Is there any way to get your destination ATIS before your decent begins? Wow what a big help that would be.al

Depends on what weather source you're using.If you have ActiveSky (I think it's worth the purchase), you can listen to 122.00 (flightwatch) where ActiveSky broadcasts nearest and destination weather.If you're using the built-in FS weather downloaded from Jeppesen, you can open the weather dialog box and scroll the map to your destination and pickup current metar from there.Regardless, the FS ATIS should be active at least 60nm miles out, which is not too bad. RW ATIS reception is often pretty weak beyond 80nm out.

Good external site: http://adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov/metars/

>Good external site:>http://adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov/metars/ Is there a alternate website like this for Europe and/or the rest of the world?@lex

One thing I did recently was to add this address to the reference page on my kneeboard. I can then access it while in-flight :D

hi , knowing where the wind is coming from is a resonable resolution. However, for me, even I checked the weather using AS6, the FSATC sometimes assigns me a different runway( especially for EHAM where there are several runways in the airport), and I usually end up requesting FSATC that I will use the runway I was expected, or follow the ATC instruction and find out that I am 3000ft over the vertical path and totally screws up my approach. I know that in real world, ATC informs pilots which runway they will use and the STAR much earlier than the aircraft is in the ATIS range, so that the pilots would have time to deal with it...ANyway, I hope FSX will have a better ATC system so that we can fly in a way that is much more similar to the real pilots.(ALSO, a better AI aircraft system, at least makes the AI aircraft fly in an airway rather than a straight line from airport to airport.)ben

"I know that in real world, ATC informs pilots which runway they will use and the STAR much earlier than the aircraft is in the ATIS range"My RW experience is contary to your knowledge. Maybe we're on different continents. The STAR is part of my flightplan... selected before takeoff. It might get admended enroute but probably not. I get ATIS before I expect the handoff to approach, 30-40 miles out, and the initial contact with approach is generally an expect approach advisory. Woe to thee whom contacteth approach before getting ATIS... they can get impatient if they're busy.The MSFS ATC has shortcomings, and sometimes the active runways are very un-RW. Many have updated runways assignments with AFCAD for this reason.

"My RW experience is contary to your knowledge. Maybe we're on different continents. The STAR is part of my flightplan... selected before takeoff. It might get admended enroute but probably not. I get ATIS before I expect the handoff to approach, 30-40 miles out, and the initial contact with approach is generally an expect approach advisory. Woe to thee whom contacteth approach before getting ATIS... they can get impatient if they're busy.The MSFS ATC has shortcomings, and sometimes the active runways are very un-RW. Many have updated runways assignments with AFCAD for this reason."In Australia STAR is issued by the ATC and is not planned by the aircraft. STAR is also not COMPULSORY to plan when flying in the U.S. contrary to popular belief. It is however permissed to be planned for airlines as many US carriers do. QANTAS are among the lot that do not plan STARS in the US.ATIS can also be received in the FMC on request as with many CATIS/DATIS systems.

Remeber, a METAR is just the weather, an ATIS will contain operational info such as the runways in use, any pertinant NOTAMs and other such info.Example:"Auckland Information Zulu issued at 1114 zulu. Expect ILS/DME Runway 23L approach, runway conditions wet. Surface wind 290 degress 11 knots minimum 10kts maximum 15kts, visibility 10 kilometers reducing 2,000 meters. Present weather heavy showers of rain. Cloud 900ft overcast, 2,000ft scattered, 5,000ft broken Temperature 11, Dewpoint 10 QNH 986. On first contact with Auckland Tower or Control notify receipt of Zulu"You can find the ATIS for U.S. airports through www.airnav.com/airport/XXX where XXX is the IATA ID eg 'lax' not 'LAX' or the D-ATIS feature (free registration) at www.fboweb.comD-ATIS is avaliable for most major airports worldwide and is printed on the ACARS printer on the flight deck, I've got a few I managed to get off the crew, once at 2am on return to Auckland.Such nice crews that airline with the Koru has :)

I remember on several instances while flyig the jumpseat of a B777 my uncle would give me the job of copying down ATIS messages for him so I could train my comms hearing. I remember partially being able to hear ATIS messages from as far away as 150-100 miles out. Needless to say, he'd always hear it himself to make sure there were no screw-ups. But indeed, the message was always more clear within a 50 mile radius.What we usually did to plan for an arrival in the FMC was to get via Datalink the METARS and TAFs some 2-3 hours before arrival and insert on routes 1 and 2 the two most likely STARs and Final Approaches to be used based on our entry sector into the airspace and wx conditions respectively. Then it was just a matter of activating the right one once we received our clearence and making minor adjustments. Best Regards,Victor LimaSBGLhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

in FS9, there is a problem with weather refreshing correctly. My suggestion is, once the game is finally loaded in, you are sitting at the gate, the weather loads, after about a minute, you go up to the pause menu in-game and change the time to a minute forward or behind. This will reload the world and incorporate all the weather data to the FS world, opening up the correct runways at your departure and destination