Mentor System

Requesting a Mentor

From any briefing page, tap the Mentor button in the header. You'll see two options:

Eligibility

To protect mentors from abuse and ensure quality interactions, you must meet these requirements before requesting a mentor:

• •Account age — your account must be at least 21 days old
• •Briefing history — you must have generated at least 5 briefings
• •Phone number — required in your profile so the mentor can contact you
• •PIC acknowledgment — confirming the mentor is a volunteer peer, not a flight instructor
• •For Need Help Now, a completed PAVE Risk Assessment (if within the departure window)

Pro subscribers bypass the account age and briefing history requirements.

Tips for a Successful Session

Mentors are volunteers who donate their time and expertise. Come prepared to make the most of your conversation:

• •Review your briefing first — Know your GO Score and what's driving it. Don't ask a mentor to read the briefing to you.
• •Prepare specific questions — "What do you think about the crosswind at my destination?" is more productive than "Is it safe to fly?" Come with 2-3 focused concerns.
• •Complete your PAVE checklist — This gives the mentor a complete picture of your situation beyond just the weather.
• •Have your charts and plates ready — If your questions involve airspace, approaches, or terrain, have them pulled up before the call.
• •Be mindful of time — Aim for a focused 10-15 minute conversation. If you need more time, ask if the mentor is available.
• •Share your experience level — Let your mentor know your certificate, ratings, and recent flying experience. It helps them tailor their advice.
• •Remember: you are PIC — Mentor advice is one input in your decision. The final go/no-go call is always yours.

After a Mentor Accepts

• •You'll be notified by email and SMS with the mentor's name, credentials, and phone number.
• •The Mentor button on your briefing will pulse to indicate a match.
• •Depending on the mentor's call preference, either you or the mentor will initiate the call. The notification will tell you who should call first.
• •After the conversation, either you or the mentor can mark the session complete. You'll see a rating prompt appear; if you've already rated and open the Mentor button again, you'll go straight to a new session request.
• •You'll be asked to rate the experience (1-5 stars) and optionally leave feedback for the mentor. This helps them improve and contributes to their standing in the mentor pool.

Cancelling a Request

You can cancel an open request at any time from the Mentor dialog on your briefing page. If no mentor accepts within the time limit (24 hours for broadcast, 48 hours for direct), the request expires automatically and you'll receive an email letting you know — along with a reminder that you can submit a new request anytime.

If you used Browse Mentors and your chosen mentor isn't available, you'll also receive a notification so you can try "Need Help Now" to reach the broader pool.

Signing Up

Go to Profile → Mentor tab. Fill out your:

• •Display name — how you appear to pilots browsing mentors (e.g. first name, callsign)
• •Bio — your experience, what you can help with
• •Aircraft types — what you fly (mentees see you highlighted if you share their type, but all mentors are visible to all pilots — aircraft type is never a barrier)
• •Specialties — mountain flying, icing, IFR in IMC, international, etc.
• •Phone number — for pilots to contact you after you accept (never shown to pilots you haven't accepted)

You'll also need to accept the Volunteer Mentor Agreement, which clarifies that you're providing peer guidance — not flight instruction — regardless of any certificates you hold.

Availability & Notifications

You control when and how you're contacted:

• •Available days & hours — set your window (e.g. Mon–Fri, 7 AM–9 PM)
• •Timezone — all availability is based on your local time
• •Contact method — choose Text & Email (default), Text Only, or Email Only
• •Who calls first — "Mentee calls me," "I'll call the mentee," or "Either way." This is shown to the mentee after you accept.
• •Do Not Disturb — toggle to pause all requests when you're unavailable (vacation, busy period, etc.)

SMS notifications are never sent outside your availability hours. If a request comes in while you're off-hours, you'll receive an email instead so you can decide whether to respond on your own timeline.

How "Need Help Now" Notifications Work — The Wave System

When a pilot uses "Need Help Now," PlaneWX does not send a simultaneous notification to every mentor at once. We respect your time. You're a volunteer, not an on-call dispatcher. Blasting everyone with a text for every request — when often the first mentor to respond handles it — would be disruptive and disrespectful.

Instead, requests go out in scored waves:

Once any mentor accepts, all waves stop immediately. Mentors who were already notified receive a follow-up message letting them know the pilot is in good hands.

If you receive a Wave 2, 3, or 4 notification, it simply means the earlier mentors weren't available — it's not a reflection of your standing. The scoring just ensures the most experienced, highest-rated mentors get first access, which benefits pilots and keeps the system efficient for everyone.

What If Someone Already Accepted When You Open the Link?

This will happen occasionally — especially in Wave 1 where multiple mentors receive the request at the same time. You check your phone, tap the link, and by the time you've loaded the briefing, another mentor has already accepted.

When this happens, you'll see a "Session Claimed" banner at the top of the page. It means the pilot is already talking to someone else and you don't need to take any action. You can review the briefing if you're curious about the weather situation, but you won't see the pilot's phone number and the session notes panel won't be visible to you — those are private to the accepting mentor.

You'll also receive a brief follow-up text or email (whichever you prefer) confirming the request has been handled — so if you're checking your messages after the fact, you'll have closure without needing to open the link at all.

There's nothing to feel bad about. The system is designed so that the pilot always gets the fastest response possible, and your contribution is that you were available and willing — that matters even if another mentor got there first.

Your Mentor Dashboard

Access your dashboard at /mentor or from the link in any notification email. The dashboard shows:

• •Requests — incoming requests waiting for you to accept or decline
• •Active — sessions you've accepted (click "View Briefing" to see the pilot's full briefing)
• •History — completed sessions with ratings and feedback

Viewing a Briefing & Accepting

When you click the link in your notification, you'll see the pilot's exact briefing — their GO Score, weather analysis, personal minimums, aircraft profile, and PAVE risk assessment if they completed one. This is the same view the pilot sees. You're walking into the conversation already briefed.

A panel at the top shows the pilot's certificate, total hours, home airport, and the questions or concerns they submitted when requesting help. Review the briefing, and if you're available and comfortable helping, tap Accept.

When you accept, your phone number is shared with the pilot and the session is locked — no other mentors can accept. The pilot receives an email and SMS with your name, credentials, and contact info. Depending on your call preference, either you reach out to them or they'll reach out to you.

If you're not available or not comfortable with this particular request, you can Decline — no explanation needed. The pilot is not notified with a reason; they simply receive a message that you're not available and are encouraged to try "Need Help Now" if they haven't already.

Session Notes

After speaking with the pilot, the briefing view gives you a private notes panel to record:

• •Recommendation — Go, No-Go, Delay, Alternate Route, Recheck Later (optional — only record what you're comfortable with)
• •Call duration — how long you spoke
• •Notes — free-form details about the conversation, for your own records
• •Would you mentor again? — a thumbs up/down visible only to you and admins, influencing future matching

Use Save to preserve your notes without closing the session. Use Save & Completeto save everything and mark the session done in one step. If the pilot marks the session complete first, you'll see an amber banner reminding you to save before leaving — the notes panel stays editable.

All notes are private to you. The pilot never sees your notes. They're there to help you document what was discussed — for your own protection and as a record of the conversation. A snapshot of the full briefing as it was at the time you accepted is also preserved automatically.