The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 12:16 am CDT (05:16 UTC)

Appleton International to Kansas City International ATW → MCI

407 nautical miles (468 statute miles) southwest on a straight line, true course 225°, about 227° magnetic at the departure end (variation 2W). At 120 knots that is 3 h 46 min at the quickest height in today's winds (10,500 ft, a 12-knot headwind), arriving about 4:02 am CDT (09:02 UTC), after sunset at the destination. 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: 1 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 3W: 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 last 397 nm of the route.

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 02:00–09:00 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 5 forecast points nearest it (GRB, DBQ, BRL, DSM, MKC). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft240° at 32 kt+30 kt90 kt4 h 31 min4:47 am CDT (09:47 UTC)
6,500 ft250° at 27 kt+23 kt15 °C97 kt4 h 12 min4:28 am CDT (09:28 UTC)
8,500 ft260° at 18 kt+14 kt11 °C106 kt3 h 50 min4:06 am CDT (09:06 UTC)
10,500 ft260° at 15 kt+12 kt8 °C108 kt3 h 46 min4:02 am CDT (09:02 UTC)
12,500 ft250° at 16 kt+14 kt4 °C106 kt3 h 50 min4:06 am CDT (09:06 UTC)
14,500 ft260° at 18 kt+15 kt0 °C105 kt3 h 53 min4:09 am CDT (09:09 UTC)
16,500 ft260° at 21 kt+16 kt-4 °C104 kt3 h 55 min4:11 am CDT (09:11 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180270° at 24 kt+17 kt-7 °C103 kt3 h 57 min4:13 am CDT (09:13 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240260° at 29 kt+23 kt-19 °C97 kt4 h 12 min4:28 am CDT (09:28 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300260° at 39 kt+31 kt-33 °C89 kt4 h 34 min4:50 am CDT (09:50 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340270° at 48 kt+33 kt-42 °C87 kt4 h 41 min4:57 am CDT (09:57 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 62 kt+36 kt-52 °C84 kt4 h 51 min5:07 am CDT (10:07 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 00:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 06:00 UTC for use 02:00 to 09:00 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 line250/36270/23 16°270/14 9°240/18 4°280/26 -9°280/29 -20°290/42 -36°290/51 -45°290/72 -55°
DBQused from 50 nm out; 73 nm from the line230/33250/30 16°280/15 9°260/15 5°260/21 -7°260/24 -20°250/37 -33°270/42 -43°280/63 -52°
BRLused from 198 nm out; 63 nm from the line230/24240/29 15°290/16 10°280/15 4°260/23 -7°260/32 -19°260/36 -33°280/48 -41°280/59 -52°
DSMused from 248 nm out; 53 nm from the line230/40250/33 17°250/18 12°240/17 5°260/28 -8°270/34 -19°260/41 -33°260/55 -41°270/62 -51°
MKCused from 347 nm out; 41 nm from the line220/44250/28 18°250/18 13°240/12 6°280/24 -6°240/34 -18°260/47 -30°260/51 -40°270/58 -50°

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
FLD Fond du Lac, WI 20 nm out, 22 nm southeast of the line no report just now 808 ft
MSN Madison, WI 69 nm out, 22 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 886 ft
MRJ Mineral Point, WI 109 nm out, 5 nm south of the line no report just now 1,170 ft
DBQ Dubuque, IA 149 nm out, 10 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 1,076 ft
CID Cedar Rapids, IA 198 nm out, 2 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 869 ft
IOW Iowa City, IA 208 nm out, 14 nm southeast of the line no report just now 683 ft
OOA Oskaloosa, IA 248 nm out, 5 nm southwest of the line no report just now 840 ft
TVK Centerville, IA 288 nm out, 7 nm southeast of the line no report just now 1,023 ft
TRX Trenton, MO 337 nm out, 8 nm southeast of the line no report just now 757 ft
EZZ Cameron, MO 377 nm out, 3 nm north of the line no report just now 1,040 ft
MCI Kansas City, MO destination no report just now 1,027 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,170 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At MCI when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 4:02 am CDT (09:02 UTC)

MCI 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 MCI 6:44 pm CDT (23:44 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:11 pm CDT (00:11 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at MCI is before sunrise there (7:25 am CDT (12:25 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, 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, Kansas City International.