Originally Posted by
Sport_Pilot
IMO taking ATC away from the FAA is a good thing. The FAA has always resisted the idea of simplifying it and giving automatic data to the pilots. Which they had to relinquish for the collision avoidance systems.
The Privatization of the FSS Flight service stations is still giving lousy briefings. I thought DUAT did a great job till the dummies in government refused to pay and now it's DUATS and i hate'em ... The best soft ware would be for a pilot to put in his destination point of departure time of departure Fuel on board in hours to reserve, any intermediate stops or say in a long trip depending on a prefilled Performance chart Pick air ports for refueling at the distance a pilot wants or FOB and let's him pick one and automatically plan a new flight plan to the destination or next stop.
Then after the Planning do a time laps presentation on an interactive map of the weather and any conditions that will be encountered i.e. VFR winds IFR Low IFR notams moa restricted areas ect. Would cut flight planning to a minimum. But this is a discussion of the FAA losing their responsibility for ATC They have already lost many of the 519 towers for many are staffed by private contractors not FAA personal. Just as a side note both the towers tow of the SE Wisconsin clubs I fly with are within the five mile radius by less than a quarter mile and these are Not FAA controlled.