.  BTW, this has been the case long before EFB apps came along to make things so much easier for us. For example, by providing Location Briefing which can help with Runway closures etc. . But we're still expected to be aware of other route notices, such as military flying activity. But again, EFBs help a lot with that kind of info with real time PRD tinting etc.

 

As OZRWYs Support explained:

 

 This is because NOTAMs are very poorly sorted by the authorities (currently under a big review by CASA) and we are not given geographical information to link them more logically for users.

 

And the problem is not only local as the (US) iPad Pilot article (linked above) explained.  

 

"Runway Closure NOTAMs:      Depending on the source and presentation of your weather briefing, it can be difficult to isolate the few NOTAMs that really matter. There’s nothing more embarrassing than approaching an airport to land only to find that a runway, or the entire airport itself, is closed (and you missed the NOTAM during your pre-flight preparation)."

And thus the point of the Garmin Pilot innovation. 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Garfly