News

Hello, FPAW fam.

If you missed the final session of the Spring 2026 FPAW Meeting at Oklahoma State University last month, you may not be aware that the location, dates and theme for the Fall 2026 FPAW Meeting have all been set.

The meeting will take place from Tuesday, October 27, 2026 through Thursday, October 29, 2026 in a TBD building/meeting room on the campus of The MITRE Corporation in McLean, VA. The meeting will be primarily focused on weather information and impacts in the lower atmosphere (think AAM/UAM, HEMS, UAS and GA operations). For your convenience, a Save-the-Date calendar link is included at the bottom of this newsletter/email. 

The meeting web site has been set up and is located here. Registration, logistics and agenda information will be added to the web site in the weeks leading up to the meeting. In the meantime, however, if the meeting theme resonates, and you think you'd like to directly participate as either a session lead, presenter or panelist, please reach out, sooner rather than later, to one (or more) of the following:

• Fall 2026 Meeting Coordinator Beth Welliver (beth.welliver@jobyaviation.com)
• FPAW Co-Chair Matt Fronzak (mfronzak@mitre.org)
• FPAW Co-Chair Nathan Polderman (nathan.polderman@united.com)

We expect to have session co-lead and panelist/presenter slots filled in the next few weeks, so do be cognizant of the "sooner rather than later" recommendation above.

All the best,

Beth Welliver
Fall 2026 FPAW Meeting Coordinator

Matt Fronzak and Nathan Polderman
FPAW Co-Chairs

Dear Students and Colleagues,  

The Friends and Partners in Aviation Weather (FPAW) Steering Committee (SC) is seeking a motivated student to serve on the FPAW SC as the charter Student Member for a one-year term, from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, with the possibility of extension.

This is a unique opportunity for a student to step into a visible role within the aviation weather community, working alongside professionals from government, academia, and industry who are shaping the future of aviation safety and operations. As the student representative, you will have a direct voice in Steering Committee discussions, contribute to conversations that influence real-world decision-making, and help ensure that student perspectives are meaningfully integrated into FPAW activities. This role offers valuable exposure, networking opportunities, and a platform to represent the next generation of aviation weather professionals.

Eligibility:

Applications are open to undergraduate and graduate students with at least one academic year left and a background in aviation and/or meteorology.

Responsibilities:

• Participate in monthly 1.5-hour SC meetings
• Represent student perspectives on aviation weather topics
• Communicate student interests and concerns to the committee
• Serve as a student ambassador to the university community to improve student engagement with the FPAW community 

Application package:

• CV or resume
• A 1-2 paragraph letter stating the applicant’s interest in the position (“I’m interested”), the applicant’s relevant experience (“Here’s what I’ve done”), and why the applicant should be chosen (“This is why I should be selected”)
• A letter of support from a faculty member

Application deadline:

Application packages are due September 11, 2026, and should be submitted by email to FPAW Co-Chairs Matt Fronzak (mfronzak@mitre.org) and Nathan Polderman (nathan.polderman@united.com).

We strongly encourage interested students to apply for this opportunity to contribute to and shape the future of the aviation weather community. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reach out.

Best regards,

Matt Fronzak and Nathan Polderman
FPAW Co-Chairs

OK, OK, I know you're sick of me sending out all these newsletters/emails, but...

Cindy H G from NCAR just rocked it today! Every single one of the Spring 2026 FPAW Meeting videos are now posted on the meeting web site here.

From where I sit (on my can), we are but a few small steps from putting a bow on last week's excellent meeting. What are those small steps, you ask? Well, I think there might be an action or two buried in the OUTSTANDING conversations that took place in Stillwater. Nathan and I are going to chat about everything FPAW tomorrow, and this topic will certainly be among those we discuss.

Keep us honest, folks, and help us turn your great ideas into FPAW white papers!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Happy April 30th to you all.

It’s taken me a LOOONG time to decompress and come down from last week’s excellent FPAW meeting. Nonetheless, I’ve managed to spend portions of the last few days gathering material in one place on my laptop so I can update the meeting web site. With the exception of the video recordings, which are a work in progress, I'm happy to announce that I'm 95% of the way there.

As such, I've added what I have right now to the web site. Moreover, I think I'll get the remaining 5% of the material up before the end of the day. Good Lord willing and the Creek don't rise (and Cindy Halley Gotway perseveres), the video recordings may also be close to being ready to be added. So, keep checking in on the meeting web page at https://fpaw.aero/events/2026/fpaw-2026-spring-meeting. 

I sent an email to all registrants earlier today, but I'll repeat it here. If you took pictures (or, as Gordon Brooks did, screen shots) during the meeting and are willing to share, please send them my way: mfronzak@mitre.org, so we can round out the excellent presentations and recordings with some pics and convince you all to come to NOVA in late October 2026 for the Fall 2026 FPAW Meeting!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

Good evening, folks.

We are passing this along on behalf of the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) and their upcoming meeting.

Matt Fronzak and Nathan Polderman
FPAW Co-Chairs 

Good morning, my friends.

Another FPAW meeting is in the books. We had three days of OUTSTANDING information exchanges in FPAW's typical relaxed yet highly informative atmosphere (pardon the pun). Our Oklahoma State University (OSU) Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE) hosts went all out, with pre- and post-meeting tours, Trinity coffee (that's a new, upcoming brand) and breakfast sweets each morning, lunch food trucks on two days and box lunches on the third. A completely new A/V capability was used for the meeting, and after working through some hiccups on Day 1, I think our hosts found the right combination of settings and physical location to allow us to successfully conduct the meeting in a room set up for 60-70 people without using any handheld or lapel mics.

Bottom line - OSU OAIRE knocked it out of the park! And that's made my life a little more, hmmm, interesting.

Why, you ask?

Because on October 27-29, the Fall 2026 FPAW Meeting will take place in McLean, VA on the campus of The MITRE Corporation, my employer.

The bar's been raised, yet again, and the pressure's on!

I hope you all had (or have) safe travels home. The meeting web page will be updated with presentations and pictures in the coming days, and I'll let you know when new material has been posted.

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chairman

Good Sunday afternoon to you all.

We are about 40 hours away from what is shaping up to be one of the best FPAW meetings we've had, at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. And, like any operational forecaster knows, you need to take credit when a three-day springtime event in Oklahoma happens to coincide with pretty good weather (sorry, storm chasers). So, Nathan and I will take credit!
 

(Graphic and forecast courtesy of Weather Underground)

Emails will be sent out later today to all registrants. They will include the near-final detailed agendas for each day, along with a QR code and URL to receive WINGS credits (for those of you who, ummm, wing?). The final agendas will be attached to the meeting invitations, updates of which will be sent out to all registrants on Monday, the day before the meeting.

Notice a common theme in the paragraph above? Registrants.

And what, pray tell, is one to do if one has not yet registered for this most outstanding of meetings? Simple. You can use the Contact tab on the top of the FPAW web page, and send us your first and last name, affiliation, citizenship, email address, attendance type (almost certainly Remote at this stage of the game) and whether or not you'd be willing to share your email with other like-minded FPAW meeting registrants. We'll take it from there as expeditiously as we can.

If for any reason the FPAW Contact method doesn't work for you, send the above information directly to me at mfronzak@mitre.org. Again, I can't guarantee how quickly I'll be able to get to things, but I'll do so just as fast as I can.

OK, off to the suitcase to get packed. See you in OK!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair

What's that, you ask, besides how old Matt is? (NOT!)

That is the number of folks who signed up for the Spring 2026 FPAW Meeting before the online registration closed. Wow! Just wow!!

Now, you may be thinking "Well, crud, I had such good intentions to register for the meeting, but I had to do my taxes, and then the dog ate my returns, and my wife not only went into labor but our first child was born, and..."

No worries.

If you just click on the Contact tab at the top of the FPAW web page, and let us know that you'd like to register late for the meeting, and then list your first and last name, affiliation, citizenship, email address, attendance type (remote or in person) and whether or not you'd be willing to share your email with other like-minded FPAW Meeting registrants, we'll take it from there. No guarantees on timing, but we'll get it done.

To those who are planning to be in Stillwater next week - see you there!

Matt Fronzak
FPAW Co-Chair