Hello and welcome to the second edition of EZNews!
It's been great hearing from our customers over the last month. We really appreciate all of those subscribers that have renewed their membership and signed up for auto-renewal. We are just getting started and know there's a lot more to accomplish with EZWxBrief, but knowing that it's a product you want to see succeed is truly uplifting. Keep all of those ideas coming and over the months and years to come they will become part of our comprehensive EZRoadmap.
EZWxChat - all things aviation weather
The first six episodes of EZWxChat are now available on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. These are recorded videos of the Facebook live program where we will talk about all subjects associated with aviation weather. The first programs focused on the EZWxBrief application and we will move into many other aviation weather topics. Join Scott at 3 pm EDT every Tuesday to view the episode live by visiting https://facebook.com/ezwxbrief/live. The live broadcast will start promptly at 3 pm. Schedule changes will be posted on our Facebook page (https://facebook.com/ezwxbrief). The episodes are recorded and posted to our YouTube channel at a later time.
Read the Pilots Guide!
There have been a number of customers and trial members suggest the interface for EZWxBrief is not very intuitive. Yes, change is difficult and takes a bit of time getting used to a different look and feel. But there's help. There is a 132-page pilots guide that's filled with answers to many of your questions about how to use EZWxBrief. There's even a Quick Start guide near the beginning to get you oriented to the basic functions of how to create a route. To find the pilots guide, simply sign in to EZWxBrief and tap or click on the Start button. In the Quick Start menu you will see a selection to view the pilots guide. Here's what one customer said about the EZWxBrief pilots guide...
"I'm working my way through your manual. I just wanted to say that you have done such an amazing job on this!!"
Set your account to renew automatically
Did you know that you can set up your EZWxBrief account to renew automatically each year for $69 on your membership anniversary? It only takes a few minutes. Here's how you can set that up. First, sign in to EZWxBrief and then click on the Start button. Then choose Manage my account from the Quick Start menu. That will take you to your user profile. From there, you'll find an Auto-renew slider switch. Click or tap on that and you'll be able to enter your credit card information which will be stored securely and independently by a third-party merchant provider. Once you've set that up, you will receive an email reminder one week prior to let you know that your credit card will be charged for $69. With auto-renewal you will always maintain seamless access to EZWxBrief. You can turn this feature off at any time.
Come visit EZWxBrief at AirVenture 2021
Similar to our presence at SUN 'n FUN, EZWxBrief will have a booth at EAA's AirVenture in Hangar C this year and we are looking forward to meeting many of you. Stop by and say hello and get an EZWxBrief demonstration or attend one of Scott's six presentations throughout the week. So mark your calendars. We are expecting a huge turnout at the EAA Pilot Proficiency Center on Monday at 10:45 a.m. where you will learn the "Five weather rules of thumb that could kill you." On Friday, at 12:00 p.m. in the AOPA tent, join Scott for a presentation on datalink weather in the cockpit.
More details of the times and locations of the other presentations will follow in the July EZNews. A week before AirVenture starts, keep an eye out for our daily EZWxChat Facebook live analysis of the weather for anyone planning to fly to the event. The schedule for these episodes will be posted on the EZWxBrief Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter for those interested.
The progressive web app (PWA)
For those that want an optimal experience with EZWxBrief, you should install this on your devices as a progressive web app (PWA). It is supported by every major Internet browser and platform and the look and feel just like a native app you may download from the App Store or Google Play Store. It just takes a few seconds to install on your iPad for example. Here's how - simply open up Safari on your iPad and then type in ezwxbrief.com. Sign into the application and then look for the "Send To" button in the upper right on the iPad. It's that little square with the arrow pointed up as shown below.
That will display a menu where you then select "Add to Home Screen" and then select "Add" to complete the process. It's that EZ! An EZWxBrief icon will be saved on your home screen and will look just like any other app. Just tap on that icon to bring up EZWxBrief as a progressive web app. If you have a different device, check out our comprehensive pilots guide found in the Quick Start menu within the application to learn about how to set up EZWxBrief to run as a PWA for other browsers and devices.
EZRoute Profile and clutter
The EZRoute Profile as designed contains four different profiles that includes wind (and temperature), clouds, icing and turbulence. These selections are mutually exclusive so that the display does not become highly cluttered. Add icing, turbulence, winds and clouds on the same display and it will quickly become unreadable. Moreover, as we add more features such as G-AIRMETs, SIGMETs, CWAs and more, having all of that information on a single profile will be a nightmare with clutter and make the profile unusable, especially on smaller devices. At some point there would be a need for other means to "deselect" features on the profile.
Is EZWxBrief slow for you, here's why?
There have been some comments and feedback that some users are experiencing EZWxBrief to be a bit slow. Yes, depending on the server's load, it can (at times) be slow to draw the EZMap and EZRoute Profile. However, part of the slowness is due to what's happening under the hood to build the EZMap, EZRoute Profile and especially the EZDeparture advisor. The EZDeparture Advisor must construct it's display by reading tens of thousands of records from many forecast models to evaluate the weather within the EZWxBrief route corridor for over 60 possible departure times for a dozen personal minimum categories. Unfortunately, this does take some time to wade through all of this model data to produce an accurate depiction. In the future, there is a plan to shorten the time this process takes without compromising the final result.
What's new with EZWxBrief?
We are working hard to make the application more responsive on smaller devices such as an iPhone. So far, it works very well on the iPad. Meanwhile we released Version 1.0.2 to fix some minor issues and we also now are updating the Gridded LAMP (GLMP) imagery after an extended outage at the NWS. Also, we found a suitable replacement for the CONUS radar mosaic that was discontinued in April. This new radar mosaic is from the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system that is a much more comprehensive radar depiction.
We added a new "list" button on the EZMap and Home page to allow users to display the EZFavorites panel without the need to go through the Quick Start menu. Tapping or clicking on this button will bring up the EZFavorites panel where you can manage or visit the favorites. The EZFavorite list button has also been added to the EZRoute Profile and will be added to the EZAirport page in a future release.
Use those favorites
One of the biggest tips you'll get with EZWxBrief is to make use of those EZFavorites. Let's say you are planning a trip to depart in a few days from Charlotte to Oshkosh. Simply create a new folder in the EZFavorites panel (Trip to Oshkosh) and start collecting route, airport and imagery favorites in that folder that are pertinent to that trip as you brief. Then when you want to review the trip the following day, just walk through your favorites giving quick access to the EZWxBrief products. This makes the briefing job go much more smoothly without the need to do a ton of hunting and typing in the days that follow up to your planned departure time.
Radar zoom out bug on iOS
There is a bug that we are chasing down that popped up with a recent iOS release for the iPad and iPhone. If you are on the EZMap and then use a pinch and zoom out gesture on an iPad or iPhone, in some cases when you try to zoom all the way out the map will crash and reset. The workaround is to always use the +/- buttons to zoom in and out anytime the radar mosaic is being displayed. This will avoid the EZMap resetting.
Need Wings credit?
Please join Scott for a live webinar on Wednesday, June 30th at 8 p.m. EDT for an educational program sponsored by SiriusXM Aviation and the Ninety-Nines. In order to get Wings credit you need to attend live. Click here to reserve your seat for this webinar to learn about Big Picture Planning for Summertime Flying.
Follow us on social media and visit our blog
Lastly, don't forget to follow us on Twitter (@ezwxbrief), Facebook (https://facebook.com/ezwxbrief), Instagram and YouTube (https://youtube.com/avwxworkshops) to get the latest information and training available for EZWxBrief. You can also learn more about EZWxBrief and read articles on various aviation weather topics in our blog at https://avwxtraining.com/blog. As always, enjoy the simplicity of EZWxBrief!
Most pilots are weatherwise, but some are otherwise™
Dr. Scott Dennstaedt
Weather Systems Engineer
Founder, EZWxBrief
CFI & former NWS meteorologist
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