Next time you bust your computer-addicted teenager for spending hours chatting to friends via instant messaging, maybe you should take a lesson, instead. It may not be too long before you do your flight planning in a pretty similar, if more sophisticated, interactive way. "This is something (flight service station) briefers would really like to see," said Jeff Barnes of the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists. Barnes is the union's liaison with the Operation and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) effort to modernize FSS information systems. And, silly acronym aside, he said there are some real technological initiatives on the horizon. Chief among them is creation of an interactive briefing and notification system that will allow pilots to not only file their flight plans over the Internet but go over them in real time with a briefer. With the up-to-date features of OASIS, that means mixing graphics and text on a screen that both participants in the briefing would see -- leaving much less room for error on either part and potentially more user-specific detail. Although FSS briefers get the goldstar, in our opinion, for their clear and succinct verbal conveyance ofcomplicated information, you know what they say a picture is worth ...
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/leadnews/interactive-briefings