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Plan a flight · Mon 9:11 am CDT (14:11 UTC)

Appleton International to Abilene Regional ATW → ABI

883 nautical miles (1,016 statute miles) southwest on a straight line, true course 220°, about 222° magnetic at the departure end (variation 2W). At 120 knots that is 8 h 50 min at the quickest height in today's winds (10,500 ft, a 20-knot headwind), arriving about 6:01 pm CDT (23:01 UTC). For planning, not a briefing: the legal preflight briefing comes from Flight Service (1-800-WX-BRIEF) or the FAA's own tools. Airlines fly this pair: 2 flights in the DOT's last twelve reported months, the route's page.

The return flight

The route the straight line, the warnings crossed, restrictions, pilot reports and the airports along the way · click a mark for its words

Green, blue, red and purple airport dots are the flying conditions reported there now (VFR, marginal VFR, IFR, low IFR); grey means no report. Red areas are SIGMETs, orange areas AIRMETs, hatched red areas temporary flight restrictions. Map tiles: OpenFreeMap, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Warnings the route crosses SIGMETs and AIRMETs whose area the line passes through or comes within 25 nm of

  • AIRMET TANGO 2W: low-level wind shear (due to air speed loss or gain of 20 knots or more below 2,000 ft above the ground). Over the route from 317 to 565 nm out.

A SIGMET warns of weather hazardous to all aircraft; an AIRMET of weather that matters to small aircraft and to flying without instruments. "From 60 to 180 nm out" is measured along the route from ATW.

Pilot reports along the route within 50 nm of the line, last three hours, the serious ones first

Not fetched just now.

Winds aloft along the route, and the time en route the forecast for use 14:00–21:00 UTC · at 120 knots true airspeed

The westbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: even thousands plus 500 ft; above 18,000 ft the forecast levels), with the wind averaged along the line from the 9 forecast points nearest it (GRB, DBQ, BRL, COU, MKC, TUL, OKC, SPS, ABI). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft230° at 25 kt+25 kt19 °C95 kt9 h 18 min6:29 pm CDT (23:29 UTC)
6,500 ft230° at 26 kt+25 kt18 °C95 kt9 h 18 min6:29 pm CDT (23:29 UTC)
8,500 ft240° at 23 kt+21 kt14 °C99 kt8 h 55 min6:06 pm CDT (23:06 UTC)
10,500 ft250° at 23 kt+20 kt10 °C100 kt8 h 50 min6:01 pm CDT (23:01 UTC)
12,500 ft250° at 24 kt+21 kt6 °C99 kt8 h 55 min6:06 pm CDT (23:06 UTC)
14,500 ft250° at 26 kt+21 kt1 °C99 kt8 h 55 min6:06 pm CDT (23:06 UTC)
16,500 ft260° at 28 kt+21 kt-4 °C99 kt8 h 55 min6:06 pm CDT (23:06 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180260° at 29 kt+21 kt-7 °C99 kt8 h 55 min6:06 pm CDT (23:06 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240260° at 39 kt+29 kt-19 °C91 kt9 h 42 min6:53 pm CDT (23:53 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300270° at 56 kt+33 kt-30 °C87 kt10 h 09 min7:20 pm CDT (00:20 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340280° at 55 kt+24 kt-37 °C96 kt9 h 12 min6:23 pm CDT (23:23 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 48 kt+20 kt-48 °C100 kt8 h 50 min6:01 pm CDT (23:01 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 12:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 18:00 UTC for use 14:00 to 21:00 UTC; temperatures above 24,000 ft are below zero. Heights are above sea level; a height is left out when the forecast has no wind for it over most of the line (the ground is higher). Ground speed is the airspeed less the headwind; the time en route is for the straight line and ignores climb, descent and routing around weather.

The forecast points as issued
PointFrom3,0006,0009,00012,00018,00024,00030,00034,00039,000
GRBused from 0 nm out; 46 nm from the line260/10240/27 16°260/31 10°270/25 5°280/31 -10°280/35 -22°270/46 -37°290/43 -40°300/64 -48°
DBQused from 50 nm out; 73 nm from the line250/26240/32 19°250/35 11°260/37 5°270/35 -9°270/40 -21°270/43 -35°280/49 -37°280/58 -46°
BRLused from 198 nm out; 44 nm from the line240/28240/25 18°250/26 12°260/29 5°260/24 -8°270/36 -20°280/57 -33°290/65 -37°290/54 -46°
COUused from 298 nm out; 83 nm from the line240/28240/22 17°250/18 12°260/22 6°270/23 -7°260/39 -19°290/70 -30°290/71 -37°290/58 -48°
MKCused from 347 nm out; 46 nm from the line220/35240/30 21°240/27 13°240/31 6°260/31 -7°250/43 -21°270/70 -28°280/72 -36°280/59 -49°
TULused from 496 nm out; 74 nm from the line210/24220/29 18°240/17 14°250/16 8°260/28 -6°260/36 -18°270/63 -28°280/54 -37°290/46 -49°
OKCused from 645 nm out; 15 nm from the line200/23220/26 19°210/12 16°230/16 8°250/36 -6°250/45 -17°260/61 -28°270/51 -37°270/42 -49°
SPSused from 744 nm out; 3 nm from the line190/18220/24 18°210/17 15°230/19 8°250/27 -5°250/41 -16°260/48 -28°270/42 -37°270/28 -50°
ABIused from 843 nm out; 20 nm from the line210/22 19°210/14 15°210/19 8°240/17 -4°240/31 -15°240/35 -27°260/30 -37°260/18 -51°

The weather now: both ends and the airports along the way public airports with a weather report within 25 nm of the line, one for each stretch

AirportWhereConditionsWindVisibilityCeilingElevationReported
ATW Appleton, WI departure no report just now 918 ft
MSN Madison, WI 69 nm out, 16 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 886 ft
DBQ Dubuque, IA 149 nm out, 4 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 1,076 ft
CID Cedar Rapids, IA 198 nm out, 19 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 869 ft
CHT Chillicothe, MO 347 nm out, 7 nm northwest of the line no report just now 783 ft
OJC Olathe, KS 426 nm out, 20 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 1,096 ft
PPF Parsons, KS 526 nm out, 4 nm east of the line no report just now 900 ft
IDP Independence, KS 536 nm out, 3 nm southwest of the line no report just now 824 ft
OUN Norman, OK 684 nm out, 5 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 1,181 ft
SPS Wichita Falls, TX 774 nm out, 4 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 1,019 ft
ONY Olney, TX 813 nm out, 6 nm east of the line no report just now 1,275 ft
ABI Abilene, TX destination no report just now 1,790 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,790 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At ABI when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 6:01 pm CDT (23:01 UTC)

ABI has no terminal forecast; use the nearest airport that does.

Temporary flight restrictions on the line or within 25 nm of it

No temporary flight restriction on or near this route right now.

Daylight

Sunset at ATW 6:15 pm CDT (23:15 UTC), at ABI 7:08 pm CDT (00:08 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:33 pm CDT (00:33 UTC)).

Each restriction opens the FAA's own page with the exact area, heights and times. Ordinary notices to air missions (closed runways, lights out) are not shown: the FAA's notice search is not open to sites like this one at this time.

Radar and forecast charts for the regions crossed government pictures, the latest each time the page loads

Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the southern Plains
Radar now, the southern Plains · loop National Weather Service
Radar, the whole country
Radar, the whole country · loop National Weather Service
Surface analysis now
Surface analysis now Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center

Sources: the Aviation Weather Center's data service (SIGMETs, AIRMETs, graphical AIRMETs, pilot reports, winds and temperatures aloft, observations and terminal forecasts), the National Weather Service radar, the Weather Prediction Center's charts, the FAA's temporary flight restriction list and shapes, and the FAA's airport file for the positions, elevations and magnetic variation. Fetched when the page is viewed and kept a few minutes. Each leg is the straight line between its two airports; airways, terrain and airspace are not considered. The airports in detail: Appleton International, Abilene Regional.