AirTalk.org Aviation discussions newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  WHO'S NEXT: Will you rely upon the unofficial advsiory weath          AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Aviation related products View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message awos Guest Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:27 pm    Post subject: WHO'S NEXT: Will you rely upon the unofficial advsiory weath FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB Back to top awos Guest Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:29 pm    Post subject: Re: WHO'S NEXT: Will you rely upon the unofficial advsiory w On Apr 3, 1:27 pm, "awos" <awos_a...@yahoo.com> wrote: Quote: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB As noted previously, the only weather sensor approved by the FAA on the Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS weather station is the barometer setting. ALL remaining weather instruments (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory" weather sensors. According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. And only one Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS installation in Greenville, IL has been commissioned by the FAA as an official weather source for actual in-flight aviation use. The other 30-40 Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS field installations are NOT FAA commissioned which means they spew un-official advsiory weather information One needs to look to: FAA Advisory Circular 150/5220-16C in Chapter 2 titled "Certification and Commissioning Process" to see the steps that Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS WILLFULLY and INTENTIONALLY bypasses to get their inferior AWOS (Almost Weather Observation System) out into the U.S. marketplace. Most pilots don't know the difference between an FAA Approved, an FAA Certified nor an FAA Commissioned AWOS. And most pilots would just assume that all weather sensors on an FAA Approved AWOS are "commissioned" when they're really not. And you won't find Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS making note of this distinction either because they wouldn't sell any more Digiwx AWOS systems if the airports owners and operators really knew what an inferior piece of aviation weather SHIT they're getting if and when they decided to purchase a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS. About Belfort Instrument Company Belfort used to be a leading provider of weather instruments to the government, professional meteorology and aviation markets. Key words: "use to be." They never provided any wind sensors to the Wright Brothers despite their fantastic assertion that they did! Historical archives available at the U.S. Air Force National Museum (1100 Spaatz Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433) tells a very different story and specifically mentions a "Richards" anemometer which Wilbur Wright held as pictured at: http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/wright3.cfm. The Belfort aerovane wind system on U.S. Naval aircraft carriers are currently being replaced with ultrasonic wind sensors from QPI (11207 Single Oak Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22407) which just won a $94 million dollar contract for the Moriah Wind System. Belfort wind speed and direction anemometers found on the ASOS platform are now being replaced with ultrasonic sensors from the Vaisala Group. Belfort Instruments Model 6000 visibility sensor will no longer be a part of the U.S. Air Force's OS-21/FSB program come early 2007. And despite a $500,000 U.S. government grant from NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program in 2004 to build a low-cost ceilometer, Belfort didn't possess the technical smarts nor the engineering know-how to accomplish the task. So now they're importing the Eliasson CBME 80A laser ceilometer from Muir Matheson. As one can readily see, Belfort is no longer setting any standards of measurement in the weather instrumentation world. And now Belfort is propagating lie after lie about their fabled company history while trying to steal thunder from the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers. According to the National Museum of American History (12th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560), Belfort founder Julian Friez never made it to Baltimore to set up shop until sometime in the 1890s even though Belfort officials fradulently claim the company was founded in 1876. Thus, there was no 125th anniversary for Belfort to celebrate in 2001 even though they hosted a party to which no one came! Belfort's proclamation that it is the "Oldest Weather Company in the World" is simply yet another Belfort lie as Thomas Romney Robinson invented the first wind anemometer in 1846, six years before Julian Friez was born in 1852. Belfort doesn't even know it's own company history so they just make it up! You should wonder what other crap (eg. Digiwx AWOS) they also make up! For more information about Belfort Instrument and DigiWx, visit dogsh*t.com Back to top awos Guest Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:33 pm    Post subject: Re: WHO'S NEXT: Will you rely upon the unofficial advsiory w On Apr 3, 1:29 pm, "awos" <awos_a...@yahoo.com> wrote: Quote: On Apr 3, 1:27 pm, "awos" <awos_a...@yahoo.com> wrote: FAA NTSB Report Date: 18 MAR 2006 Time: ca 14:48 Type: Beechcraft C.99 Operator: Ameriflight Registration: N54RP C/n / msn: U-218 First flight: 1983 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-36 Crew: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Airplane damage: Written off Location: 13 km (8.1 mls) SW of Butte, MT (USA) Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: Helena Airport, MT (HLN/KHLN), USA Destination airport: Butte (Bert Mooney) Airport, MT (BTM/KBTM), USA Flightnumber: 2591 Narrative: The Beech 99 departed Helena (HLN) at 14:35 on flight to Butte (Bert Mooney, BTM) and was carrying only about 10 pounds of freight. The aircraft was cleared for the VOR B approach to Butte at 14:48. Butte controllers noted that a weather front that included icing conditions and heavy snow had been approaching the area from the south to the north/northeast even though a UNICOM-based Digiwx AWOS reported clear skies with good visibility and gentle winds in the mountains. During the descent, the airplane collided with trees and subsequently the terrain. Search crews found the wreckage of the plane on March 20. Upon investigation, one of the cockpit radio was found to be tuned to 123.0 MHz which is the airport's CTAF/UNICOM. Preliminary results strongly suggest that the Beechcraft pilot received incorrect and faulty data from a Digiwx AWOS weather reporting station on the field at Butte (BTM) airport. FAA and NTSB continue to probe the weather data being disseminated from this Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS which has never been formally FAA commissioned. Cary Gates from the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA in Helena, MT notes that the barometer setting is the only FAA Approved weather sensor on the Digiwx AWOS weather station; all remaining weather sensors on the Digiwx AWOS (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory." According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. It should be noted that Belfort Instruments website even makes mention in a disclaimer that "weather readings shown on the Internet are advisory only." Sources: 2 killed in crash of cargo plane (Billings Gazette 20-3-2006); FAA NTSB As noted previously, the only weather sensor approved by the FAA on the Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS weather station is the barometer setting. ALL remaining weather instruments (wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, visibility, ceilometer, density altitude, condensation altitude) are all "advisory" weather sensors. According to the FAA, "Advisory Use ONLY" means not for actual in-flight aviation use. And only one Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS installation in Greenville, IL has been commissioned by the FAA as an official weather source for actual in-flight aviation use. The other 30-40 Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS field installations are NOT FAA commissioned which means they spew un-official advsiory weather information One needs to look to: FAA Advisory Circular 150/5220-16C in Chapter 2 titled "Certification and Commissioning Process" to see the steps that Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS WILLFULLY and INTENTIONALLY bypasses to get their inferior AWOS (Almost Weather Observation System) out into the U.S. marketplace. Most pilots don't know the difference between an FAA Approved, an FAA Certified nor an FAA Commissioned AWOS. And most pilots would just assume that all weather sensors on an FAA Approved AWOS are "commissioned" when they're really not. And you won't find Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS making note of this distinction either because they wouldn't sell any more Digiwx AWOS systems if the airports owners and operators really knew what an inferior piece of aviation weather SHIT they're getting if and when they decided to purchase a Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS. About Belfort Instrument Company Belfort used to be a leading provider of weather instruments to the government, professional meteorology and aviation markets. Key words: "use to be." They never provided any wind sensors to the Wright Brothers despite their fantastic assertion that they did! Historical archives available at the U.S. Air Force National Museum (1100 Spaatz Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433) tells a very different story and specifically mentions a "Richards" anemometer which Wilbur Wright held as pictured at:http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/wright3.cfm. The Belfort aerovane wind system on U.S. Naval aircraft carriers are currently being replaced with ultrasonic wind sensors from QPI (11207 Single Oak Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22407) which just won a $94 million dollar contract for the Moriah Wind System. Belfort wind speed and direction anemometers found on the ASOS platform are now being replaced with ultrasonic sensors from the Vaisala Group. Belfort Instruments Model 6000 visibility sensor will no longer be a part of the U.S. Air Force's OS-21/FSB program come early 2007. And despite a $500,000 U.S. government grant from NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program in 2004 to build a low-cost ceilometer, Belfort didn't possess the technical smarts nor the engineering know-how to accomplish the task. So now they're importing the Eliasson CBME 80A laser ceilometer from Muir Matheson. As one can readily see, Belfort is no longer setting any standards of measurement in the weather instrumentation world. And now Belfort is propagating lie after lie about their fabled company history while trying to steal thunder from the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers. According to the National Museum of American History (12th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560), Belfort founder Julian Friez never made it to Baltimore to set up shop until sometime in the 1890s even though Belfort officials fradulently claim the company was founded in 1876. Thus, there was no 125th anniversary for Belfort to celebrate in 2001 even though they hosted a party to which no one came! Belfort's proclamation that it is the "Oldest Weather Company in the World" is simply yet another Belfort lie as Thomas Romney Robinson invented the first wind anemometer in 1846, six years before Julian Friez was born in 1852. Belfort doesn't even know it's own company history so they just make it up! You should wonder what other crap (eg. Digiwx AWOS) they also make up! For more information about Belfort Instrument and DigiWx, visit dogsh*t.com- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - FYI: The LifeFlight Foundation of Maine is doing business with the Belfort Instruments Digiwx AWOS terrorists Back to top Tommy Guest Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:47 pm    Post subject: Re: WHO'S NEXT: Will you rely upon the unofficial advsiory w Now you see what happens when they close the mental hospitals Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Aviation related products All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum Aviation----------------alt.aviationAviation safety EnhancementPlanes, gliders and flying in AustraliaAviation et pilotage (Français)rec.aviationAviation (Aerobatics)Hot air, gas balloons and airshipsHang-gliding, paragliding, foot-launched flightAircraft Design & BuildingInstrument Flight RulesAviation (Classifieds)Military AircraftNaval AviationAviation (Miscellaneous Topics)Owning AirplanesAviators (General Discussions)Aviation related productsAircraft RestorationHelicopters and rotary wing aircraftsFlight SimulationSailplanesAviation (Students)Light aircraftFlying related activities in the UK Airports----------------alt.airportsEdinburgh Airport Glasgow Airport Humberside Airport Luton Airport Aberdeen Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2006 phpBB Group SEO toolkit © 2004-2006 webmedic.