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Plan a flight · Sun 11:59 pm MDT (05:59 UTC)

Billings Logan International to Detroit Metro Wayne County BIL → DTW

1,104 nautical miles (1,271 statute miles) east on a straight line, true course 092°, about 082° magnetic at the departure end (variation 10E). At 120 knots that is 6 h 14 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 57-knot tailwind), arriving about 8:13 am EDT (12:13 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: 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 SIERRA 4E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the first 537 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET ZULU 2C: moderate icing up to 23,000 ft. Over the first 119 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 1E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Near the route, at the departure end.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft up to 18,000 ft. Over the route from 60 to 129 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 1W: 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 129 to 169 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 18,000 ft to 38,000 ft. Near the route, 149 nm along the route.
  • 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 route from 686 to 836 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 3E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the last 129 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 BIL.

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 eastbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: odd thousands plus 500 ft; above 18,000 ft the forecast levels), with the wind averaged along the line from the 12 forecast points nearest it (BIL, MLS, DIK, PIR, ABR, AXN, MSP, LSE, GRB, MKG, FWA, CLE). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft240° at 14 kt−11 kt131 kt8 h 26 min10:25 am EDT (14:25 UTC)
5,500 ft230° at 11 kt−7 kt6 °C127 kt8 h 42 min10:41 am EDT (14:41 UTC)
7,500 ft230° at 13 kt−9 kt11 °C129 kt8 h 33 min10:32 am EDT (14:32 UTC)
9,500 ft230° at 17 kt−12 kt8 °C132 kt8 h 22 min10:21 am EDT (14:21 UTC)
11,500 ft230° at 22 kt−16 kt4 °C136 kt8 h 07 min10:06 am EDT (14:06 UTC)
13,500 ft240° at 25 kt−20 kt0 °C140 kt7 h 53 min9:52 am EDT (13:52 UTC)
15,500 ft250° at 26 kt−23 kt-4 °C143 kt7 h 43 min9:42 am EDT (13:42 UTC)
17,500 ft250° at 28 kt−26 kt-9 °C146 kt7 h 34 min9:33 am EDT (13:33 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180260° at 29 kt−27 kt-10 °C147 kt7 h 31 min9:30 am EDT (13:30 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240260° at 31 kt−30 kt-21 °C150 kt7 h 22 min9:21 am EDT (13:21 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300260° at 33 kt−32 kt-36 °C152 kt7 h 16 min9:15 am EDT (13:15 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340270° at 44 kt−45 kt-43 °C165 kt6 h 41 min8:40 am EDT (12:40 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390270° at 56 kt−57 kt-50 °C177 kt6 h 14 min8:13 am EDT (12:13 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
BILused from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line080/13180/9 -2°210/38 0°220/51 -11°210/46 -22°210/58 -35°230/73 -39°230/72 -45°
MLSused from 50 nm out; 55 nm from the line150/23 2°190/29 4°210/44 2°220/32 -10°210/36 -21°200/48 -37°230/63 -40°240/71 -47°
DIKused from 199 nm out; 78 nm from the line150/24 7°200/38 6°220/53 0°230/51 -9°230/49 -21°240/37 -37°240/47 -44°250/65 -48°
PIRused from 298 nm out; 63 nm from the line170/22 19°190/25 13°210/32 6°240/23 -9°250/32 -21°250/38 -36°260/44 -40°260/52 -47°
ABRused from 348 nm out; 56 nm from the line070/14250/10 17°270/16 11°260/28 5°260/36 -10°260/41 -22°270/33 -37°260/42 -42°260/50 -48°
AXNused from 497 nm out; 73 nm from the line100/14250/21 14°240/24 12°240/31 5°260/36 -10°260/40 -21°250/42 -36°260/48 -45°260/53 -50°
MSPused from 597 nm out; 41 nm from the line230/26240/30 17°240/24 12°250/22 5°250/35 -10°260/36 -21°250/41 -36°250/49 -45°260/58 -52°
LSEused from 696 nm out; 23 nm from the line230/40240/24 17°240/13 10°250/13 6°280/22 -9°250/28 -21°250/41 -34°260/42 -44°270/62 -53°
GRBused from 796 nm out; 77 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°
MKGused from 895 nm out; 47 nm from the line260/22290/16 15°300/11 10°290/5 3°300/26 -9°300/32 -20°320/48 -36°320/61 -45°310/74 -53°
FWAused from 1044 nm out; 99 nm from the line300/17320/20 16°330/20 10°340/15 3°310/27 -8°320/37 -20°330/52 -36°330/65 -43°330/60 -50°
CLEused from 1094 nm out; 87 nm from the line340/7010/16 13°350/18 8°350/20 3°340/31 -10°340/46 -21°340/54 -37°330/62 -44°340/65 -49°

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
BIL Billings, MT departure no report just now 3,662 ft
MBG Mobridge, SD 338 nm out, 15 nm north of the line no report just now 1,716 ft
ATY Watertown, SD 487 nm out, 4 nm west of the line no report just now 1,749 ft
FBL Faribault, MN 647 nm out, 5 nm southeast of the line no report just now 1,060 ft
CMY Sparta, WI 766 nm out, 4 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 839 ft
UNU Juneau, WI 855 nm out, 4 nm south of the line no report just now 934 ft
MKG Muskegon, MI 965 nm out, 13 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 628 ft
ARB Ann Arbor, MI 1084 nm out, 6 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 839 ft
DTW Detroit, MI destination no report just now 645 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 3,662 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At DTW when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 8:13 am EDT (12:13 UTC)

DTW 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 BIL 6:33 pm MDT (00:33 UTC), at DTW 6:56 pm EDT (22:56 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:24 pm EDT (23:24 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 northern Rockies
Radar now, the northern Rockies · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the central Great Lakes
Radar now, the central Great Lakes · 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: Billings Logan International, Detroit Metro Wayne County.