Airport WX info box should show ALL weather info, not requiring yet another tap to get them all

[MGiacomet]

When clicking on an airport, the WX tab of the pop up box should display all information, not just a subset.

Currently it's missing additional important info that may be in the METAR: "Rain" (light, heavy!), "Mist", "RVR", "Station in need of maintenance", etc. and requires the pilot to ALWAYS click the "Wx Info" button to get them all. Having to ALWAYS click this button to get accurate data defeats the purpose of this box.

Also, please allow the option to display the RAW METAR (and just the raw data) in the WX area of this box (no info would be missing...)

 

[Tony4aro]

While I understand what you are asking for.... it would complicate a window that is meant for quick info. If I'm flying and want to check on an airport.... it tells me what the winds are doing, Where the clouds are, and if it's VFR or not. For flight planning... all the info ins one more click away.

 

[MGiacomet]

While I understand what you are asking for.... it would complicate a window that is meant for quick info. If I'm flying and want to check on an airport.... it tells me what the winds are doing, Where the clouds are, and if it's VFR or not. For flight planning... all the info ins one more click away.

Well if you only care about “VFR or not”…

Now beware! the “quick info” window hides surprises…

Here’s an example. The “quick info” shows a rather benign weather “wind 6kt, 8 miles visibility, ceiling 2700”, a nice almost VFR weather. Right?

HOWEVER: Rain (not light rain…), Thunderstorms in the vicinity, lightning… Not benign anymore. So, unless you tap to see more info, you are up to a surprise. (And you have to have the Raw text, because even the expanded info does not show “Thunderstorms in the vicinity “ VCTS) Yeah, yeah, NEXRAD may spark your curiosity to tap “Wx Info”, but why this extra step?… And there are other weather phenomenon that don’t show on NEXRAD but are critical to flight safety. So the wary pilot needs to always tap “Wx Info”

The quick (benign) info:


The surprise:



But we could have the best of all worlds: make the quick info window configurable: the (misleading) simplified info, as is, for those that are satisfied with it OR the FULL raw text (for those that can read it all, quicker)

 

[Cobra]

Now beware! the “quick info” window hides surprises…

Here’s an example. The “quick info” shows a rather benign weather “wind 6kt, 8 miles visibility, ceiling 2700”, a nice almost VFR weather. Right?

HOWEVER: Rain (not light rain…), Thunderstorms in the vicinity, lightning… Not benign anymore. So, unless you tap to see more info, you are up to a surprise. (And you have to have the Raw text, because even the expanded info does not show “Thunderstorms in the vicinity “ VCTS) Yeah, yeah, NEXRAD may spark your curiosity to tap “Wx Info”, but why this extra step?… And there are other weather phenomenon that don’t show on NEXRAD but are critical to flight safety. So the wary pilot needs to always tap “Wx Info”

Um....as you acknowledge, the whole rest of the moving map display is giving you near-real-time radar information. How, exactly, are rain or thunderstorms going to be a surprise, unless you have the radar layer turned off for some reason? The NEXRAD display includes lighting strike information, so thunderstorms are also graphically depicted.

If you're using a modern aviation EFB on a tablet in the cockpit, but are primarily reliant on raw METAR data as your source to understand if there's rain at an airport you're considering...I'd argue that you're misusing the technology available to you.

However, as has been pointed out, if that's really your preference, it's only one tap away. By definition, the "QuickView" display doesn't present all the details--it's just a quick view of summary info, but the details are easily accessible.

It doesn't seem like there's really a problem here.

 

[MGiacomet]

Um....as you acknowledge, the whole rest of the moving map display is giving you near-real-time radar information. How, exactly, are rain or thunderstorms going to be a surprise, unless you have the radar layer turned off for some reason? The NEXRAD display includes lighting strike information, so thunderstorms are also graphically depicted.

If you're using a modern aviation EFB on a tablet in the cockpit, but are primarily reliant on raw METAR data as your source to understand if there's rain at an airport you're considering...I'd argue that you're misusing the technology available to you.

However, as has been pointed out, if that's really your preference, it's only one tap away. By definition, the "QuickView" display doesn't present all the details--it's just a quick view of summary info, but the details are easily accessible.

It doesn't seem like there's really a problem here.

>>.I'd argue that you're misusing the technology available to you.

When the technology is lacking (information poorly parsed/displayed and needing to be looked at multiple places to get it all) suggesting an improvement should not be seen as a mistake on who’s making the suggestion…

Again, I proposed a solution that would satisfy both needs, but you seem stuck on blindly accepting what the existing implementation provides.

Can we agree that there’s always room for improvement, at least?

 

[Cobra]

Can we agree that there’s always room for improvement, at least?

Absolutely, things can always be improved. However, reasonable people may disagree on what constitutes "improvement".

The specific example you used to argue your point was a strange choice, as suggesting that a METAR--which is specific to a very small geographic point and could be up to 55 minutes old--is the best way to be apprised of rain or thunderstorm activity when the main screen is constantly displaying near-real-time NEXRAD is...not compelling. You suggest that you "need to look at multiple places" to get the whole picture, but the example you use literally has all the information visible on the same screen: The QV window pops up alongside the NEXRAD view.

You allude to "other weather phenomen[a]" that would support your request but don't specify them. Maybe there are compelling reasons to make this change, but I haven't heard them yet.

I agree that an option to toggle between displaying decoded vs raw data would "satisfy both needs", but it still has a cost--probably a relatively small one compared to other changes, but not zero. Adventure Pilot does use these feature requests, including how much traction they get via up/downvoting, to inform their decisions about where to expend development effort. Ultimately, it matters what they think, not what I think.

 

[Tony4aro]

Well if you only care about “VFR or not”…

Now beware! the “quick info” window hides surprises…

Here’s an example. The “quick info” shows a rather benign weather “wind 6kt, 8 miles visibility, ceiling 2700”, a nice almost VFR weather. Right?

HOWEVER: Rain (not light rain…), Thunderstorms in the vicinity, lightning… Not benign anymore. So, unless you tap to see more info, you are up to a surprise. (And you have to have the Raw text, because even the expanded info does not show “Thunderstorms in the vicinity “ VCTS) Yeah, yeah, NEXRAD may spark your curiosity to tap “Wx Info”, but why this extra step?… And there are other weather phenomenon that don’t show on NEXRAD but are critical to flight safety. So the wary pilot needs to always tap “Wx Info”

The quick (benign) info:
View attachment 1331

The surprise:
View attachment 1332


But we could have the best of all worlds: make the quick info window configurable: the (misleading) simplified info, as is, for those that are satisfied with it OR the FULL raw text (for those that can read it all, quicker)

I get what you are saying.... and on some level I agree. BUT..... since I can assume you have a good data signal, you have Nextrad on the screen showing returns. If you are flying, and want airport info... you are probably close enough to see the weather in front of you.

Now.... since I am IR/Commercial/CFI rated.... I do file IFR once in a while. And in that case, I would be looking at a full brief before my flight to know what I may be getting into. Yes, there have been a few times i've gotten a "Pop-up" to get me where I wanted to be.... but normally ATC will help out if things are bad.

I still think a quick info tab should be clean and simple. BUT.... I guess there could be a line added to show "-+SH/FU/BR/TS" or whatnot.