Bendix/King’s new AV8OR handheld GPS receiver can display XM Weather’s Aviator LT and Aviator products, making it a handy cockpit tool. During a recent trip, I used the Aviator product provided by WxWorx of Huntsville, Ala. Although WxWorx also offers XM Weather’s Aviator Pro, the AV8OR can’t display the additional features available in Pro. The regular Aviator service ($49.99 per month) includes Nexrad, TFRs, metars, TAFs, winds aloft, echo tops, freezing level, surface analysis and more.
Although the weather was nearly perfect during the trip, I had an opportunity to learn more about how Nexrad works and some of its limitations. The conventional wisdom is that Nexrad in the cockpit should be used strategically and not for tactical in-flight picking-the- way-through-thunderstorm decisions. A building storm south of Flagstaff, Ariz., underscored the value of that advice.
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