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24 • TWIN & TURBINE MAY 2014From The Flight Deck by Kevin R. DingmanNoteworthyFSS behind the counter, near an actual, live human person, a Flight Service Specialist – sometimes two or three of them, and they were fluent in Teletype code. We now use the phone, hand-held devices or a computer to access the information. We are no longer trying to save ink, paper or baud rate, so why they continue to use abbreviations is a mystery equal to the construction techniques of the pyramids.FSS is now called AFSS (Automated Flight Service Station) and they’re operated by Lockheed Martin from just six locations: Prescott, AZ, Fort Worth, TX, Miami FL, Raleigh, NC, Ashburn, VA and Princeton, MN. You likely get your weather and those all-important NOTAMs from them in the form of a “standard” briefing; if not, then from an internet flight planning source.My Kingdom for a NOTAMThere are five types of NOTAMs: D, FDC, Pointer, SAA and NTAP. You may be wondering: what are Pointer and SAA NOTAMs and, by the way, what happened to L NOTAMs? The L or local NOTAMs went away and are combined with the Ds. Pointer NOTAMs are simply a type of D NOTAM that directs you to look somewhere else, like the index in a book. FDC stands for Federal Data Collection and these may not be covered in a standard brief from AFSS – you need to ask for them or look in the NTAP. NTAP is Notice To Airman Publication and, yes, they still make an actual printed version every 28 days – using actual ink and actual paper. SAA is Special Activity Airspace. This relates to restricted areas and MOA’s, but not TFR’s.NOTAM (D) or distant NOTAMsThese cover navigational facilities, heliports, and all public-use airports and seaplane bases that are listed in the Airport/Facility Directory. They include information about taxiwayThree hours after takeoff, it’s 2200 local when you finally begin the approach. You’re tired, you’re in a trace of rime ice, one of your passengers has needed a restroom for the last half-hour and your fuel is approaching the minimum for an alternate 35 minutes to the west. You have never been to this airport before and would rather have flown an approach to runway 3 because of a stiff north wind, but there aren’t any to that runway. So, the autopilot is correcting fifteen degrees left as it tracks the 75-degree course for the GPS runway 8 at Lewiston, Montana.Approach control releases you to CTAF and you broadcast your intentions to Lewiston traffic; there is no response, the airport is yours. At 1,000 AGL you click the mic four times to turn on the runway lights. Your “Thank you, Lord” breaks the intercom squelch as you exit the clouds a few seconds later, three hundred feet above minimums and on- speed at 120 KIAS. The lights for runway 8 are perfectly on the nose but you also pick up the lights for runway 3. You bump up the throttles and begin a circle to land with a right turn to enter a left base to 3. This is going to work out great, almost no crosswind.On final to 3, the runway surface looks dark, even though the MIRL’s are bright. As your landing lights illuminate the runway, you can see car tracks in the snow and it’s at least a foot deep! At thirty feet you struggle to shake off the surprise and confusion. The intercom squelch breaks once more when you blurt out something foul and execute an imprecise, but manageable, clean-up and missed approach – you wonder if the go-around stirred up the snow.Great Falls is too far away for the passenger’s level of discomfort; besides, the weather is civilized, so you fly another GPS to runway 8 and land successfully ten minutes later.Nice Set Of MIRL’sAs it turns out, the foot of snow was a blessing, because not only did you miss the information about not removing snow from runway 3, but also the one about runway 3/21 being day-use only. What? It had really nice MIRLs. Why would they light a runway if it wasn’t plowed and usable at night? How did this happen? You’ve read the online NOTAMs, thoroughly reviewed the approach plates and even did the 1-800-WX-BRIEF thing. You are not alone in the misconception that this level of planning, research and chart reading should be sufficient. You’re also not alone in the knowledge that the flying business continues to be replete with gotchas. Not to worry; later in the article there’s an Executive Summary on what you need to know and where to get the information.The number of Flight Service Stations (FSS) reached a high of about 400 in 1973. They were positioned at airports around the country and were filled with the clickity-clatter of the Model ASR-28 (automatic send/receive) Teletype that doubled as a printer. Teletype Corporation created the contractions, abbreviations and symbols used for weather and NOTAMs, based on the available fonts and baud rates of the day, as well as the printing speed of their Teletype. Initially, pilots had little need to learn the code.Weather synopsis and winds aloft charts were also displayed in the