News

Happy Friday to you all! May we live in dull, boring times.

Failing that, we'd like to provide you with some updates to the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting. We're still meeting at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) from April 1-3, 2025. We're still competing head-to-head with the Sun 'n No Fun (tongue firmly in cheek) Fly-In in Lakeland. And we continue to attract a bevy of excellent speakers and presenters as we explore the topic of Airmen Weather Education, Training and Certification.

We have updated the high-level agenda contained on the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting web page. Folks, ERAU is making some heavy hitters available, who will be welcoming us to their campus, providing keynote thoughts on the relationship between Weather and Aviation Safety, and then inviting us to and sponsoring a Day 1 Mixer social event!

And, we know, we know, FPAW gets in the way of your real work, and even if you attend in person, you just need to cut out midday on Day 3. But, wait! FPAW will be putting on a colloquium for the second time at one of our meetings, on Thursday, Day 3, immediately after lunch. The speaker at that event will be FPAW Steering Committee member Rex Alexander, whose talk is titled "Low Altitude Aviation Weather - The Rodney Dangerfield of the Weather World."  We can assure you, having heard Rex speak on his adventures in bug-smashing, rotary-winged aircraft, you won't want to miss it!

So, all of this is to say that you need to register for the meeting ASAP, and preferably in-person. We know that we said that last Fall's meeting at the FAATC may have set a new high bar for FPAW gatherings; we're here to tell you that our upcoming meeting may shove the bar even higher!

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

Good Friday to you all.  Because I so want you to register for the upcoming FPAW Meeting (preferably as an in-person participant), and because I messed up the URL for the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting in the original message (thank you to Eagle-Eye Frank Brody for the point-out), I'm going to spam you with a repeat of yesterday's message.

The Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting will take place just under SEVEN WEEKS FROM NOW, from Tuesday, April 1, 2025 through Thursday, April 3, 2025. Our host will be one of my alma maters, namely the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, FL, and that's no April Fool's joke! Come join us!!

Considering what goes on at ERAU on a daily basis, and given that a significant portion of the aviation weather gaps identified and discussed at last Spring's meeting were about airmen weather education, training and certification, it should come as no surprise that the theme of the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting will be (drum roll, please) "Airmen Weather Education, Training and Certification." And, in case you were wondering, the term "Airmen," as used here, is a gender-neutral term that includes but is not limited to pilots (in-aircraft), remote pilots (UAS operators), aircraft dispatchers and air traffic controllers.

The goal of this meeting will be to develop 1-2 (or 7?) important positions that FPAW can take up and pursue, either through the creation and dissemination of white/position papers, or by providing relevant problem statements to the appropriate authorities.

A high-level, subject-to-change agenda has been posted on the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting web page, located at https://fpaw.aero/events/2025/fpaw-2025-spring-meeting. Please take a few minutes to look it over and, importantly, if you consider yourself qualified, capable and willing to fill the one of the small handful of TBD slots on that agenda, or if you think you'd be a good panelist or presenter candidate for the first two major sessions, reach out to me or Matthias and let us connect you with the right folks.

The registration form has been activated and is available for your immediate use! Meanwhile, urban legend has it that the six-week mark is the best time to book airline seats. And you may want to take a peek at the hotel offer advertised on the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting web page, especially if you're a Marriott frequent stayer.

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

Good day, fellow aviation weather wonks (and we both identify with that term, and use it lovingly).

The Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting clearly set a very high bar. In-person participants at the FAA WJHTC for Advanced Aerospace were able to experience (see, touch, hear) a full range of future weather and weather-related capabilities, and even some very cool aviation testing tools that illustrated one reason commercial aviation in the U.S. is as safe as it is. Even remote participants commented on what a good meeting they felt it was.

In keeping with the high bar theme, we're pleased to advise you that ALL FPAW presentations are now posted on the meeting website here, six days after the start of said meeting. Kudos to the presenters for getting them to us in such a timely fashion. While we can't necessarily promise that we'll be able to be meet or exceed this high bar every time, it will be our target going forward.

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs 

Good evening, all.

I'm back home in the A-T-L. Matthias is winging his way westward to DEN as I type. Hopefully you all got to where you wanted to go yesterday and/or today. And, equally hopefully, you've been thinking about the agenda topics, the presentations we heard, and the demonstrations we experienced over the last few days. It certainly was an exhilarating, invigorating three days of immersion in aviation weather.

I'm also pleased to report that ALL but two presentations are now up and available on the Fall 2024 FPAW web page, and that I'm confident the final two will be added in the coming days (not weeks or months as has been the case in the past - guilty as charged).

Lastly, let me invite you to create a placeholder in your calendars for the Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting, as shown below. If I knew how to do it as a link without inviting everyone on the FPAW mailing list, I'd do it, I promise.

Placeholder - Spring 2025 FPAW Meeting
When: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 to Thursday, April 3, 2025.
Location: Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL

All the best,

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Hello, Willy Wonka fans.

What, you might be thinking, does Willy Wonka have to do with FPAW? Well, the tours of the WJHTC labs and demonstrations that took place in those spaces were, for the in-person FPAW participants today, like being kids in Wily Wonka's Chocolate Factory. What neat stuff they have at the WJHTC, and what neat (and important) stuff they're working on.

But wait, as Ron Popeil used to say, there's more!

Tomorrow morning, the pre-meeting tours will involve large objects pressing down very hard on pavement surfaces, and setting things on fire! What could be better?

After we get back in the Building 300 Auditorium, we'll be covering all things AI. The morning will be focused on how AI is being used to improve weather forecasts. After lunch, we'll learn about how AI is in the process of transforming ATM decision making in the face of weather impacts.

By the time the day ends, our heads will be over-full of new ideas and concepts, and we'll be trying to figure out how to turn back time, so that we can spend another couple of decades working in this most interesting of spaces.

See you tomorrow!

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

P.S. We can't and won't promise that this will happen every time, but ALL the Day 1 presentations are already loaded on the FPAW web site. You're welcome.

Hello fellow aviation weather enthusiasts,

Day 1 of the Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting is in the books, and we must say that we could hardly have asked for a better outcome! Thank you to all the presenters/panelists that shared their excellent information with us today. You set the bar quite high for our Day 2 and 3 sessions. But, I think they will be up to the task.

Tomorrow's main session 3, "The Art of the Possible," promises more of the same excellence both before and after lunch. And, as our host, Starr McGettigan, mentioned today, you'll want to wear comfortable shoes for the morning portion, as we'll be "on the move" for much of the time, viewing several of the WJHTC team's efforts at mitigating the impact of suboptimal weather.

Speaking of tomorrow, here are two reminders for our in-person attendees:

1. Those that do not have Federal CAC or PIV cards will need to exit Amelia Earhart Blvd. at Gate 18, where they will be processed by FAA Security, park their cars, and ride the provided shuttle to Building 300. This is the process described in the Entry/Exit document in the Meeting Logistics section of the Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting website.

2. If you are signed up for and plan to go on the early, pre-meeting tours, you'll need to be in the Atrium of Building 300 (where we were today) by 8:20 AM at the latest. So, non-Feds should plan their arrival at Gate 18 accordingly.

And here's two reminders for our remote attendees:

1. The three, in-person Vision System demonstrations that will kick off Session 3a from 10:00 AM - 10:35 AM will also be available to remote participants via a Zoom link. That link, contained in the call-out box shown in the detailed agenda on the FPAW website, will also be displayed on the Teams meeting page at the same time.

2. From 10:35 AM - 11:30 AM, Session 3a meeting activities will only be available to in-person participants. Remote attendees should consider this a free, extended FPAW break.

See you tomorrow!

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

Good early morning, all.

Yep, Matthias and I are hitting our respective jet (or Q) airways today, aimed at PHL, followed by our trips across NJ to ACY. We're looking forward to seeing you all at the Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting, either in person or remotely, starting wth a keynote address tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM sharp.

If, heaven forbid, you somehow neglected to register for the meeting, and you want to attend remotely, there is a solution. Email us at contact@fpaw.aero, or me at mfronzak@mitre.org, and let us know. Our response may be somewhat delayed, since we'll be on the move much of the day today, but we'll get you signed up and forward the meeting invitations to you as soon as we can.

Safe travels, all!

Matt Fronzak and Matthias Steiner
FPAW Co-Chairs

219. That's right - we're up to 219 registrants for next week's Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting at the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) for Advanced Aerospace in Atlantic City, NJ. That is an astonishing number!!

Eighty-one of us are planning to be there in person. That, too, is getting near FPAW's pre-pandemic in-person numbers, when hybrid meetings were not a thing. I could not be happier.

Numbers like that mean that there are logistical challenges, especially given that we'll be in a VERY secure location. We've gathered and published all the logistics information we could think of on the Fall 2024 FPAW Meeting web page. So, if you have questions about driving to the WJHTC, about getting in and out of this secured facility, about lunch, about WiFi, about ducking out of the meeting to conduct business, about signing up ahead of time for the EXCELLENT pre-meeting tours being offered on WED and THU, head to the linked web pages and get informed.

I can't wait to see you all, some in the flesh, the rest virtually, next week.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair